Low-density Powder for .38/.357

[pricedo]

Do load any more until you get a scale to verify charge. Very bad to rely only on volume as that can vary lot to lot. All charges based on weight. Even with Lee dipper I verify with a good scale. You can get one now for less than 50 buck that will work fine

There is nothing to screw up or malfunction with a Lee dipper.
It's a fixed volume in solid plastic.
I'd trust a Lee dipper more than any scale or throw measure.
Some of my best loads are prepared with nothing but Lee dipper set.
Not a scale or measure in the room.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I just think that 2400 powder or slower is not a good chice for the 38 Special case.

In my J frame snub nose, Blue Dot gave me the highest fps with a lead 158gr bullet.
HS-6 had high fps but the recoil to me was a lot harder.
Unique also had high numbers plus a heavy recoil.

I agree whit the others to pick up some Trail Boss for light target use.
A starting load will fill the short 38 case almost 50% and a full
load will be close to the base of a seated bullet.
If you can find it.

 

[Jeff423]

I guess, bottom line, if you trust your machine and powder measure, and the reloading gods, reloading on a progressive could be considered 100% safe (?), but if I couldn't verify the presence of a powder charge or a double charge, I'd suffer from the "tedium" and "too much work" of looking in each case. Maybe because in over 30 years of reloading I had only one squib, and no Kabooms...

There are "powder check" dies for progressive presses. I have two and there may be others. The RCBS fits most progressive presses and will easily detect no powder or a double charge and will lock the press. The Dillon is a little more precise and will "alarm" at smaller variations. I don't know if it fits other presses.

 

[patjmc]

I use a Lee turret and Hornady makes a short very bright LED light strip that sticks to the press and lets you see inside the case. It's pretty cheap and works good. I put some electrical tape on the edge that faces me to shade me from glare. With a .38 and a light load of W231 I use a dental mirror to see down in the case, but everything else I load it's easy to check each one before the bullet is seated.

 

[GeoJelly]

I use a Lee turret and Hornady makes a short very bright LED light strip that sticks to the press and lets you see inside the case. It's pretty cheap and works good. I put some electrical tape on the edge that faces me to shade me from glare. With a .38 and a light load of W231 I use a dental mirror to see down in the case, but everything else I load it's easy to check each one before the bullet is seated.

Wow - now that's attention to detail!! But, I don't blame you - it only takes one double-charged case to turn that prized Model 15 (or 10, or 36 ...) into a paperweight! I wound up going with Universal Clays - it still doesn't fill the case as much as I would like ... but I don't use a progressive anyway.

 

[dr. mordo]

Kind of an old thread, but I've had good results with Universal, which is red colored and which I can see when I look down into the shell while it's still in my Hornady LnL.

That said, I do like Trail Boss. It gets used up fast, but it's pretty much idiot proof. Even a minimum load will fill the case plenty to see. I load it to the recommended max in .38/.357/.44 mag.

The only powder I've had a truly bad experience with is 700x, which meters like a loaf of bread in my Lock and Load powder drop.

You might look into a mid-range powder like Longshot, CFE Pistol, or SR 4756. Because they are slower (but not as slow as 2400), you can use a larger charge that should make them more visible. 800x is another possibility but meters legendarily poorly (I haven't tried it). Also, using lighter bullets allows for a larger powder charge which might get you into you comfort zone.

Something to bear in mind, though, is to get most of these powders up to where they fill the cartridge, you'll be using max loads. So they will be hot!

 

[sniper]

Trail Boss 4.9g gives me 910fps in a .5" group at 25 yards with 6" 357 mag. benchrested.

You can not add any more than 4.9g into the case without compressing.
Trail Boss is never to be compressed !!!

Your load seem a bit warm for Trail Boss.The Hodgdon website says 4.2 gr of TB is a max. load for 357 Magnum.

 

[dr. mordo]

Your load seem a bit warm for Trail Boss.The Hodgdon website says 4.2 gr of TB is a max. load for 357 Magnum.

5.3gr is the published max for 125gr cast lead bullets.

That said, the original instructions for Trail Boss were that the "max load" was as much powder as you could fit in the shell without compression regardless of bullet weight. Hodgdon's current Trail Boss max numbers stem from their desire to keep lead bullets well under 1000 fps.

Any Hodgdon recipe for a lead bullet has to be taken with a grain of salt, as the actual max is likely much higher than what they publish. Drives me crazy.

 

[StakeOut]

Trail Boss for $17 = a yes but you're only getting 9oz of powder.

Trail Boss is the only powder I use in 44spl where I'm dropping 4.0gr or more in my Lee Classic Turret Press with Lee Auto Disk Pro.

Dropping smaller amounts of TB in 38spl cases is not good with the Auto Disk.Very inconsistent powder drops and sometimes no powder dropped.

If you use a dipper TB may work OK but IMO Bulleseye is still the best powder for 38spl target loads,,,,,5.0gr of Unique for 38spl+P
YMMV

 

[Nevada Ed]

Sniper post #67;
Your load seem a bit warm for Trail Boss.The Hodgdon website says 4.2 gr of TB is a max. load for 357 Magnum.

I load a 38 special case in my 686 with 4.2grs for 770fps.

In a 357 case I load 4.7grs for 788fps for a maximum loading.

 

[derek45auto]

I think it's folly to try to mostly fill the case.

reloading requires care, and paying attention.

some of the most accurate loads I've worked up do not come near filling the case.

powders like titegroup, CLAYS, w231/HP38 are capable of great accuracy in most pistol rounds.

..but they don't fill the case.

(economy is also better with faster burn rate powders.)