38 spl powderpuff loads?

[Riomouse911]

My tried and true powderpuff load for a .38 Spl. is 2.8 Gr Bullseye under a 146 gr Eggleston coated RNL bullet.

The load duplicates the soft recoil of the old standby 148 gr target Wadcutter loads with the ease of inserting RNL bullets into the cylinder individually (or using a speed loader) for beginners or for those with less hand/finger dexterity.

I also loaded 400 of these bullets over 3.5 gr Unique. This has a little bit more velocity/recoil than the Bullseye load, but I will use them in a plate match and I needed a tad more oomph to be sure the 10” square plates fall.



Good luck with your search for a good load, I hope you find one that works for her .

Stay safe.

 

[lordpaxman]

Would also be nice if it burned fairly clean,

With the powders you list I haven’t found them to be “fairly clean” at lower charge weights. They will work, but as others have said a faster powder would be better unless you choose the primer only route.
While TG has been mentioned, I prefer Clays in the .38 mouse fart loads. I was in a squad shooting SCSA and one of the shooters had a 686 that sometimes wouldn’t even trigger the timer it was so soft. He shared his Clays load and showed how clean the cases were, he would just reload them with no tumbling in between. IMO Clays also has a lower felt recoil than TG and about the same as N320. IMR Target is another fast powder but again it’s felt recoil is a bit more than Clays.
If it were me I’d get a pound of any of these to impress my lady friend. And they can be used in other calibers as well. Good luck!

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

With the powders you list I haven’t found them to be “fairly clean” at lower charge weights. They will work, but as others have said a faster powder would be better unless you choose the primer only route.
While TG has been mentioned, I prefer Clays in the .38 mouse fart loads. I was in a squad shooting SCSA and one of the shooters had a 686 that sometimes wouldn’t even trigger the timer it was so soft. He shared his Clays load and showed how clean the cases were, he would just reload them with no tumbling in between. IMO Clays also has a lower felt recoil than TG and about the same as N320. IMR Target is another fast powder but again it’s felt recoil is a bit more than Clays.
If it were me I’d get a pound of any of these to impress my lady friend. And they can be used in other calibers as well. Good luck!

There are better options, but you can “clean up“ 231/HP-38 a little by giving it a good heavy crimp. A better option might be for him to just load the dirty powder and volunteer to clean her revolver since he likes the smell of Hoppes anyway.

 

[Reeferman]

Get a pound of Bullseye or Tightgroup and load 148 HBWC. My wife broke her wrist a couple years ago and only thing she could shoot for a long time was a 38 with a HBWC and low end charge of one of those powders or a 22 pistol.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

Here you go. Can’t get much lighter than this.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I went down this road a couple of years ago. I wanted to develop a light load for my S&W K frame so it wouldn't beat it up and I would enjoy shooting it more. I also developed them for my mom's snub nose .38 special for practice. I discovered a guy on youtube that described his light loads as gnat farts with cheerio's. It was a Berry's 125 grain plated bullet with Trail Boss powder. It worked perfectly.

 

[748]

When I can buy 38slow and weak brass again I will load up some powder puff loads.
I just can't resist filling the case most of the way.

 

[sr1971]

If I may, today my son and I spent some time with some mouse fart loads using Lee data for 148 lead WC. The low side of the data was all smiles for the boy and at 100 rounds he was looking for more. Low recoil impulse, low flash, and easy on his hands even in a J-frame.

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data currently published for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

The data was applied to Bayou Bullets HiTek coated 138gn BNWC (button nose wadcutter) with 3.0 & 3.5 grains of 700X with a light/medium roll crimp, WSP, 357 Magnum case 1.262", seated to COAL of 1.400". At 3.0 the data says ~892fps and 3.5 ~986fps. Both loads were fired at varying distances up to 15yds and shot POA from a 66-2 and 360 snub.

700X is quite economical and has now become a household favorite.

Someone here mentioned the Speer plastic training cartridges. They are fantastic, use LPP, good up to 25 feet away, and can be assembled by hand in seconds. They are wonderful through my 66-2 and snub guns.

 

[RealGun]

125 grain shoots too low in my SP101 with light loads with Bullseye, so I am looking to try 158 gr (and more recoil) to score better at 50 feet or less.