Silly me. Update post #26.

StoneHorse

StoneHorse

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
61   0   0
Location
Cascadia
I just starting reloading for 38 Special. Picked up a pound of TiteGroup and a thousand Berry 125 gr FP plated bullets. Being the cautious person I am, I started with 3.2 gr of powder and loaded 50 rounds. That was my first mistake. Went to the range today, set up my crono and started firing. The first six rounds were sub 500 FPS. Second mistake. I fired a 7th round which did not quite make it out the barrel :bangHead: .

So a trip to Canadian Tire for a length of 5/16" dowel to pound the bullet out the barrel. Got home, pushed the bullet out the barrel and then pulled the remaining 43 bullets out the cases and reclaiming the powder, cases and bullets.

I expected the velocity to be on the low side but not 350+ FPS under what the manual stated it should be. Given the narrow range from minimum to maximum charge, I of course wanted to be on the safe side but WTF. The next six rounds I load will be max for lead bullets but a starting load for jacketed bullets. Sound reasonable?
 
Last edited:
3.5gr of Titegroup over a 158gr 38/357 CamPro Plated TC is a nice range load for me. COL 1.460".
A google search suggests that 3.5gr works as a light 125gr load as well.
 
Likely the load would be fine with plain lubed lead bullets. What pistol and barrel length?
I use 3.2 titegroup with 148 HBWC
 
I used a electronic scale (calibrated) and a .3 CC powder dipper to drop the charge on the scale. Weigh each one. COL was 1.450" Pistol is a S&W 686 with a 4.25" barrel. I'm thinking 3.8 grains of Titegroup with a COL of 1.455" with the Berry 125 gr plated bullet should put me in ballpark.
 
Last edited:
Something must be ary with your scale I think, The wife & I have fired 10's of thousands of rounds loaded with 3 gr of Tite over a 130 gr slug without a "sticker" and any I have cron'od have been 650-700 ( at least 6 different pistols - 4 or 5 rifles). 3 gr is a very small pile of powder in your palm but it has always worked for me.
 
You didn't do anything "wrong" or make a mistake, really. Maybe you should have loaded 10 instead of 50 rounds, but that's not major.

You did several things right - you used good data from a reliable source, you checked that the bullets were exiting the barrel, you used a chronograph. You noticed the bullet that did not exit and stopped shooting before you made a major OOPS!

What reloading manual were you using?

Could be any of several reasons why the measured velocity is different from the manual:
- with very low powder volumes, a small difference in case capacity (due to seating depth, bullet type, etc) makes a big difference in pressure and powder burn characteristics.
- Lead, and plated lead bullets usually have less initial resistance and produce less friction than jacketed bullets.
- with very low powder charges, small things can make a marked difference in the results. Bullet diameter, bullet hardness, friction coefficient, revolver cylinder gap, seating depth, etc.

Now that you know what to expect you can make adjustments and carry on. The only thing you might do differently next time in a similar situation would be to load a handful of cartridges each at minimum load, medium load, and maximum load for range testing before you load a larger quantity. Might save you a range trip.
 
Last edited:
I don't load .38 spl but here's some information:

From Berry's website:

"Plated bullets occupy a position between cast bullets and jacketed bullets. They are soft lead, but have a hard outer shell on them. When loading plated bullets we have found best results using low- to mid-range jacketed data in the load manual. You must use data for a bullet that has the same weight and profile as the one you are loading. Do not exceed mid-range loads. Do not use magnum loads."

Hodgdon lists a Hornady 125gr XTP at 4.3gr (953 ft/s) - 4.6gr (1010 ft/s) of Titegroup so it looks like you were about a full grain too low. I'd try 4.2gr and see what velocity you get with that charge.
 
It is my experience that R-P (Remington) .38 Special cases have low case neck tension when reloaded that can lead poor ignition, erratic velocities and squibs. I saw it in the early 90's and I saw it again a couple of months ago. If you ever load with R-P cases be sure to pick up a couple of finished rounds and give the bullets a twist to see if you can spin them by hand.
 
Battlerifle, interesting that you mentioned RP cases because that is what I used.

Yes, my mistake was loading 50 rounds instead of increments of 10.

Going to start with 3.8 gr and work from there.
 
4.2 gr of Titegroup in MY 4.2 inch smith chrono at 778 fps. A very pleasant and accurate load in my revolver. Use plated or jacketed data (not cast lead data) for your berry bullets.
 
So use jacketed data instead of lead/plated data is what you are telling me.

ndslkj.jpg
 
Yes.

One minor correction. It isn't lead/plated data, it's just lead data. With plated projectiles you should start at the minimum jacketed charge weight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom