Originally Posted by glowe

Your friend certainly conducted a nitro proof test by doing that, but not wise in a gun that age and design. If I were to guess, a 38 Special will generate around 15,000 psi and I doubt that the original black powder round would hit 10,000 psi. You will not be able to purchase this ammunition, but if you are or can find an experienced reloader, you can recreate the round. The best two low pressure rounds that I have shot are as detailed below. The 38 Maximum brass is available but you have to search some for it online. It needs to be cut to 1.5" case length by measuring my original UMC ammo.

This round can be reloaded with a 38 Special or 38 Magnum reloading dies and standard 38 Special bullets. I find the most accurate bullets and the ones that will function in the slightly oversized bore is the standard 148g HBWC. They are more difficult to load with black powder, since they have a hollow base and black powder needs slight compression with no air space to be safe. I load mine with a thin cardboard wad over the powder behind the hollow base bullet. The best method is to measure the total length of the bullet plus cardboard card plus another 1/16". Add black powder (or BP substitute) to the case until it is compressed about 1/16" by the card and bullet. The bullet is set level with the top of the case and the brass needs to have a slight crimp over the bullet in order to keep in from moving forward in the chamber while shooting.

The best all around load I have come up with so far is using Unique powder with 2.5g min to 3g max. I use a 158g SWC for this load and the goal is to chronograph the load until you get around 600 fps load. Slow, with low pressure, but certainly accurate and will put clean holes in a paper target with decent accuracy!!

Depending on what bullets are available, another favorite of mine is a 130g RN bullet with 3.5g of Trail Boss powder. This comes close to original loads and velocities run around 590 fps. Sure these are .357" 38 Special bullets, but seem to be quite accurate in my shooting. Besides the real fun is occasionally shooting the old hogleg anyway!! Don't overdo it, since parts are long gone and that is a near-rare gun with not many left out there.