Best powders for the .38 Special Snubbie

[Pistol Shooter]

OK, I know, the lost most commonly used is probably 3-4 grains of Bullseye behind a 125 to 158 grain lead bullet, at least for practice ammo, being careful of course not to exceed safe pressures. That's the classic load and usually quite accurate. The only problem is, Bullseye is a very "dirty" powder to use; it leaves a lot of residue on the wheel and elsewhere to clean up after a shooting session. What other powders have you used successfully for both target and "serious" work? I've had pretty good luck with Win 231 myself.

[tranteruk]

Cant say I would ever use reloads for defence, but for practice I think almost any will be dirty in a snubby. The length of the barrel and proximity of the muzzle to the frame being contributers.

Most of my reloading was done with powders no longer available, Nobel Pistol Powders 1 and 3 I think, so cant help much there.

[1shot1k]

I dont reload, but someone will advise Im sure.


Just wanted to say, please pardner....please dont carry handloads for defense. And I
know the primary case about indictment and prosecution by that yassir guy or whoever , may not be enough to sway many...but is just not worth it to give any
perp's defense people, or family ,or..a prosecuter any leverage...especially after an
already serious situation.


Just my opinion and life observations.


regards,

[Pistol Shooter]

Oops! I inadvertently put this thread in the wrong forum. It's moved now though.

Like you, I never use reloads for actual carry rounds either, Tranter. Why take even the small chance of a misfire, and also risk the issue of a handload coming up in court if (God forbid!) one had to use the weapon for real. Generally, I will find out what the local police carry in their weapons of the same caliber and carry those in my mags. They usually choose a very good quality round--Speer Gold Dot, Federal Hydra Shok, etc.--so good performance is not really an issue.

[armedandsafe]

I've got some Bullseye and some Unique left, but I've switched to Red Dot for my pistol loads.

Pops

[techoca]

I use Red Dot exclusively for .38 Special and .45 ACP and am very satisfied with the results.

[magnumman460]

IMR all the way Pistol! I had ALOT of experience with RED DOT when I was shooting up 1000 rounds of 12 gauge in a weekend and I found that it is a very reliable powder, but like Bullseye, it is very dirty and effectively gummed up my 870.

[JLA]

Originally Posted by Pistol Shooter

OK, I know, the lost most commonly used is probably 3-4 grains of Bullseye behind a 125 to 158 grain lead bullet, at least for practice ammo, being careful of course not to exceed safe pressures. That's the classic load and usually quite accurate. The only problem is, Bullseye is a very "dirty" powder to use; it leaves a lot of residue on the wheel and elsewhere to clean up after a shooting session. What other powders have you used successfully for both target and "serious" work? I've had pretty good luck with Win 231 myself.

Hodgdon titegroup... Very clean, very low charge weight so you get lots of rounds per pound. One of my favorite loads for the .357 mag is 5.0 gr under 125 gr LFN. sweet shootn load not alot of recoil...