Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters favorite 38 Special handloads...

4.2 gr. 231 under Speer's 158gr. LSWCHPs. Very accurate and about as much velocity as you can get from this bullet without leading. Accurate enough for targets, cheap enough for plinking, a good small game load, and could be used for defense as it matches several factory police type loads.

Those light framed revolvers don't react well to heavy loads. The recoil can be a little sharp. I had a Colt Cobra with the magnesium (IIRC) frame, and +P 38 Spl loads were uncomfortable if I shot any amount of them. Like a lot of others, I found that 2.7 of Bullseye worked well in every 38 Spl I owned -- with velocities around the 750 fps mark when using slugs in the 148 - 158 gr area. For defense, I would likely use factory 125 gr JHP's of some sort, if they shot well in my pistol.