Continuing with the endeavor to duplicate .38 Special 158gr Lead RN factory ammunition,..as promised, I re-shot the .38 Special trials last Saturday.
It was a blistering 65°F, or so, in the Southern Oregon foothills.



The birds were chirping, the bugs were flyin.. So it was time.
Everything about this trial, including components lots, chono distance, gun, and where I shoot, is exactly the same as last time… ( if you need to catch up, check the link)

38 Spcl Factory Dup. phase 2

only thing different is the weather.
Here is what I came up with;



As anticipated, I had some velocity gains, and some stayed the same.. but what was really weird, some actually lost ground.
The groups tightened up as well as the extreme spreads, for the most part in the warmer weather.

The only load that was close to the Rem factory load was the 4.7grs N-320 load.

The Winchester and Remington factory loads gained a little bit, while the Fed American Eagle stayed the same.

The big gainer was Universal with an increase of 68 fps over last time... I wonder what will happen if I shoot this load in 85°F weather.., followed by Power Pistol with 46 fps gain. Titegroup had a 43 fps increase. SR 7625 had a 34 fps increase.

The velocity losses were a little puzzling..

AA #5.........-77
ZIP .........-30
Red Dot ......-27

The rest of the results are as follows;

Remington factory load .......+13.....Slight gain
Winchester factory load .......+32.....Gain
Fed American Eagle ............ -2 .......Virtually no change

Bullseye .....+10 ..... Slight gain
700-X ........ -7 .....Virtually no change
AA #2 ........ +7 ......Virtually no change
231 ...........+6 ......Virtually no change
HP-38...........+1.......Virtually no change
Unique........ -2 .......Virtually no change
N-320...........+11......Slight gain
Herco ........... -9 ......Virtually no change
SR 4756 ....... -7...... Virtually no change

Giving thought to the idea that 3.5grs of Bullseye behind a 158gr lead RN is the long established factory duplication load, depending on what bullet you were working with and what factory load you were duplicating, could be possible and accurate.

The Remington load is a tough nut to crack staying within published max load data, and using this Speer lead RN bullet.

So the next step will be to see just what it will take to get this Speer bullet to achieve 770fps with the powders tried. Yes, they will be over the listed ‘max’ but now I’m curious. Then again, maybe in 85° weather I’ll get some very different results… We’ll see. Got wait until July or so though..

Maybe later, if I get real ambitious, I’ll try doing this again with another bullet.

Hard at it…





After I posted this I went wild and crazy and loaded some 'hotter' loads just to take a stab at what it would take to get to 770fps.. Bear in mind these loads were shot in a magnum revolver and are NOT standard 38 Special loads. These are +P or hotter loads are NOT to be shot in standard 38 Special chambers. Hopefully that covers the CYA stuff..
This is solely for the entertainment of our viewing audience...