Light 38 Secial Loads W/ Bullseye

[bananaman]

Load data that I have found from Alliant & handload sights has Bullseye 3.2-3.6 gr. for 158 gr. LSWC bullets. I loaded up a box of 3.2 gr. LRN but haven't shot them yet. I am not trying to be cheap, but how light can you go with accuracy? I have seen 148 gr wadcutters loading at 2.5- 2.7 gr.
I am new to Bullseye & Unique. It was there, and I bought it. The only other thing that I have seen is Blue Dot, and that does not suit my needs.
Thanks for any insight! Bob

 

[blazelate]

3.2 sounds right my Speer #14 says 3.1-3.5max. I'm about to load some plated 158 xtremes HPs with 3.2-3.6 and test them.

I use 3.4 g under a 125g xtreme FP (plated) and it's super light and the most accurate out of my 686+. It's below min but I've never had stuck bullets or any pressure issues.

 

[robertrwalsh]

You can get to the point where you are talking arrow velocities and you can almost see the bullet going down range. I don't really recommend that. If all you are talking about it accuracy you could probably go down to 3 grains and see what results you get. I am not sure I would go much below that. (I once incrementally cut down loads for a .44 and got to the point where I had a bullet jam half-way out of the muzzle. The two loads before that I fancied I could see going down range, but I was probably imagining it. I used noncombustible filler in the case to take up some space. It was a neat experiment, but I am unsure how useful it was. Accuracy was decent, kind of like shooting a mortar.)

 

[Nevada Ed]

3.2 with a 158gr Lswc was the minimum in my J frame snub nose but at 3.3grs it also works in my 6" barrel with 750* fps.

2.7grs of Bullseye works in all of my 38 and 357 revolvers when a 148 HBwc is stuffed in a 38 case.

 

[Will2]

My Berrys 38 Spl results...

For what it's worth ... (for info only)

Results using 686 4 inch barrel, 158 Berry Plated FP, 1.455 col, Bullseye powder: (5 shot groups)

3.3 grains. 663 fps. spread 16 fps
3.4 grains. 692 fps. spread 24 fps
3.5 grains. 701 fps. spread 21 fps
3.6 grains. 724 fps. spread 50 fps
3.7 grains. 746 fps. spread 80 fps
3.8 grains. 762 fps. spread 45 fps

Will

 

[OKFC05]

BE will be accurate all the way down to where the bullet sticks in the barrel; that's what you have to watch, and there is no magic absolute minimum for all barrels. A 158gr SWC is easier to stick than a 148gr HBWC. Personally, I see no point in loading a 158gr SWC below 700 fps for practical purposes.

 

[rwsmith]

I've loaded them...

I've loaded them with 2.8 gr BE just like the 148 gr bullet and they shot fine out of a 2" barrel so i had no problem with bullets sticking in the barrel by any means. I would go a tad higher like the book and the prior posters say to be sure.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
Just be careful about small charges of BE.
In PPC the lowest loads were used and Kbooms were not unknown.
So much so that min charges were raised in later manuals.
Also , although many would disagree, I do not use any load even a light
one with out at least a medium to heave crimp.
How many 38spec fwc factory loads have you seen Without a good crimp?

 

[STCM(SW)]

You want a target load, 148 WC with 2.8 gr of BE has been doing it long before I got into target shooting in 1967 with a M19 6" and now my M14-2 6".

 

[John R]

I've burned a lot of BE over the years in 38 special, 158 SWC, three grains at a time.
Great shooting load.

 

[bananaman]

Thanks, I am going to stay with the start point of 3.2 gr. for now as my minimum. I also loaded a box at 3.5gr. Both of these were done w/ commercial 158gr LSWC bullets. Like I stated- new to Bullseye. Have loaded plenty of other stuff. Bob

 

[Jellybean]

Bullseye and Unique have both been around for a very long time and there is a very good reason for that. They are both very versatile, very consistent and very forgiving. And low charges of BE have never kaboomed a gun.

You can load them lower than the manuals say, but there are two main reasons the manuals don't go there. 1) In this age of "fastest is bestest" nobody wants to hear about reduced loads. 2) The minimum load will vary from one situation to the next and if the people don't know what they are doing, they can get hurt.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I've been loading practice .38 Special ammo with Bullseye for over 40 years. 148 WC, 158 SWC, 140 SWC-HP and a few other lead bullets all have done well with 3.0 grains. Never found any reason to change.

 

[Ceapea]

My old Lyman manual (45th, I think) from the 70's lists 2.0gr B.E. from a 6" model 14, for several bullets, including the 148gr and 158gr.
That said, I use 2.3gr and 148's for PPC and I have had great luck with 2.8gr using 158gr bullets. That is all for 50' indoor shooting.

Yes, these are light loads, but every PPC shooter that I personally know uses 2.3gr B.E., or the same of Titegroup.
B.E. works better than T. Group, for me. With over 14K of these loads loaded and shot, I have never had one stick in my 6" PPC guns. Actually, they are real sweet!
And, they are legitimate loads in the older manuals.

 

[rwsmith]

Sticking in the barrel...

My old Lyman manual (45th, I think) from the 70's lists 2.0gr B.E. from a 6" model 14, for several bullets, including the 148gr and 158gr.
That said, I use 2.3gr and 148's for PPC and I have had great luck with 2.8gr using 158gr bullets. That is all for 50' indoor shooting.

Yes, these are light loads, but every PPC shooter that I personally know uses 2.3gr B.E., or the same of Titegroup.
B.E. works better than T. Group, for me. With over 14K of these loads loaded and shot, I have never had one stick in my 6" PPC guns. Actually, they are real sweet!
And, they are legitimate loads in the older manuals.

Soft swaged lead bullets are least likely to stick.

Med- hard cast bullets you have to be more careful.

Don't try going low with jacketed bullets. If not the bullet sticking in the bore, the jacket could stay behined, especially on older standard bullets rather than the new 'bonded' bullets.

 

[Ceapea]

Soft swaged lead bullets are least likely to stick.

Med- hard cast bullets you have to be more careful.

Don't try going low with jacketed bullets. If not the bullet sticking in the bore, the jacket could stay behined, especially on older standard bullets rather than the new 'bonded' bullets.

Yeah, I should have said lead bullets.
But, as for the hard cast bullets go, I have had excellent results using Dardas 148gr DEWC hard cast bullets (16 BHN, I believe) with the 2.3gr B.E. loads.
I'm not saying that you don't need to be careful, heck, that's what handloading should always be all about. I was a little leery about those loads when I first go into PPC and it's ultra light loads. I have since gone as low as 2.1gr, but there was no advantage, maybe even a little degradation, so I went back to 2.3gr.