38 special load with 158 Jhp and Bullseye

[Ball]

Have this on hand and looking for a tried and true recipe, they list one load on the alliant web for 158 lswc but not a jacketed hp. I will be shooting these in a colt trooper Mark V four inch for IDPA play.
Thanks

[longranger]

2.8gr of Bullseye and 158gr. LSWC is a match made in heaven.If the gun is chambered for .357 Mag. 4.0 gr. of Bullseye with 158 gr LSWC is preferred in .357 cases.

[MMCSRET]

I use 3.5 gr. of Bullseye with any 158-160 grain bullet. Works well and duplicates most standard factory loads with similar bullet weights. Most load manuals have it in them except some of the last Speer manuals.

[bmcgilvray]

Be aware that jacketed bullets are more likely to become stuck in a bore than lead bullets are when very mild powder charges are used. My brother-in-law and I were amused at this mild handloading effort with a jacketed bullet, fired in a Webley Mark IV. The bullet was so close to exiting but just couldn't quite make it.

An undetected bullet stuck in a bore wouldn't be amusing at all if a second round was fired behind it.

If planning to shoot jacketed bullets, take heed at minimum charge weights listed in published handloading manuals. I don't make use of jacketed bullets in .38 Special at minimum recommended loads.

[longranger]

Excellant point Mr.bmcgilvray ! I missed the JHP because of CRS

[BE Wild Willy]

My Hornady book lists starting load of 3.4gr. Bullseye @ 600fps. Max. load (which I steer away from although safe) @ 4.5gr. @ 800fps.

Only 1gr. of powder between start & max., you don't want to overload with Bullseye.

[Ball]

thanks for the help guys.
I also load a 148 hollow base wad cutter in 38 special cases with 2.8 grains of bullseye
give around 625fps on the chrono if i remeber correctly. They are a real treat to shoot in my SF-VI or the trooper.
I usually will load the first 6 with the 148hbwc for IDPA and then reload with the jhp's as they are faster/easier to reload with.
So is it my understanding you can use slightly more powder with a jacketed bullet of the same weight for a given lead bullet??
Thanks again

[bmcgilvray]

Hi Ball;

I was always of the opinion that use of a jacketed bullet generally raised pressures over that of a lead bullet of the same weight so required lower maximum charge weights.

I don't have any method for correctly measuring pressures of my loads so this is only a vague observation.

[Ball]

its been my habit lately to look online for recipes from the powder company in question.
As it turned out there is a load in the speer manual for a 158jhp starting at 4.3 grains of bullseye and a max load of 4.9 listed as plus p. So i loaded 12 rounds with 4.2 to try out.
Will shoot them wednesday and see, if its not to snowy with the storm coming in..