38spl load recipes for 180gr Lead

[Skip Sackett]

Brother Paul,
The issue isn't 158gr @ 1000fps for 351ft/lbs. It is a 200gr @ 745fps for 247ft/lbs which is nearly half of the 400ft/lbs you mentioned.

What the 40S&W will give you at the data you provide is quicker recovery than the 1300fps 357 round you mentioned and a whole lot more of them.

Maybe not needed on the dirt roads in your area shooting hogs BUT in a big city where the gang bangers have hi-cap 9mm or whatever, I want the auto and a box of rounds. Which is what you carry in just a little over 3 magazines.

I wish it was like where you liver everywhere else, but it isn't.

 

[Paul5388]

Skip,

Just to be clear on the matter, I do own a 9mm and I do have a 32 round magazine for it.

BTW, 247 ft lbs is ~62% of 400 ft lbs.

 

[Hoptob]

Paul,

I want to second Skip's comment. There is no disrespect to glorious .38 spl caliber in our posts. Each of us would have little problem loading .38 spl to exceed ME of a regular .40 S&W. I was rather wondering about low power of the factory loads offered to cops some 50 years ago. It seems strange that uniformed LEO would opt to carry 6" revolver loaded with plinking rounds on duty.

Mike

P.S. When I carry G23 (which is rare) it's loaded with Remington 165 grainers at 485 ft*lb. But when I carry 2-3/4" Ruger SpeedSix it's loaded with Remington 125 grainers at 502 ft*lb.

 

[Paul5388]

Yep, I shoot 165 gr bullets too. However, I'm getting about 1275 fps with them out of .38 Special brass at 596 ft lbs, but that gun is kinda slow.

With just a little more juice, I think I can get .38 Special LSWCs to 1200 fps out of a 2". I'm only getting 1100 fps right now.

 

[Joel C]

Bro. Paul, what load are you using for the 1275fps? Wow! That sounds like my old "EUP Lode" for 38spl.

 

[Paul5388]

Elmer's load of 13.5 gr of 2400 with a 165 gr (358429) LSWC in .38 Special brass is what I used, but remember, it's for N frames and the like. I was using a 6" M28-2.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
The 200gr load was similar to the old English
loads. Heavy and slow.
The idea was to have the bullet go unstable
{turn from side to side like modern military
fmj's} when it hit.
This was before the advent of smokless,jackets,
and modern type hollowpoints.
The lower energy of the 38 does not translate into greater power for the 40 as the bullet does not expand but turns to make a bigger wound..
In a hollow point a large amount of energy is
applied to the bullet to make it expand,
not to the target.
The trick is to keep it slow.