Hey, all - recently purchased a new Smith .38 snub and was looking for reload suggestions based upon your experience. I plan to use 125g JHP bullets for reload. Thanks in advanadvance for feedback!

I don't typically trust the xtp, gold dot, or any jacketed expanders from the snub.

So I stick to semi jacketed hollow cavity lead nose type bullets from Speer or Nosler.

110gr. JHC over 5.4 of HP38/Win 231, not +p, but a manageable load.

With a 125gr. 5.4 would be max or +p territory.

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Pew pew in my shoe

I have found that the lead semi jacketed 110 gr hollow cavity lead nose work the best for me . I recovered some of my bullets from a bullet trap and they had expanded , fired from a snub , J frame airweight and a ruger LCR . It was a +P load and was accurate . Others might disagree with my choice of bullet weight . It works for me . You will have to find what works best for you . My shots were @ 20 yds .

May not matter for your purposes, but bullets lighter than about 150 grains will usually shoot quite low in a snub nose gun.

I need HS-6, Unique or Blue Dot to get a high +P load out of my J frame snub nose from the little 110gr up to the big 158gr lead bullets.
I ran out of 800-X and save the 2400 for the 357 magnum.

Lots of bullet choices out there.
You just have to pick one you feel good about.

Speer Gold Dot short barrel 135 gr. +P passed the FBI penetration tests, and will expand from a 1.875" snub barrel, per their information. Good enuf for me! A Speer tech told me I could expect "about 920 fps" from my 4".

That's my carry load, and my range load is 158gr. Based on shooting critters, I'd as soon have a 158gr lead SWC as any from a short-barrel .38. The jacket bullets, aside from the 135 gr Sperr short barrel bullet, just don't go fast enough from a snub to reliably expand. I get 860fps (chrono) from a 442 with the 135 SB load.

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Science plus Art

I get the maximum velocity from my snubs using Power Pistol. Unique is very close. When I got velocities in the 950 fps range, the airweight I was using HURT, even with my full Hogue grip, which helps a LOT. The Speer 135 short barrels are designed to expand in the mid 800 fps range, so I figured that I could drop the load back, especially since my wife is using it.

I tried them in my all steel model 36 that I use and the recoil was tolerable, at least to me, but the same load in the mid to upper 800 fps range should be just fine.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

+1 for PP for +P!

My self defense trainer is 6.3 gr of PP under a 158 RNFP hardcast, runs 980 from my 2" 10 and 1100 from my 4" 64

My woods load is one I made up. It will push a 190 hardcast at 925 from my 4" 64. I know some people get anal about not using book data, so I won't post this load.

I'm going to try 2400 next. However, PP is more cost-effective for high-volume loading.

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an actual conservative

I'm another proponent of Power Pistol and a 158!!!

On one hand the reduced load will probably be dirty, but if you don't care about that, it may work well.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

On one hand the reduced load will probably be dirty, but if you don't care about that, it may work well in the .38. I've wondered about it but haven't really searched for data.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

On one hand the reduced load will probably be dirty, but if you don't care about that, it may work well in the .38. I've wondered about it but haven't really searched for data.

Hey, I just looked up 2400 on the Alliant page and it has a .38 +P load for 148 gr. JHP SWC at 1.37 OAL out of a 6" barrel with 9 grains of powder getting 952 fps.

I doubt I'll load these, but it's good to know.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

What reduced load are you referring to?

Look at lyman data from the 70's if you want to see some serious 2400 loads!

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an actual conservative

I'm gonna have to try that!

...25% below max. The working pressure of a .38 +P is significantly less that that of the .357, and being more of a 'magnum' powder could be expected to be dirty at lesser loads. But I don't know why anybody would want to make lesser loads using 2400 powder.

Ah, the 70's. They say nowadays that 'better testing' has reduced loads in general because they 'didn't realize' the pressures they were actually getting. Well, I don't remember guns blowing up back then due to decent book data and guns are proofed to something like a third over max. And old loads that WERE problematic (ex. Speer #8) have been identified and even then they didn't blow up decently made guns.

An old Sierra book said I could put 7 gr. of Unique behind a 125 gr jhp in .38 special. I started working up loads and quit. I didn't feel that it was getting 'unsafe', but they were sure getting 'raucous'.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

This is from the Speer Reloading Manual #8
Defense loads in 2" barrel , 38 special revolvers.
125 grain speer SP. 7.0 grains of Unique @ 1003 fps.
This might be a +P+ load ! The Speer #8 likes to walk on the wild side!
Start with 5.0 grains and work up.
My load worked out at 5.2 grains....that's as much as I felt comfortable with in my 637 Airweight !
Gary

Don't use the Speer#8, pressures are out of sight and dangerous. Speer revamped their pressure system after #8. I started reloading when #8 was new and always had trouble with skyrocketing pressures and dangerous signs of over pressure on primers and cases.
I use modern Speer #14 and the Lyman Pistol manuals.

I bought Speer #8 in 1971 and tried several of the .38 Special and .357 Magnum loads. I have notations next to the data in the manual. I don't recall any high pressure indications, but couldn't imagine using such loads today...

Using Unique behind 158gr. LSWC is a great load to practice in and BB 158gr. for SD .

158swc 4.5 ww231 hits point of aim and will penetrate to vitals. On lung shot inside of 50 yds. puts deer down! Hollow points fail!

I use 7.5 gr of IMR-800X under a 125 gr XTP for my .38+P load.

It's the max load in the 9th Edition Hornady manual.

I get an average of 929 fps in my 1 7/8" Model 36, 951 fps in my 2 1/8" Model 60, 1030 fps in my 3" Model 60, 1100 fps in my 4" Model 10, and 1186 fps in my 6" Model 19.

Post No. 42 in this link shows some data I collected a few years back.

Some .38 Special Chronograph Tests

My favorite +P load for a snubbie is 7.1 grains of Power Pistol under a 125 GR pill. I used CCI 500 primers in my testing and was able to hit an average of 880 FPS from a S&W 438 (1.875" barrel). This was the highest velocity I have hit to date.

7.1 grains of PP is max in the Hornady manuals and is about 0.3 grains more than most of the other manuals.

Mike

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NRA Certified Pistol Inst.