Powder options for 38SW?

Suther

Suther

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Just got my last handgun in the mail, a British WW2 service revolver made in USA by S&W, chambered in the pain in the arse to find 38s&w.

My plan is to start reloading for it, which means I need to start collecting components, which brings me to my first issue: This is the first pistol I will be reloading for, so I don't know much about pistol powder other than it is obviously faster than rifle powder. What are some good options to try for a cartridge such as this?

Thanks!

P.S. If anyone has a line on loaded 38S&W ammo that would be cool too, I wouldn't mind buying like 2 boxes just so I can try the gun before I get all my components and equipment squared away because that will probably take a few weeks at the least...
 
It's been years since I owned one, but very light loads of Clays or Titegroup worked (ballpark 2 grains) and Unique was my go to powder. If you get in a pinch and can't find components, hit me up. There may be 200-300 brass and a fat bottomed 358 mold lost in my reloading room.0.

Edited to add/clarify:

The above mentioned loads with Titegroup and Clays, were with .358- 124 grain bullets, just to be clear.
 
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I use hp-38 just reloaded my first rounds ever actually, I choose hp-38 because my reloading book has data for it in all my pistol calibres, I got everything for reloading becides the brass from budget shooting supply
 
I have used both Hodgdon Clays and Trail Boss with the Lyman 358430 195 gr cast bullet at an OAL of 1.275"

Clays - 1.7 grs - 525 fps - I consider this a Max Load

Trail Boss 1.7 grs (full) - 470 fps - less pressure than the Clays Load

That's a tiny amount of powder for a tiny case, and the 38 S&W is very sensitive to OAL. Small changes in OAL induce large changes in MV, i.e. pressure.

As well, at those very low MV's, you need to be vigilant that each bullet exits the bore. I found that they all exited for me with those loads in my gun on the days I shot it, but dropping below these MV's (i.e. a few tenths of a grain or powder) would greatly increase the likelihood of a bore obstruction.
 
Well, I have used Red Dot, 700X, Clays, Universal, HP38. I got a deal on a private sale of 7.5 lbs of HP38 a couple years ago, and while I have some other powders kicking around, use it on 9mm, 38 S&W .38 Special, .40 S & W and .45 acp. Soft shooting and accurate.

I will be sticking with HP38 as I find it very clean burning, and soft shootinig. It meters exceptionally well and consistent. It also goes a very long way. I have a can of 700X that I will use when I get around to loadking lighter bullets in .357 mag. I am hoping that the higher pressures will burn it up more completly (in .38 special I find a lot of particles of unburned powder in the shooting bench when using 700X big flakes don't meter as well either).

Hodgedon recamends 2.3-2.6 gr. HP38/231 for 145 gr bullets. (thes bullets seem light as factory original .38 S & W would have been 200 gr. When I had my Webly Enfield I bought some somewhere, but it has been a while ago. I don't remember the load I used for these.
 
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With fast powders and very light loads one must always be very careful to not accidentally double-charge a case.

Some powders, by contrast, would require more than half of the available case capacity; a benefit of that is eliminating the chance of inadvertantly a seating a bullet on top of a double charge of powder.
 
Best bullet diameter will have a lot to do with the age and manufacture of the particular gun. There was a nearly universal switch at one point. My memory is too vague to offer more than that without looking stuff up. A lot of guns do well with .358.
 
I have three guns,Webley, Enfield, and S/W Victory which load 0.359 bullets in various weights. I haven’t slugged their bores so don’t know the measurements. The victory is the most accurate of the three. I have shot 0.358 in them as that’s all I had made up and they shot that just as well. A nice little cartridge to shoot.
 
Win 231 or HP38 (same powder) meter well and are a good speed for the38. A S&W may have a regular 357 barrel, so try regular bullets first. A real good choice is a 148 hollow base wad cutter (I use Speer and camPro). If the barrel is bigger than 357, the HB bullet fills the bore anyway. 3.0gr is good in mine.
 
Speaking of slugging the bore, I understand the process but Im not sure the best thing to use. 000buck is apparently .36 caliber, but I don't have any on hand so I'd have to go buy a box... Any other options you guys might suggest?
 
The 148 gr wadcutters I use are solid base. I crimp into the top groove, with lube in the two bottom grooves. I was impressed with the accuracy of them. I didn’t expect them to be as accurate as they are. For anyone thinking of trying wadcutters don’t seat them flush with the case mouth as they seat too deeply causing pressure to go up.
 
Suther said:
Speaking of slugging the bore, I understand the process but Im not sure the best thing to use. 000buck is apparently .36 caliber, but I don't have any on hand so I'd have to go buy a box... Any other options you guys might suggest?
Click to expand...
Fishing Sinkers.
 
Suther said:
Any particular shape that works better or worse than others?
Click to expand...

I like the elliptical ones - they are easy to start.

You can reuse them by simply squeezing them down in length to fatten them.

I've tried lead bullets too, but unless they're pure lead and are light for calibre, they're too difficult to tap through the bore.
 
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