Low recoil .38 Jacketed

[Gearhead Jim]

I'd like to work up some very low recoil loads for practice in my 340PD. These will use 125 JHP bullets; which compared to lead are cleaner, give less airborne lead, no leading, and I can also hot load the same bullets to duplicate my carry loads. And I've already got a bunch of them.

The powder will be WW231, I've got lots of it and it's fairly suitable for light loads.

Speer edition 13 is very concerned about getting a bullet stuck in the bore with light loads and JHP bullets, their minimum load with 231 is 5.6 gr for the 125 JHP and they caution against reducing that. They don't give any data at all for the 158 gr JHP because of low velocity. It also tells you NOT to use the loads in rifles, presumably because of the stuck-bullet issue.

Hornady is much less worried, their 4th edition shows 4.3 gr 231 and the 6th edition increases that a little to 4.8 gr but gives the same velocity.

In the past, I've fired a lot of low velocity 110 gr JHP bullets without problems, but don't have the load data any more.

Have any of you guys used really light JHP loads in the .38? Had any stuck bullets?

 

[OKFC05]

My old Winchester book shows 4.8 as min for 125gr jacketed and I've never considered going below that. If that load is too stout for you, I'd switch to plated for practice. The plated can be shot lighter without sticking.

Being cautious (and maybe lucky) I've never stuck a .38 bullet. I have removed squibs in matches for others (mostly semi-autos).
We have one shooter in the club who lives to try loads outside the manufacturer's lists, and he has ruined 2 barrels by shooting the 2nd shot after a stuck bullet.

 

[FrankD45]

Be VERY careful with light loads and jacketed bullets. I loaded some 158 gr Hornady HP-XTP's over 4.4 gr of W-231. This is a middle of the road load but we succeeded in stuffing at least 4 of them into a Colt Army Special .38 and bulging the barrel. The three of us that were present all agree that all rounds sounded normal and that there was no indication of trouble until we noticed the jacket hanging out of the muzzle. We think the cause was a combination of a modest load, a hard jacket (made for .357 maybe), and a rough bore. In case you are interested, it took my 'smith about 5 hours of drilling, pounding, and scrubbing to clear the tube. I have since fired some 158 gr LCSWC through it with acceptable accuracy.

I hope that helps,

Frank

 

[NKJ nut]

I would stick with the loads in the Speer manual. Sticking bullets in the bore is a very real possibility with lighter loaded jacketed bullets.

 

[handgunner356]

If you really want cleaner with light recoil I would also say go with plated bullets from Berry or Rainier. They load more in line with lead and are much less likely get stuck.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I just went to the Hodgdon Powder website, which also has Winchester powders. Looking under .38 Special, 125 gr Hornady XTP; they show a starting load as 4.3 gr WW231.

Hmmmmm.....

 

[Cyrano]

I stuck jacketed bullets twice in a K-38 with an 8 3/8 inch barrel. In one of them the nose of the bullet was projecting out of the muzzle. The other one was back a couple of inches; I don't know if it would have exited a 6 inch barrel. In a revolver, it's easy to tell when you stick a bullet. First, there's no recoil: nothing going out the muzzle so no force coming back. Second, there's a huge bloom of yellow flame as the burning gases all come out of the cylinder-barrel gap. It completely obliterates the front sight, and is highly visible even in the strong sunlight here in the desert. I'd never had a stuck bullet before, but I had no doubt about what had happened.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Like said above, the current data on the Hodgdon load data site lists a starting load of 4.3gr W231 under a 125gr Hornady XTP bullet. I wouldn't go below that and actually I would probably start with a charge of 4.4gr W231. When I do load jacketed 125gr bullets (which is very rare) I usually charge 5.0gr W231.

If it were me I would be using a 148gr Wadcutter or a 158gr LSWC for practice. I never get leading at target velocities and pressures.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Never had a stuck bullet in the 38spl either. Don't shoot jacketed either!

W231/HP-38 isn't like Bullseye either. Bullseye doesn't seem to have a bottom end in pressure, W231/HP-38 does. Too light a load and it gets weird. You end up with one that just goes POP, not BANG!

With jacketed, I would stay above the minimum data, especially with lighter bullets.