Do any of you use Bullseye for your .38 Special 158 grain SWC handloads? If so, your thoughts?

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I believe in the wadcutter.

I use bullseye with the 158 swc for shooting steel plates and I have always been satisfied with it. I do not shoot for groups with my old eyes but it is accurate for the shooting I do.

I have used bullseye for years with 158 gr LSWC. Many people use 2.7 gr but 3.5 gr is my favorite load. Very accurate load in my 6-6.5" barrel revolvers. I use titegroup in my .45acp revolvers and I am sure it would work as well but why mess with a long time standard.

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Revolver luvin' Mountaineer

3.5 BE 158 SWC very accurate and pleasent to shoot!

What gun are and barrel lenghth you going to shoot it out of and what are you trying to accomplish

I have a dedicated Lee Turret plate full of dies with an auto-disk powder measure set up for 3.5gr of Bullseye behind 158gr LSWC (18BHN - tumbled with ALOX) because my 4" M15-3 loves the combination and the rest of my collection that will shoot .38spl ammo, either likes it a lot or at least tolerates it well.

I'm not into competitive shooting, so I'm not looking for the maximum velocity, accuracy or consistency, in fact I'm just an old curmudgeon that likes to put lead downrange and hit what I'm aiming at occasionally.

Basically, it is my reloading equivalency for buying bulk ammo for plinking, but at a much lower price and if I do my part, always in stock.

John

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

Model 10 and Model 15. I have a lot of Bullseye powder and I want a Bullseye go-to load.

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I believe in the wadcutter.

Yep, 3.5 gr of Bullseye, topped off with the 158 gr works very good in my revolvers. Ive been useing that load for years. Another good note is that is the load my wife shoots as well. Very accurate and pleasent to shoot. Enjoy.

With regards to the 158 grain SWC, is 3.5 grains of Bullseye analogous to 5.0 grains of Unique?

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I believe in the wadcutter.

Since 1980 3.0 grains in a 38 Spl case or 3.5 grains in a 357 case. Been great in a model 14 or 66, and 686 6" and 586 4". Very mild and very accurate.

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USPSA A5651
IDPA A47232

3.5gr of Bullseye is THE load for 158gr LSWC! I have used it in competition for a couple of decades now!

If you want to try something completely different, try 3.5 gr of Bullseye under a 158gr LCSWC

Seriously good load in all of my revolvers.

FrankD

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sona si latine loqueris .

From the Speer manual it is pretty close with a 6" barrel using their bullet and a CCI primer.

3.5 Bullseye yields 814 fps and 4.7 of Unique yields 815 fps

Of course all this changes with any variation of components, test conditions etc.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Don't double charge with bullseye. Weird things tend to happen.
Don't under -charge with bullseye. Weird things tend to happen.

Yet another vote for 3.5 gr. Bullseye with a 158 gr. LSWC. It's been a standard load for generations... with good reason.

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Andy

To add a twist to this thread how might the prevailing load suggestion work with a gas-check boolit if I cheaped out and left the check off?

I have a Lyman 358156 (and my first ever box of checks showed up today) I plan to push hard over WW296 for the .357s but am toying with the idea of light loaded and checkless for .38.

I have never loaded a round with Bullseye. I was afraid of a double charge, when i started reloading. I used Unique for years to load my general loads. I think I may have missed out on something, as Bullseye users are very loyal. One thing I always thought was that a home caster who scrounged his lead, and loaded with Bullseye, and primers bought in bulk is shooting cheap and well.

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Exactly!

Some folks worry about double charges. If your process is good and you are consistent, it is a very unlikely thing.

That being said, it still is possible. I'll tell you the powder that scares me concerning the possibility of a multiple charge going unnoticed, Titegroup. I think you could quadruple a 3.5gr charge of it and still get a bullet in the case!


Good process will eliminate a lot of trouble.

FWIW

I have one powder measure permanently set at 3.5 gns of BE because I use that powder charge for cast loads in 38 Special (158), 9x18 (98) and 9x19 (124).

.............

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Andy

I can't add anything that hasn't been said already. The only two loads I use for .38 Special are 3.5gr. Bullseye and 4.5gr. Unique under a 158gr. LSWC. The Bullseye load gets loaded much, much more simply because it meters better than Unique.

I have not tried it but since the gas check does not ride the lands and grooves it should have no effect. I shoot bevel based bullets with no problem so shooting without the GC should not cause problems either. The main purpose of the GC is to allow hotter loads without leading. 3.5 bullseye is not a hot load. JMHO

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Revolver luvin' Mountaineer

Another nod to 3.5 grains of Bullseye. Shoots real nice.

That is close. My question was poorly asked on my part. What I was trying to get at was 5.0 grains of Unique under a 158 grain SWC is a sort of an evergreen load that folks have been using for years with no fuss and no muss. Is the 3.5 grains of Bullseye load considered the same way?

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I believe in the wadcutter.

I've read different places that the original Smokeless load for 38 Special was either 3.5 gns of BE or 3.6 gns of BE under a 158gn bullet. Given that both the 38 Special and Bullseye powder are pre-1900 developments it's very likely that the very first reloader to put smokeless powder in a 38 Special case under a 158 gn bullet was using one of these two powder charges.

So it's probably not too far off the mark to say that everyday for the last 110 years someone, somewhere has been dropping a 3.5 gn charge of BE in a 38 Special case and seating a 158gn bullet on top.

I've loaded that one and it did very well but try Red Dot it's even cheaper and cleaner too.
low flash if you load hi-power charges made for dusk/darkness too better for this from longer bbls.
did I say cheap too?

I have shot as high as 4.5g of Bullseye with 158g semiwadcutters, in 38 special cases. I had no problems, but discontinued this practice after some forum members pointed out that it exceeded any published +P data.

Used 3.5 grs as my standard load in the past and Lyman cast data with 4.0 grs for +P. Both real accurate. I used the +P load in a 357 Mag revolver.

Here's another fan of 3.5 gr Bullseye. it works very well with Lyman's 158 gr RN bullets too. They just don't make as nice of a hole in the target as do the WCs or SWCs.

John

If your really worried about bbl charging try 10.5 gr. of IMR4227. Just about fills a 38sp. case. Good target round too. Just sayin.

I haven't loaded it for some years, but at one time I found 4.0 grains of BE with a 158 grain lead SWC was a dependably good load for a .38 Special. Not a pipsqueak.

I'm with DWalt , for yrs I used 4.0 grs of Bullseye and 5.0 grs of Unique for my 38spl loads using a 158 gr cast bullet in a model 15 , 4" . They both served me well.

Ditto the 3.5 of BE with the 158 SWC.

I also use 2.8 BE with the 148 WC in .38 special. (any barrel length)

4.0 BE with a 200 SWC in .45 ACP

4.5 BE with a 215 SWC in .44 special (any barrel length)

Years ago when I first started reloading I was taught that once cases were primed and ready to charge, you only handled one case at a time. Charge the case then place the bullet and seat it without the case leaving your hand.

Greatly reduces, eliminates the possibility of a double charge.

Both my K and L frame 6" revolvers like a target load that has a
158gr Lswc bullet in a 38 case with a OAL of 1.48" and cci primer
with.........
3.3 grs of Bullseye that matches the factory load at 756 fps.

This is with a medium crimp and can be shot all day long without any problems
and it is one of my most accurate loads with this bullet weight
under the 800 fps window.

This load is also accurate in my J frame snub nose doing 651fps.
752fps is possible with a lot more powder but why..............?

I've been loading Hornady Frontier Lead 158 grain SWC and have found for my 4.25" 686 that 3 grains of Bullseye in a 357 case has given the best accuracy on paper at 20 yards.

Attached Images

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That can be said for every powder , not just Bullseye!
Gary

I was going to be really original and state that I've used 3.5 grains of Bulls-Eye with 158 grain lead bullets, but y'all beat me to it.

I've always used 2.7gr to 3.2gr in a 38spl case under a hard cast 158gr SWC and never over the 3.2gr.

A 3.2gr charge of Red Dot also works well.

I do load 3.5gr of BE in 357mag cases for punching holes in paper.

That being said I've loaded a ton of 38spl with 5.0gr of Unique

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

I use around 3 grains of BE for loads using the 158 gr. swaged lead SWC put out by Speer.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I use around 3 grains of BE for loads using the 158 gr. swaged lead SWC put out by Speer.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

rwsmith;

Are you starting to stutter now........ ?

Ditto for me too, 3.5 BE for me too!

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NRA Life Member
CPO

What kind of velocity is that load supposed to produce?

I used to use Bullseye a lot, but have gotten more nervous about how hard it is to spot an accidental double-charge in a case, especially when using a progressive loader, which I use occaisionally.
And I am very careful about my reloading technique.

Skip got a big ding several years ago. I wish he would come back under a different name. He was the best.

And another YES for 3.5 gr BE and 158

In years past, I shot PPC. My go to loads were 2.7 BE under a 148 DEWC from 25 yards on in and 2.9 BE same boolit for the 50 yard line. Sometimes 3.0 from 50 if it was real windy. At any rate, Bullseye and the .38 Special seem to be a perfect match. Currently for general target loads, 158 grain Semi Wad and 4.0 grains on Unique have been working quite well. Just my thoughts....

4.0g of Bullseye under a 158g SWC is my favorite combo.

I love the way that old threads often come back to life on this forum.

Yes he was.

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Where we go one, we go all

Never trusted myself with BE, make mine 4.9 grains of Unique. Much less likely to do a double charge. Saw someone else touch off a double charge of BE in a Model 10 years ago, wasn't pretty.