I’ve tried several powders in the 38 special. I’m with Bristoe on Accurate #5. I’ve found this works real good. I’m around 6 grains with the Missouri or Bayou coated 158 LSWC bullet. I use this to punch paper and shoot steel plates. Hasbeen
I've been shooting cast bullets through .38s for a long time. But I've been surprised at the accuracy that swaged bullets provide. I didn't know how fast I could push a swaged 158 bullet in a Model 10. But I've loaded them up about as fast as I care to shoot *any* 158 in a .38 and they shoot clean as a whistle up to 1000 fps.
Of course, barrel leading depends on many things,...the smoothness of the barrel,...how hot the powder you're using burns,..the design of the bullet.
But it's been my experience that they can be pushed faster than most people think.
Like you, I started out at 6 grains of AA#5 with 158s in the .38. Then I took it up to 6.5. Now I shoot them with 7.
At 7 grains in the .38 special with 158s, AA#5 burns very clean and consistent.
I first started using AA#5 in top end loads in the .380. Industry standard for the .380 is 21,500 PSI and those .380 loads shoot good.
The Speer book calls for 6.6 grains of AA#5 with swaged 158 bullets for a +P load in the .38 Special and says that it's just below 20,000 PSI. I would guess that rounding them up to an even 7 grains puts their pressure right at 21,500 PSI,...same as the industry standard pressure for the .380.
So I've found two chamberings that AA#5 works very well in at that pressure. It seems to me that 21,000 to 23,000 PSI is the sweet spot for loads with AA#5 regardless of what cartridge you're using it in.
Of course, it's too fast for optimum velocities in magnum chamberings. My book shows an 8 grain starting load with AA#5 and 158s in the .357 magnums,..and 9 grains as a maximum load.
That tells me that AA#5 pressure starts spiking pretty fast if you get much above 9 grains of it in a .38 or .357 case. But it's still behaving properly down at 7 grains,..and that's where I keep it.
