Reloading .38 special with Unique powder

[phatcyclist]

I just purchased a revolver chambered in .38 spec/.357 mag and I think this is a good caliber for reloading. I know a .38 special case won't get worked much in the firing process so they will last a really long time. I have some 150~ grain wad-cutters and some Unique powder that I had for the .45 colt single action I just sold. I know these straight-cased, low pressure revolver cartridges are where Unique shines, so I'm wondering if anyone on here has some good advice on loading them. I've never loaded .38 special or wad-cutter projectiles but I've been reloading for a few years.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GJW1911]

I have done quite a bit of reloading with unique in the 38 special, but not with wad-cutters. Normally I use 158gr LSWCs from Oregon Trail and 5.0gr of Unique. This is a stiff 38 load, not for 38spl guns, my book says 4.5 is max, but John Taffin says 5.0gr is OK.
Its a good powder, but for me has been extremely dirty, with a tight crimp it seems to clean it up a bit.
I have some 38spl cases that have been reloaded at least 15 times, at that point I quit counting. Just figured I would shoot them until they split.

 

[country_boy]

I use hp-38 for my 38 spl/357 mag cases with good results.

 

[Charley]

I'd start with about 2.9 grains of Unique, and work up to no more than about 3.3 grains. Unique was reformulated a few years back to be cleaner burning, but it's still often refered to as flammable dirt. I use a lot of it in straightwall handgun cartridges.

 

[Texasjack]

The .38 is a joy to reload. Lots of powders work very well, especially Bullseye and 231.

Like Charlie posted, I've heard that the new Unique formulation is much cleaner. I've used the older one and it works great except its just about the dirtiest burning powder I've ever used.

For .357, the best powder is 2400.

 

[phatcyclist]

Thanks for the input guys. As soon as I purchase a die set I'll start reloading it. I still haven't taken the revolver out to the range, maybe this weekend.

 

[phatcyclist]

I purchased a set of RCBS .38 Special dies today and a few other goodies. I bought a shell holder and a wad-cutter bullet seating head to go along with the semi wad-cutter head it had in the seating die already. Unfortunately the dies didn't come with the expander, but luckily I could order one from RCBS and I did earlier. Maybe I'll get the primers knocked out of a lot of cases and coerce my father into letting me use his tumbler this weekend.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I have loaded 158's with 5.0 grns of unique since 1976. For many years that was a less then full 38 pressure load, then it was max load and now in about the last 7 years it has become a +p load although current manuals have been coming back up to it in the last year or two.

To me, this is the impact of lawyers.

Interesting thing is that 5.0 grns of unique gives the same velocities out of my 5" 1930's heavy duty's as Phil Sharpe reports in 1937 Complete guide to Handloading. He says 5.1 grns will do 960 FPS, my guns with 5.0 will do about 920 with a 5" barrel. Pretty interesting how we get about the same velocity, with about the same loads, with about the same gun, but separated by about 70 years.

Wonder why the load is now a +P load?????

 

[Dawico]

They change the powders over the years. You are supposed to use old info with old powders, and new with new. Even the same name powder is different.

Phatcyclist, did you buy used dies or something? I would recommend looking at Lee dies next time. They are relatively cheap, come with a shell holder and loading info, and you can remove stuck cases with no special tools.

 

[phatcyclist]

I did purchase used dies. They are in very good shape with the exception of the expander not being included. They were too cheap to pass up. I normally buy Lee dies unless I know to buy otherwise. When I purchased my 7.5x55 Swiss dies, I bought RCBS because that set is supposed to be the best for the particular rifle I have.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

If they changed the powder over the years, then why does the same charge weight give you roughly the same velocity?

I have never been able to figure that line of logic out, ie, why a similar result to a similar experiment implies that there was a change.