Kick ass 38?

[Boriqua]

I was digging through my small brass stash and found brandy new Starline 38 brass still in the shipping bag. In a perfect world I would find some LSWCHP coated but .. may as well look for unicorn hair.

So .. I would like to make some safe but kick ass 38+p rounds. If I have to buy some bullets or chase down a particular powder I will.

So if you were a revolver guy making a great 38+p ...

125 gr or 158 gr bullet?
What powder?

It would be for my trusty 3" GP100 and less often in my Model 28.

I have Longshot, HP38 and while I dont like it I kept about a 1lb of Titegroup when I gave the rest of the 8lb jug to a friend.

I have 158 gr LSWC coated and I have SJHP in 125 gr but I have been seeing XTP's here and there if its a better choice or ??. So .. hit me with it. What would you make?

 

[Flash]

Based on Super Vel's experiences with light .38s, specifically 125 Grain IIRC, I'd go with light and a fairly fast powder, bullseye or 231 or Unique, something like that.

I'd go with XTPs if it were me.

 

[Suck My Glock]

Personally, I prefer the 158 grn. LSWCHP in this caliber. I also used to hate HP38 powder,...until I started loading for .38,...and now I love it.

 

[Old Jeff H]

Been thinking about doing a 38+P for a while. Planned on using either a 158gr SJHP or SJFP with Longshot.

Saving my XTP's for when I can eventually get my hands on some PowerPro 300-MP and load 'em in 357.

 

[Boriqua]

Personally, I prefer the 158 grn. LSWCHP in this caliber. I also used to hate HP38 powder,...until I started loading for .38,...and now I love it.

I like the hp38 it's the titegroup I didn't love. It pushes bullets down range so it works but I hated the weird recoil it produced. I have never felt a factory round that felt like anything I loaded with the titegroup.

Guy who taught me to reload loved it so I bought 8 lbs. When I moved on to other powders I gave it to him.

 

[Old Jeff H]

Might be able to get some LSWCHP here (with a ~4 month wait)?

https://www.gtbullets.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

 

[Suck My Glock]

I can't help myself but brag a little bit.

At that component yard sale in Wickenburg, I snagged these .38 cal. LSWCHPs. I was tickled by my good fortune.

 

[Boriqua]

I can't help myself but brag a little bit.

At that component yard sale in Wickenburg, I snagged these .38 cal. LSWCHPs. I was tickled by my good fortune.

Sweet!! You gonna coat some?

 

[Suck My Glock]

They already have a proprietary secret coating on them, so no. Looked up these and they were the preferred all 100% lead bullet manufacturer back in the day (late 70's early 80's). In fact, Skeeter Skelton preferred them, and found an old article of his with load data from back then. Taurus was sued by the handgun manufacturer of the same name for trade name infringement and they changed their name to Albert's, after the founder of the company. They folded sometime in the 80's when jacketed hollow-points finally got reliable and started performing well. They were often praised for their hard lube coating, which feels really slick in the hand, yet not oily. But yes,...when things get back to "normal", I'm gonna get a supply of super-soft lead SWCHPs somewhere and then set about learning to powdercoat them.

 

[needsmostuff]

Taurus was sued by the handgun manufacturer of the same name for trade name infringement and they changed their name to Albert's, after the founder of the company.

I think a good lawyer could have argued that Yup, the trademark was also a bull BUT different.
Their trademark bull still had his junk. Ah,,,, courtroom fun anyway.

These are a cool flash to the past and funny cuz I just found two 100 bullet boxes of the .38 cast lead Hydra Shock bullets in the same boxes. These are the flush seated huge hollowpoint with a column in the center of the hole. Designed for maximum penetration and expansion at the low to medium velocity of a snubby.
I was told that bullet and design was the reason Federal bought them out to get the HydraShock which still carries on but now a jacketed round point.

 

[Old Jeff H]

Those Taurus are a helluva lot prettier than the Speer version.

 

[Old Jeff H]

Speer in stock at Midway

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010796433?pid=258551&utm_medium=email&utm_source=service&utm_campaign=product-arrival-notification&utm_content=product-description-link

 

[samnev]

Based on Super Vel's experiences with light .38s, specifically 125 Grain IIRC, I'd go with light and a fairly fast powder, bullseye or 231 or Unique, something like that.

I'd go with XTPs if it were me.

I agree with Flash's choices. I use both Unique and sometimes Bullseye.

 

[792mauser]

Red dot, green dot, Unique, Trail Boss, Universal, 231, Longshot, Bullseye, HS6. And probably more that I can't think of.

Even played with Blue Dot and H110/296. Dismal failure. Erratic velocities, lots of crud left behind, leading and lots of unburned powder.

 

[daviddiesel]

So many options. So much to learn. Lost doesn't begin to describe it lol.

 

[High Standard]

I appreciate your post as I was starting to think of loading my own 38+P rounds. I have a small amount of commercial SD rounds that I keep in my model 10. So I have been putting off loading my own for now.

I was able to find to some Sierra 158gr JHP I was going to use to make some 38+P rounds with. I would prefer some XTP’s but at this point I’ll take what I can get. I also have some Montana Gold 125gr JHP’s to play with but they are not designed to expand. And of course I have my own 158gr LSWC powder coated that I can play with.

I have been thinking about how I want to load these but I have not done so yet. I happen to like Titegroup and I have quite a bit of it. And it will be my first choice to make some +P rounds. I also have Unique, Bullseye, Red Dot and Green Dot to play with. I would probably play with Unique then Bullseye. Bullseye is still a bit dirty for my taste but still performs pretty well.

I have been experimenting with Red Dot and Green Dot more lately with other calibers and your post has me thinking I might just try these first. Problem is I have only found good data for lead projectiles using Red and Green Dot in the +P category. I guess more research is needed using these powders.