Picked up a box to load 38 Special because I was feeling too lazy to cast and lube my own bullets. I loaded a test batch up with 3.6 gns of Bullseye, Wolf SP primers and my usual mixed brass. If I use a slight crimp at the cannelure the OAL is 1.44".

Haven't got to the range yet but has anyone used these bullets? Anything about this load raise any red flags for you? I'll be shooting them in a 10-6.

That's a very light load. I'd be careful. Plated bullets have more friction. Most say bump the load a little to make up for the friction. I'd try a few and make sure they make it out of the barrel. I loaded a few 148gr with 3.0gr Bullseye and a few stuck in my 8 3/8" Barrel.

My 686 6" with a 158gr XTP real copper coated bullet and Bullseye powder with that load reached 770fps in one of my test loads.
Red Dot did 832 and a +P load of Unique did 976fps.......
all c/o a 38 special case.

With light loads, ALWAYS look for a new hole in the target or flying dust, to be on the safe side.

You did not state if that was a lead or plated bullet, since that company makes both types.

Good shooting.

Thanks for the input, they are plated bullets. I'll proceed with caution but I'm surprised 3.6gns of BE is considered a light 38 Special load. That has been my standard 158 gn cast 38 Special load for a long time but this is my first venture into plated bullets.

I learned how to disassemble a new Winchester 1892 after sticking that exact bullet and charge of Bullseye about 2/3 of the way down the barrel. I never had any trouble with cast bullets, that was my standard 158gr SWC load for target shooting revolvers and I just started using them in the '92 when I got it. I bought a box of the Xtreme plated bullets for use in the carbine and thought I could use the same powder charge. That was my lesson in the "stickiness" of plated bullets. I don't mess around anymore, 5.8gr of unique in a .357 case with the 158gr plated flat point for the '92 and the '73.

Well, does anyone have a recommended 38 Special load for this bullet?

I shoot a ton of 158 Campro plated bullets over 3.5 grains of Bullseye in my 14-3 with 8-3/8” barrel and is a very accurate load.

I would call X-treme and ask them for their loading suggestions.

I use Xtreme plated bullets, both 125gr and 158gr. I use starting loads for jacketed bullets, HP-38 in my case. Jacketed bullets should have more friction than plated ones, since the thickness of the plating for plated bullets is less than that of jacket bullets.
The 9th ed. of the Hornady loading handbook shows the starting load for a 158gr XTP bullet is 3.4gr of BE. The MV is given as 600FPS from a S&W 4" M15. This is about what I get from my 158gr plated bullets, and a starting load of HP-38.

Best,
Rick

Bullseye is not the best for 357. I did some tests with 6gr for 158 and 7gr for 125 plated out of a Henry and Marlin. Did pretty good ... accuracy was ok. Dirty powder.

X-tremes suggestion was to buy their reloading manual. As this is my first venture into plates bullets I'm a little reluctant to buy a product dedicated manual with such a narrow application. My Speer manual shows 4.3 gns of BE as the starting load for 158gn jacketed bullets in 38 Special so I may work my way up to that in small increments and see what happens. I'd prefer to use BE if I can find a good load, but I also have Unique, W231, Universal and SR4756 on hand.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I used the xtreme with 4.3 of w231. It shoots well out of a 4 inch k frame and my 636

Is that with .357 brass ?

I get 690 f/s from 3.4 BE, Xtreme 158 FP, 1..455 COL in a 38 Spl cartridge, 4 inch 686...

Accuracy seems just fine. My wife likes the recoil level, so never upped the powder to try and improve accuracy.

Will

38 special

I use Bullseye 4.2 for 158 FN/FMJ OAL at 1.42 crimp at the cannelure in 38 SPC 642. Works for me at 10 to 15 yrds. That gun’s ruff at any distance. A 357 must be even more so. Any less than 4.2 just didn’t work that well. You could push it a little but it's what works in you gun.

W231 will match Bullseye for speed in your loads as well as in 9mm loads.

The SR4756 powder will get high FPS loads but take care, since it can jump to HIGH Pressures
when it is near the top end in a 357 Magnum loading.
If changing primers you need to drop down and work up again, since my chrony figures
were all over the place, with this one powder.

Went tot he range this morning and tried the 3.6gn BE loading. Since this was just a function test I was only shooting 25'. Shooting a 4" S&W 10-5 all but one round fired fine. The misfire was due to what was apparently a dead primer. Been a long time since I ran into one of those but I guess it happens. I cycled it twice just to make sure it was not a high primer.

At 25' the group was about 2" above POA and around 1" high and 3" wide. Obviously some operator error was at play here. This was a comfortable load to shoot but I'm going to try another batch at 3.8, 4.0 and 4.2 for comparison before I run a large lot or try a different powder.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

I’ve used in 357 Magnum cases 6.0 grs Unique and 158 gr plated bullets. Avg ten shot string - 989 FPS from 4 5/8 Ruger Blackhawk. Good heavy 38 +P velocity loading in 357 cases, but I prefer lead bullets in that application.

...now I’m experimenting duplicating 38 Spl +P 125 gr sjhp loadings using 125 gr plated bullets again with Unique.