Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mild .38 loads

Check out cowboy action loads. Those guys are the masters of what you seek.

Good posts, lots of options. Great round.

DF

I don't understand why you don't know the load pressures for Titegroup because Hodgdon posts them online in their data. Where do you get data from?
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

Trail Boss because it was developed just for light loads the gamers and old geezer puff-pooh barely got out of the bore CAS shooters wanted.
I load 44 Colt with it and have even played with some 45-70 loads with it. Some buddies loaded their 38 Specials to amazingly nothing pop loads with it.
Just look at Hodgdon's website and use the starting loads.

And just to reiterate, http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/ if anyone has to ask for data for a cartridge and powder made by a company that has said data online they should take another class before they start dropping powder in cases.

Trail Boss leaves residue; I don't like it. It does fill the case.

Titegroup is reportedly not position sensitive, which can be important for loads thst don't fill the case.

Clays was my favorite CAS powder for .38 Spec.

I did tests on a number of CAS powders, loaded to push mod wt. slugs at 600 fps.

Very clean burners were Solo 1000, Am. Select, Titegroup, Clays. Unique was dirty, but burns pretty clean, shot hot. Most others were in between. I actually measured residue.

DF

How much will you actually shoot or carry that glorious family heirloom?

My counsel would be a couple factory boxes of Federal 148 WCs. That's what I carry in my Plus-P rated 442 on & off duty.

38 Special 148 grain Wadcutters and 3.9 grains of Accurate #5. I know it may be sacrilege, but some of the newer powders are cleaner burning than Bullseye. Bangeye's right, though, watch out for double charges.

I'd use about 4.0 of 231 and a swaged lead 158, and call it good. Very mild shooting, accurate, and cheap.

Bullseye doesn't thrill me, too easy to flub up and double charge with it.

I haven't used Trail Boss, it's probably a good choice, but without any first hand experience, I can't recommend it.

4.5 to 5.0 of Unique or Universal would work well, too.


Those ultralight charges of Bullseye and other powders kinda spook me. I like things to be idiot-proof, as I have sometimes done idiotic things.