Cast LSWC Same as SWC Data?

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kbm6893

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Finally finished my Red Dot and will be moving on to HP-38 for my .38 loads. Hope it's cleaner than Red Dot because shooting that was fine other than the greasy smoke and residue it leaves on the gun. Anyway, the data I could find lists a 158 grain Cast LSWC. I am shooting Missouri Bullet Company's 158 grain SWC. I am sure the data applies but just want to be sure.
 
What were your loads? Red Dot burns cleanly when loaded to proper pressures. Unfortunately, 38 special is a very low pressure cartridge. Plus a lot of smoke comes from the lube especially if the bullet is not sealing the bore and the hot gases blow by the bullet and gas cut the lube before the bullet seals up the bore if it ever does.

Yes LSWC and SWC are the same. Most SWC's are lead and the ones that aren't are usually plated, not jacketed and still use the same data.
 
My most accurate load with a 158gr Lead bullet out of my
6" 38 special at 755 fps was with Red Dot.
It beat out Bullseye, w231 and the new CFE pistol powder.

Good luck on your field test and the new powder.
 
SWC indicates a Semi-Wadcutter, can be jacketed, cast or swaged. LSWC indicates a Lead Semi-wadcutter, can be cast or swaged. But, you have to assume that a SWC offered by a commercial bullet caster will be cast lead semi-wadcutters.

Greasy smoke and residue are more than likely than not to be from the bullet lube and not the powder...
 
rsrocket1 said:
What were your loads? Red Dot burns cleanly when loaded to proper pressures. Unfortunately, 38 special is a very low pressure cartridge. Plus a lot of smoke comes from the lube especially if the bullet is not sealing the bore and the hot gases blow by the bullet and gas cut the lube before the bullet seals up the bore if it ever does.

Yes LSWC and SWC are the same. Most SWC's are lead and the ones that aren't are usually plated, not jacketed and still use the same data.
Click to expand...

3.2-3.4 grains. Recipe called for 3.0-3.4 for standard and up to 3.8 for +P. 98% of them were 3.2 grains, bur Red Dot doesn't meter very well so I allowed .1 grains either way.
 
The usual answer to questions about smoke and residue on the gun
from handloads with cast bullets is as above, the culprit is the bullet
lube. But of course there's more to the story. Some powders do
produce more smoke and residue than others, Bullseye being one of
the worst offenders. It's been popular for many years as a target load
powder but it leaves a greasy black residue on the gun than is filthy.
To complicate the issue, any powder that isn't loaded to a high enough
pressure to burn cleanly will smoke more. You don't say how much
HP38 you plan to use but it's burn rate is a little slower than Red Dot
so charge weights need to be increased over those of Red Dot to
achieve the same velocity. In my experience with 231/HP38 with 158
gr cast bullets anything less than 3.8 grs smokes quite a bit. It does
meter more consistently than Red Dot. In general the lighter the load
is the faster the powder burn rate needs to be for reasonably clean
burning.
 
The crimp groove of SWC bullets determines the seating depth. It will vary depending on who formed the bullets or will vary with different mold numbers. Seating depth of SWC is usually deeper than round nose styles of the same weight.

Compare the seating depth of your bullet to the bullet in the reloading manual. Sometimes they are surprisingly different, and loading data will require adjustment.
 
Try some COATED bullets. They will not smoke because there is no lube. They also keep the barrel clean. I've shot thousands and no lead in the barrel. Do a search on line and you will find lots of dealers.
 
Not to rain on your parade, but, in my experience, HP-38 is really no cleaner than Red Dot when shooting lead bullets.
 
slickracer said:
Not to rain on your parade, but, in my experience, HP-38 is really no cleaner than Red Dot when shooting lead bullets.
Click to expand...

Oh well. I can always clean the guns (and I do after shooting them). As long as it meters better I'm OK with it. I can use it for 9MM too.

As for not using lead, I might do that. I'm just punching paper so I'm looking for cheapest way to do that. And I've already got 1500 rounds loaded and 500 more lead bullets waiting to be loaded, so it's gonna be a LONG time until I shoot anything else.
 
shocker said:
Back to the OP, the "starting load" is well named.
Click to expand...

Is there such a dramatic shift from 3.2 grains to the max load of 3.4? As I said, the majority of my rounds are 3.2 on the nose. Some are a hair higher, and none were lower. If they weigh lower I raise it to 3.2 using a trickler.
 
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