Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading .38 SPL 158 Grain LSWCHP Advice

There should be info about that FBI load available on line in abundance. I may have read specific info in Handloader magazine. I can't recall for sure

Also there's an article penned by a writer named Skeeter Skelton and published by his wife after his death titled "My Friend the 357." It has some good info about heavy loads in 38spl cases. The data should be compared to modern data in recently published manuals for verification of safety, but the information is still good, even though it was written a long time ago.

Best of luck with your project.

In recent years I've been using Universal powder for all of my lead bullet loads for my pistols in .38 Spl, 9 mm, .45 acp, and .44 Spl.

My every day .38 Spl loads are 155 gr lead SWC bullets cast from Lee 6-cavity molds ahead of 4.0 grains of Universal powder.

For the load you’re trying to duplicate

HS-6 would be my first pick

Power Pistol would be my second

After that it’s a crap shoot

Good luck!

This works for me.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/18020059/1/6-shots-one-hole

A bunch of them have gotten in my K frame .38s.

You’ve received some very good advice in this thread. About all I can add is make sure you put a good crimp on them.

Speaking of crimping, I've found that my RCBS .380 seating/crimping die will put a very slick taper crimp on a .38 Special cartridge. I'm certain that my RCBS 9mm seating/crimping die will work also.

You have to back the die out quite a bit, of course.

I seat the bullet to the crimp groove with a typical .38 Special seating die, then to finish up I install the .380 die in the press and taper crimp the case so that it "leans into" the crimp groove instead of rolling the mouth of the case over into it.

If you load for the big boomers you probably need to use a heavy roll crimp to keep the bullets from backing out under recoil. But a good taper crimp into the crimp groove of a cast or swaged bullet in the .38 holds everything in place even with fairly stout .38 Special loads.

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.

I've read his article. Great reading and info.

mannyspd1
unless I read their site wrong, they are wanting $.40 each for those! That's way more than I am looking to pay for cast bullets. There does not seem to be much availability in a LSWCHP bullet other than Rimrock.

Look up GT Bullets. They have numerous HP bullets.

I’ve bought from GT . Both 38 special and 9mm. Hasbeen

4.0gr HP-38 with 158 LSWC been plenty accurate for me

Agree with the post that suggests using .357 brass.

Also, I’d avoid any of the swaged lead HPs like the Hornadys as I had leading when I pushed them a bit. Gas checks seem like a good idea.

Titegroup has worked good for me in the 38spl and meters well.

The swaged Hornadys are pretty soft. They tumble in my little Taurus 605 2". But cast bullets shoot great in it. For some reason though, the Hornadys shoot good out of my Security Six.

So I run thousands of Hornady swaged 38s out. A couple of observations… first they are .357” dia, I think they can benefit from being 358 but they are not. Most likely if they are leading it’s your throats. You can run them up to 1k + if everything fits right. You can add a gas check to them if you want.

Zero brand bullets are better, are sized 358 and are absolutely accurate AF. All of them… LSWC, LSWC HP, WC, LRN. Buy them by the thousands.

I like the Hornady swaged bullets, and have had great accuracy and no leading issues. But I use them for light/low speed loads. Like between 700 and 800 fps. Paper targets don't need speed much.