I carry 125gr nyclad or 125gr hornady custom 38 Special. I'm thinking of trying to come up with a practice round using a 135gr swc. The question what velocity should I try for? The nyclad velocity runs about 830fps the hornady runs about 900fps. I'm thinking of using Hodgdon Clays about 3grs as a starting load. I'm hoping for about 800fps. That should be close to the basllistics of the nyclad and the hornady.
Practice rounds
- Thread starter remo
- Start date
Quakertown
Member
135gr is an unusual weight bullet, and I'm not familiar with them at all. For 38spl, my favorite is 148gr DEWC's over 3.1gr of Bullseye. I don't have a chronograph yet, but they are a light to medium load that is more accurate than I am out of my S&W model 64-3. I have in the past used 125gr lead rnfp's over 2.5gr of W231, and they were very soft shooting, probably would work great in short barreled revolvers for target practice.
WheelGunSpartan
Member
I loaded at 4.5 of Clays in a Model 15 4" with 140 grain SWC and got around 800fps. Velocity depends a lot on barrel length.
I would play around with payloads and hope I could find something between the low and high loadings that would hit the same POA that your SD loads hit at, which would help you out when shooting your SD load.
No big thing if it does not happen but it is nice if it can come together, otherwise I just go for a nice light target load that is a little high or low with a nice grouping.
No big thing if it does not happen but it is nice if it can come together, otherwise I just go for a nice light target load that is a little high or low with a nice grouping.
riverrat38
US Veteran
My situation is just the opposite. I carry the Speer 135 gr SB rounds. I have some of the 135 gr SB bullets for practice, but, mostly, I load 125 gr plated bullets at standard pressure. It shots to about the same POI as the heavier, but faster, plus P SB carry ammo.
Good advice in post #5 above.
Best,
Rick
Good advice in post #5 above.
Best,
Rick
