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.38 spl a little help please

3K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  noylj 
#1 ·
I made a rookie mistake!
I accidentally loaded 300+ rounds of .38 spl using cci 550 mag primers instead of 500 standard primers.
Here is my standard recipe:

3.4 gr bullseye
hornady 158 gr swc / hp
cci 500 primer

According to alliant 3.5 gr would be max for a +P load.

I have been told that if you need to use mag primers in place of standard, you should reduce your powder charge by 5%, so obviously I would be a little over the book max for non +P loads.

Here's the thing though, ALL of my weapons are rated for +P
Alliant says max load for .38 spl +P is 3.9 gr.
If you reduce this by 5% you get 3.7 gr which means I am 0.3 gr below max load for a +P.

If I have this figured correctly, I should be fine, but after my mistake, I am a little gun shy.

Could someone please check my facts and give me an opinion?

I was not intending to load +P rounds, but I am OK with it.

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
Hi 5H, the powder companies have too many lawyers. vbg

According to my Second Edition Lee loading manual, 3.5gr Bullseye is max for the standard 38 Special load using a 158gr lead bullet. 3.9gr Bullseye is max for a P+ 158gr bullet load.

IMO you are good to go.

Having said that, running a lead bullet fast just produces more leading. I like running the minimum load for a few reasons, it's easier on the gun, there is less leading, and you use less powder.

Go blast away!!

Regards,
Richard
 
#3 ·
I agree, your load, even with a mag primer, SHOULD be good. All the newer manuals have charges lower than prior manuals.

I also agree with ssb73q that when using lead, download slightly so you don't lead up the barrel too quickly. It's a real pain to have to scrub the lead out.
 
#10 ·
Is it a modern .38? Then fire one round and see how it does.
Is it over 60 years old? Then, I would not risk it unless it is a .38/.44 S&W made for heavy loads.
Personally, I chose several years ago NOT to use powders that require a magnum primer. My magnums are loaded with 2400.
However, there have been a couple of articles over the years where the loader found that using magnum primers (and having worked up the load using only magnum primers) actually produced smaller groups in that particularly gun.
There are lots of variables in reloading.
In the real world, and not my cautious world, you are just fine if:
you have already worked that load up in your gun so the only concern is the primer and it is not an unknown max load you just decided to start with.
In 40 years, I have a couple of instances where the STARTING load was well over max in my particularly gun, so I learned that I had to always look for the lowest starting load I could find. The problem with this approach is that I have had quite a few rounds so weak that the case was destroyed by the slide when the case got caught in the ejection port. However, I still have all my fingers and no damaged guns.
 
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