38 Short Colt load data for ICORE/USPSA

[Eddie Vierra]

Hi Ive been shooting a S&W PC 627 for about 7 months now, and am looking for a reliable 38 Short Colt load.

Does anyone have a recipe that they like and have been using for awhile with good results?

thanks in advance

[Hang-Fire Hank]

Eddie: I'm curious. I know the PF for Major is 165. What is the min for Minor & do you think you'll reach that with a 38 Short Colt cartridge?

Hank M.

[scooter123]

Hank, if he treats that short case like a 9mm parabellum he should have no problem reaching Minor with a Short Colt case. In my readings on the NET this case has become the hot ticket for competition because it's easier to insert a fully loaded moon clip into the cylinder with the short case. I also suspect that a Starline Short Colt case will be dimensionally identical to their 357 Magnum cases in regards to wall thickness with the only difference being case length. So, I would expect a Starline Short Colt case to tolerate loading at 9mm pressures very well.

[Terry L Grimm]

High my name is Terry L Grimm from Anderson Texas Iam new to re loading I have only been reloading about two years or more. I have reload hundreds of spencer bullets using 50 70 cases and over 550 ACPs and just as meny 45 Long Colts. But nowI have a new toy it's a 1851 pietta black powder completely re work by Howell Old West Conversion to a 38LC. But I Wont to reload 38LC with 158gr Lead Round Nose bullets using eather Trail Boss or Titegroup powder. Lee's reloading book only list up to a 150gr bullet start at 1.8Grs for Trail Boss and 2.3Grs for Titegroup and when I called Hodgon they had the same load data as Lee and they told me that I would need to reduce the load shown .But they couldn't tell me by how much. So you can see I need help from some of you guys that have been reloading a lot longer than me !

[GeoJelly]

Up front - I don't have a chrono - but this load is mild and is accurate at seven yards. I don't shoot ICORE/USPSA so I don't know about their target distances. I use a Speer 110-g GDHP over 4.3-g of Power Pistol and Win SP primers. No pressure signs on cases or primers - and it recoils less than .38 Spec non+P in my 360J. Since there is so little .38SC data - I used .380 data - and reduced it since I am using a .357 bullet i/o .355/.356 and a bullet that's 10-g heavier than the 100-g data for .380. The first rounds were fired in my SP-101 just in case there might be some pressure issues. GD's have a medium crimp in the crimping groove - and I took a shot of the load with a factory .380 to show how much longer it is ...

[Ivan the Butcher]

When Trail Boss first came out, they gave instructions for developing your own loads.

1) measure the distance from the crimping canalure to the bottom of the bullet.

2) Measure the depth of the inside of the case you are using. When you change the bullet or the brand of case, you need to do this all over!

3) subtract the crimped bullets length and 1/16 to 1/8 inch from the total depth.

4) fill case with Trail Boss to this point, then weigh the powder. That is your charge weight.

IMPORTANT!!! never use a compressed charge of Trail Boss, the pressures go nuts!

Tip: I get some amazing accuracy with Trail Boss in a few different Cartridges using 1/16" space. Others are only OK. You won't know until you try.

Ivan