38 Spl., 145 gr. Hitek lead RN bullet with Titegroup, load information

[taz666]

I understand ... what I've seen is when the alloy fails so does the coating. Not that the coating is at fault. My experience would be that a coated 12bhn alloy bullet can't be pushed to 2400 fps velocity without coating failure due to alloy breakdown.

 

[rwsmith]

I understand ... what I've seen is when the alloy fails so does the coating. Not that the coating is at fault. My experience would be that a coated 12bhn alloy bullet can't be pushed to 2400 fps velocity without coating failure due to alloy breakdown.

Yes, that is a different animal. The bullets need to be constructed to take it. I see Missouri's rifle bullets are 18 bhn. I also see that their .357 magnum bullets are 18 bhn while their .38 special bullets are 12 bhn.

 

[taz666]

My fault for not being clearer.

 

[Yendor357]

What velocity are you hoping to achieve?

Do you own a chronograph?
Or, are you going to throw some powder in some cases and hope for the best?

 

[DogGoneD]

That's great, then you're good to go. I've slugged a lot of barrels over the years, and they vary in size, depending on how new the reamer was the factory used on them. I've found .38 barrels that were .356" in diameter (a Colt Python) and 9x19 barrels as large as .359" (a Browning Hi-Power). The standard SAAMI groove diameter of the .38 Special barrel is .355", and the bore diameter is .346", which is why some folks are able to use 9x19 and .38 bullets interchangeably.

The important factor in revolver accuracy is the chamber mouths in the cylinder, or throats. If they're consistent, the revolver will have a tendency to shoot more accurately, if the bullets are sized to the throats, rather than the barrel. I know this is off topic, but I threw it in just to let you know that even if those bullets were meant for 9x19 or .38 Super, they might also work well for .38 Special.

Load them up and enjoy.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Thanks very much!

 

[DogGoneD]

Here's data for a 140 grain bullet from the Hornady manual.

Thank you for the Hornady load data for the 140 gr. Bullet. Based on this I am going to try 3.8 gr. of Titegroup for the 145 gr. bullet.

 

[DogGoneD]

The Hi-Tek coating is good for up to like 2400 fps. So load to your hearts content, just like cast alloy bullets. I use my Lyman book and data for a 148 gr. cast. There is a couple of old Lyman books available in PDF online. This bullet is 5 gr. heavier than what you are using so a few tenths of a grain more than 3.5 as has been suggested.

View attachment 790562

Thank you for the load data.

 

[DogGoneD]

Shot em didn't care for them. They smelled funny. Used em in .38 Special too. Just use load data for say 150gr bullets. In this case just look at data for a 148-150 grain cast bullet, any style, from any manual and everything will be fine!



View attachment 790631

Thank you sir.

 

[DogGoneD]

What velocity are you hoping to achieve?

Do you own a chronograph?
Or, are you going to throw some powder in some cases and hope for the best?

I am not trying to achieve a specific velocity. Just a mild load.
I do not have a chronograph.
Thanks.