Tuesday, April 9, 2013

1st time 38 special loading

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repawn is offline Boolit Mold Join DateJun 2011Posts19

Hi all,

Thanks to a few forum members I am on the road to reloading .38 Special.

I have a question or two - first - do you need to crimp for this caliber - it will be fired from a revolver.

The current test load will be 160gr rn - my test cases (no powder or primers) are COL of 1.519" with a crimp.

I was thinking I need to be a bit longer (1.54 or so) and was planning to start using 4.2 grains of Universal.
Any thought or critiques - I have loaded for 9mm, .223, 7.62x54r and 6.5x55 - but this is my first revolver cartridge.
Thanks!

Howdy repawn, you need to crimp. If you don't, you run the risk of the boolits "jumping" out of the cases upon recoil and thus getting getting jammed in between your cylinder and frame. This is no fun at all to remedy.

As far as overall length, the max is considered 1.55" or actually just so they don't poke out your cylinder and cause a hang up like noted above. The cool thing about a revolver, is you have more liberty as far as setting the bullet or boolits deeper than normal( due to the cyl. length again), but don't get too liberal as to cause pressures to rise.

I am not familar with Universal, so someone else will have to chime in on that subject.

Load Safe

Last edited by LUBEDUDE; Yesterday at 09:10 PM.
TEAM HOLLYWOOD

NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

Do your bullets have a crimp groove? Most bullets designed for revolvers have a groove to roll your crimp into. If it does, just crimp in the groove and be done with it.
If your bullet has no crimp groove, are you just mashing the crimp into the bullet?
r1kk1 is offline Boolit Master Join DateJun 2007Posts508
There is a second reason to crimp. Some powders perform better when crimped. It may be a slight crimp or heavy. I use a chronograph and wish I had a mechanical rest for testing purposes. I know of people who don't crimp at all but it is a different bullet than you are shooting. I too have not used Universal and curious with the 4.2 load. Hodgdon site starts at 3.5 and ends at 4.5 for a 158 grain lead bullet.

Take care

r1kk1

TEAM HOLLYWOOD

NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

Do your bullets have a crimp groove? ?If you look close at the top photo you can see the crimp groove.
TEAM HOLLYWOOD

NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

repawn is offline Boolit Mold Join DateJun 2011Posts19
If you look close at the top photo you can see the crimp groove.The boolits do not really have a crimp groove - not sure how many cast boolits do - is it alright to crimp without a cannelure?

My Lyman manual has a starting load of 4.2 under a 158gr with a max of 4.7. I suppose I could safely dial that back and follow the hodgon data.

Oops fooled me, need better glasses!
TEAM HOLLYWOOD

NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

I would definitely use a slightly tappered crimp and that appears to be about what you have although the pic is slightly blurry; roll crimp shouldn't be necessary. For a backyard plinking load I usually load my cartridges with the recommended starting load, in your case it would be 3.5 grains of Universal. The load data that you are using also shows the cartridge overall length (col)for that bullet to be 1.475 and that also is what I would try to achieve. Without knowing the actual revolver it is difficult to determine how much longer you could go, but you should be ok with the 1.519 length if the cylinder rotates without any restrictions. Shooting for precision, competition or self defense is a whole new ballgame when it comes to the numbers.
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Back in my days of heavy and fierce IPSC competition, I loaded 158grRN boolits with a far lesser ogive than the boolit you show, but to date, every cast boolit I have ever cast or loaded has had a crimp groove. I can state pretty unequivocally that I will never load a wheelgun boolit that does not have a crimp groove.

I'm not a fan of taper-crimping for wheel guns. Just not. Nor am I a fan of boolits with no crimp groove. I strongly prefer a roll crimp on a boolit with a crimp groove because this gives me additional control over the pressures I can create with the powder/primer/OAL combinations. It also helps give me a quick/instant visual verification that my seating depth isn't changing on me as I crank the loads out on a progressive.

I picked up a two-banger mold a few years ago in .358 that is a rather severe round-nose boolit and loaded some up. The only reason I can fathom for having such a boolit is for ease of use in speedloaders. I loaded up the boolits and they shoot okay, but they are basically worthless.

With no meplat whatsoever, their utility as a hunting or self-defense boolit is nil. The severe round nose ogive makes small holes in targets, so for bullseye/target shooting, they become marginal. I also find them to be less stable at distances beyond 35' or so than the more standard meplat boolits including and up to the SWC and WCs.

Not wanting to rain on your first outing and loading here, but rather want to make sure that you manage your expectations appropriately.

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I'm not an expert but I have had very good luck/accuracy with the cast Lee 158 SWC's (that have a groove obviously) properly seated and then slightly roll crimped with a Lee FCD. Quick and simple. I'd also agree on a revolver a groove and a roll crimp is the best way to go.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"


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