What are some good .38spl loads with Red Dot and a 158gr LSWC. I'm looking for nice mild loads all the way to super duper hot +p's with this powder.
Thanks

About the best you'll do with RDot in a 38sp w/ a 158grLSWC is 800fps. That's with a longer bbl. It's been mostly used as a target powder and general use load powder in 38special.
For that it works well. I used it for a long time in Bullseye competition with 148gr W/C target loads.

Alliant does lists +P load with it. The velocity is still in that range I think.
I don't know what the pressure would be. Perhaps it's listed somewhere in their guide.

Unique or even Bullseye would probably give you more velocity than RDot in a 38special w/ the 158gr lead.
Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide

Wrong powder for hot loads. Should work well for target loads though.

What are some very mild target loads. Super mild to mid range?

Agree. RD is what I call an uberfast powder. Not suited for anything but light loads in most calibers. For the 38sp, 3.5gr taps out about 800fps. You want more vel, go to a slowe powder like Unique. Pick up a reloading manual, it's all in there.

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If you want to stick with an Alliant powder I would say Power Pistol is a much better choice to do what you are looking to do.

If you aren't married to Allinat powders Hodgdon's HS-6 is a great powder for building the FBI Load.

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SWCA #3437

Download the current PDF from Alliant. It lists a +P max load of 3.8grs of Red Dot with a Speer 158gr LSWC bullet at 846 fps. Data is good for all the Speer 158gr Lead bullets to include RN and LSWCHP's and is the same as what you find in the Speer manual.

A slower medium burn powder will add 10% to 15% velocity over Red Dot but Red Dot is perfectly useable if that is what you have.

A +P, 38spl load is now relegated to 846fps? Are we serious? My target loads, 3.5gr of Bullseye are traveling just 75fps less than that!

Can you get +P pressure from that powder and bullet combination, 20,000psi? Yep, sure can. Can you get REAL +P performance from Red Dot and a 158gr LSWC/RN/LSWCHP?

NO, a million times, NO!

In order to get the performance I get from my +P 38spl loads, you are going to have to get to the 1000fps from a 4" gun for velocity.

For crying out loud, I have a +P load with that weight of a bullet that gives me 1100fps from a 3" J frame!

So, yes, you can get the pressure using Red Dot, you cannot get the velocity with that weight of bullet though.

That seems like a lose/lose to me instead of a win/win!

Usable yes, acceptable performance no...

Like Skip said, you can achieve +P pressures but the velocity will be lower than what's usually associated with a +P load. The +P load was developed to increase the velocity of the bullet, not to increase the pressures without the added velocity.

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SWCA #3437

I opened a can of worms with this one.

Oh no, you didn't open anything of the sort. Just a bunch of folks that have a common interest in a hobby that are talking things out a bit.

Thanks!

p.s. Do you have any other powders available that you can use to build these loads?

I'm not loading. Just wanted to discuss. My good friend reloads and he and I talk about it alot. I buy him components and we come up with something we want to shoot and he loads it up for us. We both really like .38spl and we both have several revo's in .38spl. I've haven't started to load myself yet. I spend all my money on guns and can never afford a press. I saw a post in another thread about someone liking Red Dot and wanted to know some other folks loads for the powder. My buddy has been wanting to try Red Dot for awhile and we got to talking about the powder and looking up various loads for it. He picked up some and we have been talking about what to do with it. He's been loading for 25yrs and I trust him. We talked for 40 mins on the phone today about it, so after all this I'm getting a pound of HS-6. We have a ton of brass between us just waiting to be loaded. I do most of my shooting with him and he gets all my brass. We both shoot the same calibers in handguns (9mm, .38spl & .357mag) so it works out good. He's going to try some light target loads with the Red Dot for his M14 and my M10. He or I will come up with something to try the HS-6. He's mostly been loading with 231, Unique and 2400 lately.

You are going to LOVE the results you get using HS-6 for .38 Special +P loads, especially with a 158gr bullet. Just remember, you will get better results using a Magnum primer with HS-6 because it's a hard to ignite ball powder. Yes you can make ammo with a standard primer but unless you are using a load up near the top of the pressure curve you will get unburnt powder and erratic ignition. With a magnum primer I get single digit SD numbers as low as 5.9 fps and a much more consistent ammo.

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SWCA #3437

I use Red Dot quite a bit for my target loads in 38 & 45, used it for 12ga so always had plenty on hand. With the .38LSWC 3.2grs always worked best in my guns, ran right at 775fps in my 6" 686. I tried hotter loads but never got any big jumps in actual velocity and deviation increased quite a bit. I use either Unique or Universal Clays with my plusP .38 loads now, but there are plenty of powders out there to chose from.