vaalpens
Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
- Messages
- 2,618
I am planning on loading around 50 rounds of 158gr lead SWC bullets in 38spl. The cases are primed with a combination of new and pulled primers, so the loads do not have to be perfect, or even very accurate, but they must be safe. It will purely be used for plinking. An added requirement is that this time I just want to measure the powder with a single dipper. No trickling or weighing afterwards. I need to trust the dipper.
The loads will be shot using a Ruger SP101 357mag revolver, so by using 38spl loads, there will be some safety build in on the high side, since it could bleed into the 38spl +P range.
Deciding on a powder/load/dipper takes a bit of work. First I picked a few powders and used Alliant and Hodgdon load data to come up with a MIN and MAX loads. I then used the listed VMD and calculated the cc's needed for the MIN/MAX loads. Based on this calculation I picked a dipper size, and then weighed 5 dipper charges to get the weighed min/max. This weighed min/max results were then compared against the load data MIN/MAX range.
Following are the results from this test:
Based on the above results, you can see that the HP38, Tight Group and W244 weighed min/max results were within the load data MIN/MAX range.
My analysis of what I see is:
HP38: Both min and max are on the lower end of the load data range, so maybe not my pick to use, I'll make it #3
Tight Group: Both min and max are on the higher end of the load data range, should be good to go, but I'll make it #2
W244: Falls nicely in the middle of the load data range, so I will probably go with W244 using a .3cc Lee dipper. My #1.
For you who uses lee dippers or your own dippers, do you have a dipper/powder combination you like to use for 38spl?
Any comments regarding as always will be appreciated.
The loads will be shot using a Ruger SP101 357mag revolver, so by using 38spl loads, there will be some safety build in on the high side, since it could bleed into the 38spl +P range.
Deciding on a powder/load/dipper takes a bit of work. First I picked a few powders and used Alliant and Hodgdon load data to come up with a MIN and MAX loads. I then used the listed VMD and calculated the cc's needed for the MIN/MAX loads. Based on this calculation I picked a dipper size, and then weighed 5 dipper charges to get the weighed min/max. This weighed min/max results were then compared against the load data MIN/MAX range.
Following are the results from this test:
Based on the above results, you can see that the HP38, Tight Group and W244 weighed min/max results were within the load data MIN/MAX range.
My analysis of what I see is:
HP38: Both min and max are on the lower end of the load data range, so maybe not my pick to use, I'll make it #3
Tight Group: Both min and max are on the higher end of the load data range, should be good to go, but I'll make it #2
W244: Falls nicely in the middle of the load data range, so I will probably go with W244 using a .3cc Lee dipper. My #1.
For you who uses lee dippers or your own dippers, do you have a dipper/powder combination you like to use for 38spl?
Any comments regarding as always will be appreciated.