38spcl target loads...Should I try them?

[chutesnreloads]

I'm posting here because I know several somebodies here know.Was looking at .357mag recipies and comparing rifle data to pistol data.Noticed that some powders that gave slower velocities actually were listed as being slower from a rifle than a pistol.OK fine.My question is...if I have a 38spcl load of 148 grain Hornady hbwc with a load of 2.8 grains of either RedDot or Bullseye seated flush with the case will it make all the way out the barrel of my handi?Shoots quite well in my .357mag revolver but of course the barrel is considerably shorter .

[Dinny]

What's the velocity from a pistol length barrel? I would say anything over 600fps should clear the barrel. It's really not the end of the world if you don't clear the barrel, it can be knocked out with a strong dowel rod. CHECK the barrel after every shot though!!!!!

Thanks, Dinny

[Sweetwater]

Dinny makes a good point there. Always make sure something happens downrange with every shot fired. My Dad stuck a 22 bullet in his 10/22. He put another one right behind it. Nope, no personal injuries. YUP, Ruger sent him the parts totally free, even the shipping, and he put it back together. Decided he didn't need to be working the trigger quite that fast! LOL

Regards,
Sweetwater

[chutesnreloads]

Thanks guys but having to push a bullet out the barrel is what I'm trying to avoid.I'm sure someone has used these loads or one very close in their handi.Have some old data from Alliant that lists these two powders at 2.7 and 2.8 grains each for the 148 Speer hbwc.Newer data from same company lists 3.0 and 3.1.Of course this is pistol data,not rifle.

[jeepmann1948]

I used a lot of low velocity cast  146 wadcutters  in 38 cases in my handi 357 Max  makes for cheap plinking fun. just remember to clean the chamber really well before shooting 357 Rem & Max cases due to the extra length.2.5 grs of bullseye and home cast bullets are cheap to shoot!

[chutesnreloads]

Thanks Jeepmann ...that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

[PawPaw]

I was fooling around, playing with my chronograph and decided to run some 148 Berry's plated HBWC loads through my Marlin 1894.  Those loads give me 660 fps out of my Model 28-2 and I wanted to see what they would give me out of the 18" Marlin barrel.  They turned in velocities of 606 fps.

The good thing about a Handi is if you don't think the bullet made it out of the barrel, you can easily eyeball the bore and if you see daylight out the other end, you're good to go.

[Swampman]

I've been shooting double ended wadcutters out of mine with reduced powder charges with no problem. They are only accurate to about 35 yards.

[LaOtto222]

I have shot 2.6 grains and 3.0 grains of Bullseye under a Hornady 148 HBWC. In my 22" 357 max barrel I got about 760 fps and 900 fps respectfully at 15" from the muzzle. I was using Remington 38 Special cases and Remington 1 1/2 primers. BTW there have been no stuck bullets. The loads are quite and deadly out to 45 - 50 yards on small critters. OH - I did not crimp and the bullet is just above being flush.

[mechanic]

My normal load it 3gr. Bullseye and 148 gr. wadcutter.  I load them for my 38 pistol and my Handi, and both perform excellent.  This is a good short range critter gitter from the Handi.  I killed a coyote with a head shot at about 10 yds from my back door no problem.  They group fine at 25 yds.

[bikerbeans]

I have shot the following out of my friends 357 Handi without issue.  All loads were in used 38 spc. pickup range brass.  OAL was 1.48, fed and win SP primers.

158 grn LSWC 3.1 grn WW231 (late 1980s vintage powder)

158 grn LSWC 3.0 grn Bullseye (Hercules powder, not the new stuff)

158 grn LSWC 2.9 Grn 700X IMR (again old powder, from the 80s, I use or re-gift all the old powder people give me)

I loaded these last spring and summer and shot them over the summer.  Fun for plinking, very little recoil in a handi.  I gave the gun back to my friend before I became too attached to it. 

BB

[Dee]

I'm posting here because I know several somebodies here know.Was looking at .357mag recipies and comparing rifle data to pistol data.Noticed that some powders that gave slower velocities actually were listed as being slower from a rifle than a pistol.OK fine.My question is...if I have a 38spcl load of 148 grain Hornady hbwc with a load of 2.8 grains of either RedDot or Bullseye seated flush with the case will it make all the way out the barrel of my handi?Shoots quite well in my .357mag revolver but of course the barrel is considerably shorter .

At first I thought this was a joke. If anything you may pick up a little velocity.

[Awf Hand]

No Dee, actually you lose velocity with some of these loads.  The powder is burned up in the first few inches of barrel and the bullet has to glide out the rest of the length.

I did tests that confimed PawPaw's results.  My loss was closer to 100fps though.

To the OP, you can't push the HBWC as hard as you can push a FBWC.  I've been shooting cast lead WC's in my .357 Handi for awhile, using a Hensley and Gibbs 146gr wadcutter, and with the right load of Hodgdon's Universal, it will shoot superbly (0.6"+/-) out to 50 yards.  Unfortunately, my best tests at 100 yards were around 2".  

I started this as I needed to find a load that would work with the bullets I could make.  I needed something a bit slower as well, as I built a bullet catcher to save my lead.

As I am an experimenting sort, I next tried trimming, flash-hole-uniforming and "neck-sizing" the brass.  I sorted my bullets by weight and used BR SR primers.  My rifle has a 36x scope and I had a decent BR setup that day.  Groups at 50 yards were hovering around a half-inch, and the cronograph showed between 806 to 820 for 19 out of 20 shots, with one shot at 796.  The same load in the GP100 grouped VERY tightly as well, but I didn't have the chrono out that day.

I'm noting your handle 'chutesnreloads'...

Interestingly enough, I experimented with breech-seating the wadcutters as well.  The powder was Acc#9.  I had drilled and tapped a socket-head capscrew into the side of the barrel near the rear, and built a seater and an adjustable length dummy cartridge that would permit seating the bullet ahead of the throat.  I had trimmed a series of .357max brass to the longest length that the chamber would accept, and tested 10gr-13gr of Acc#9.  I'd also started to test H-4227 but ran out of day.  I could not obtain any better results with the breech-seating than I could with fixed loads.  I'd intended to experiment with some heavier (200gr+) .357/38 loads, but was sidetracked when I stubbed a 32-40Win barrel onto my Handi, and started getting 100 yard groups that were better than my previous 50yard groups.

Sometimes I wish I had a longer atten...

ooohhh, shiny object!!

[Awf Hand]

Okay chutesnreloads...

After some quick thought (or, not so quick) I realized that perhaps your handle doesn't translate to "Schuetzen reloads".  When I mentioned the whole breech-seating thing, well, that may not apply to any of your reality. 
Don't mind me.  I'm just the weird guy with the odd habits.  With some more money I could qualify to be eccentric instead of just crazy.

[Dee]

Well I've only been shootin and loadin, hollow base wadcutters, and solid wadcutters since 1976, so I guess I still have a lot to learn about them. I still can't imagine stickin a 600+fps bullet when shot out of a 4" barrel,  in a barrel 20 inches long, even if one were using Bullseye. It would take a mighty rough barrel to shed that kinda velocity.

[LaOtto222]

Dee - you are correct. Lead or cast are not very sticky - once you get them moving good it would take a very rough barrel to stick one. The Hornady HBWC are not pure lead, they are more like soft cast bullets. The velocities I posted above are real, you get more velocity from a longer barrel.

[Awf Hand]

Individual results may vary...

[chutesnreloads]

Thanks for all the responses folks.Finally got to try these loads in the Handi.Results were all bullets not only made it out the barrel but all the way to the target.At 2.8 grains of Bullseye or Reddot the groups were right at 1" at 50 yards with the Bullseye while the Reddot gave about a 2" verticle string.Maybe a little tweaking will improve the Bullseye groups but they're good enough for offhand plinking.Seems you can get quite a few shots in before the barrel heats up too.Only around 100 rounds down the tube and groups with full power loads get better every trip.