38 special with red dot or green dot??

[bmcgilvray]

bmcgilvray, we appreciate the info and the time and trouble of getting it.

Red Dot and Green Dot have always been stellar performers for me in all handgun calibers. Alliant however is trying to designate handgun and shotgun powders in two separate categories now days and is not giving out data for dual applications which I think is amiss.

bmcgilvray did you check windage and get the spotting scope out before you shot that 10 yard group?

No man. Just take any excellent and accurate Model 14 K-38 with a barrel so long it reaches half way to the target and you're there.

 

[johngalt]

I'm gonna say it was the bullet lube, not the powder. I've not had that problem with jacketed or plated bullets. Lube smokes though.

In general, I agree with you. With the same lead bullet, some powders produce more smoke than others. For example, with Hornady swaged bullets Green Dot smokes much more than W231 or even Bullseye. Universal smokes much more than Unique.

Not that I care about how much smoke it makes, just something I noticed. I've read complaints from others about smoke so thought I would mention it.

I had an 8 lb jug of Bullseye that got me through the scare, so didn't need to scrounge. Never tried Red Dot, but Green Dot was a good .45 auto powder.

 

[kbm6893]

I started reloading with red dot and 158 grain swc bullets. It was very smokey, but I could deal with that. But it did not
Meter well. Very inconsistent. I use HP38 for .38 and 9MM now and it drops dead on every time.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

...some powders produce more smoke than others.

Slightly off subject but that reminded me, last week I was shooting (100) 44 Mags I loaded with 10.5 & 11.0gr of CFE-P (on a 12gr. max) with Xtreme 240gr P-RNFP bullets. Both grouped well with my new M69 2-3/4" but I realized there was a lot of black smoke in the air after I fired off a cylinder full. Obviously not lube caused. I'm suspecting it's because CFE-P is flash supressed. Never got that with CFE-P in any of my smaller caliber cartridges before though. Odd.

.

 

[franzas]

Slightly off subject but that reminded me, last week I was shooting (100) 44 Mags I loaded with 10.5 & 11.0gr of CFE-P (on a 12gr. max) with Xtreme 240gr P-RNFP bullets. Both grouped well with my new M69 2-3/4" but I realized there was a lot of black smoke in the air after I fired off a cylinder full. Obviously not lube caused. I'm suspecting it's because CFE-P is flash supressed. Never got that with CFE-P in any of my smaller caliber cartridges before though. Odd.

.

AA9 (also flash suppressed) does the same thing in my 10mm shooting jacketed. I find the flash suppressant makes AA9 "dirtier."

Side by side in the 10 at night, BE-86 produces a golf ball-sized red flash and AA9 produces one even smaller and darker. Amazing. If you want a SD load for night time, I highly recommend these two. The load tested was a 180 Gold Dot at 1200 fps.

 

[cowboy4evr]

I like Accurate #9 , but it leaves a black film on the outside of the cases . It's not from being loaded too low of pressure . I load in 357 mag , 41 mag and 44 mag , top end loads . I have always thought it was flash suppressant residue .

 

[bananaman]

bmcgilvray, we appreciate the info and the time and trouble of getting it.

Red Dot and Green Dot have always been stellar performers for me in all handgun calibers. Alliant however is trying to designate handgun and shotgun powders in two separate categories now days and is not giving out data for dual applications which I think is amiss.

bmcgilvray did you check windage and get the spotting scope out before you shot that 10 yard group?

I was using Green Dot for .38 Special. there is not much data. I contacted Alliant, and they sent me pages of handgun data for G.D. I was happy! Bob

 

[gwpercle]

Red Dot is very close to Bullseye and thus excellent for cast 148 grain target wadcutter loads with 2.8 grains of Red Dot. Very mild and accurate target load.
Gary

 

[hdwhit]

bmcgilvray wrote:
I've used ... Green Dot in the .38 Special ... Don't have notes on the Red Dot, but do have some testing notated for Green Dot.
148 grain TVB DEWC/3.7 grains Green Dot

I got some spotty results with 3.7 gr Green Dot but they were generally consistent with what you got. Of course the inconsistency may have something to do with the fact the powder I was using was more than 30 years old.

The Green Dot loads I made up also were sensitive to the degree of crimp. A mild crimp produced inconsistent velocities and a heavier crimp produced more uniformity. Again, because of the age of the powder my results may not be typical, but it seemed that the tiny charge of Green Dot needed the delay in bullet movement provided by the heavier crimp to build up consistent pressure.

 

[DWalt]

Red Dot works fine for .38 Special light target loads. Green Dot is better in heavier loads.

 

[crsides]

I have used RD off and on for 57 yrs. From the same can. My Dad and uncle reloaded shotgun shells back in the paper hull days and had a metal drum of it. Still using it on light 38 spl and 45acp loads. Velocity jumps up every 20 yrs or so. (just kidding)

Charlie

 

[TAROMAN]

3.7 Green Dot under a 148 DEWC seemed to be pretty warm to me.
Loaded 10 using my digital dispenser.
Shot them in my 6" 28-2 over the chrono:

LDEWC 148 Green Dot 3.7 LO 861.00 HI 943.00 AVG 891.00 ES 82.00 SD 23.87

I've used Red Dot and Green Dot in the .38 Special for target loads with good results. Don't have notes on the Red Dot, but do have some testing notated for Green Dot.


148 grain TVB DEWC/3.7 grains Green Dot


6-Inch Barrel
MV: 690 fps
ME: 156 ft./lbs.
ES: 31 fps
SD: 13 fps