Finally, I'm scared........

well finally loaded up some 38 special rounds, using Sierra 158gr round nose and 5.4 grains of Unique powder and seated them to 1.450 or as close to that as I could.

got one question how do you seat the boolit without rounding off the lead nose or do I have the seating depth set wrong?



anyone want to shoot them for me

My pistol seater dies (RCBS) come with seater plugs for both round and flat nosed bullets. Does your seater plug match the bullet's profile?

I'd shoot 'em in my Redhawk. are you flaring the mouth of the case before seating the bullet?

J.B.

PhillipM wrote:My pistol seater dies (RCBS) come with seater plugs for both round and flat nosed bullets. Does your seater plug match the bullet's profile?

I have the lee dies and just checked and it looks like it would fit the round nose and I have the flat nose they are 158 gr jsp. I didnt know the inside piece(seater plug) even came out till now.

I guess they sell the other seater plug

guess im gonna learn something new everyday doing this.

are they ok to shoot?

ok hold the phone

5.4 grains of Unique on a 158 38 special is pretty damn hot..above max

you should be scared

WTF ?

I start at 3.4 gr

cottonmouth wrote: I'd shoot 'em in my Redhawk. are you flaring the mouth of the case before seating the bullet?

J.B.

didnt know bout that? what/how do you do that? my books didnt say that.

Your loads are a good bit above MAX....what book you reading

msredneck wrote:Your loads are a good bit above MAX....what book you reading

Sierra
min=5.0
max=6.1

am I wrong???? if so the book is

well I'm looking at 4.7 to 5.0 range in lyman book

see what captain and subgunfan recommend....i'll check back later

start ez bro....ez

dhollis51 wrote:

msredneck wrote:Your loads are a good bit above MAX....what book you reading

Sierra
min=5.0
max=6.1

am I wrong???? if so the book is

That does seem a little stiff -- looked in all my manuals (Lyman, Lee, Speer) and all say a mid-range load is around 4.7 for a 158gr bullet ... Went to the Sierra site and they do not publish loads for their bullets - CHEAP!! -- wants you to buy the manual!!

However, I ALWAYS start at the starting load ... in your case it would be 5.0 grs -per the Sierra Manual ...

It gets to be frustrating when the manuals do not agree on load data .... start low - then work up is always a good practice.

SubGunFan wrote:DO NOT shoot those 38spl rounds with 5.4gr of Unique in a 38spl ONLY gun. They are way above +P, but less than 357 Mag.

.

they will be shot in a 357, so are they ok or not? yall got me not liking the Sierra book already

5.0 grains should be a max +P load so 5.4 is over max. Flaring the case is just opening the case mouth larger so the bullet does not have to squeez past the mouth, a lead bullet can shave lead if it is not flared. It just needs a small amount of flare so the bullet will slip into the case. Might be why your projectile is rounding off.

J.B.

I shouldn't hurt the gun IF it is 5.4 grains of Unique, might rupture a case though. To be on the safe side you can pull 'em if you don't want to shoot 'em.

J.B.

cottonmouth wrote: 5.0 grains should be a max +P load so 5.4 is over max. Flaring the case is just opening the case mouth larger so the bullet does not have to squeez past the mouth, a lead bullet can shave lead if it is not flared. It just needs a small amount of flare so the bullet will slip into the case. Might be why your projectile is rounding off.

J.B.

what do you use to flare the case?

If you have a 3 die set the expander die will flare the case.

J.B.

captain-03 wrote:

dhollis51 wrote:

msredneck wrote:Your loads are a good bit above MAX....what book you reading

Sierra
min=5.0
max=6.1

am I wrong???? if so the book is

That does seem a little stiff -- looked in all my manuals (Lyman, Lee, Speer) and all say a mid-range load is around 4.7 for a 158gr bullet ... Went to the Sierra site and they do not publish loads for their bullets - CHEAP!! -- wants you to buy the manual!!

However, I ALWAYS start at the starting load ... in your case it would be 5.0 grs -per the Sierra Manual ...

It gets to be frustrating when the manuals do not agree on load data .... start low - then work up is always a good practice.

so if the Sierra book says one thing and everyone says something else??? I trust yall more than a book but I might as well throw the book away and use another. I used sierra cause I had the book and the boolits were cheaper than others. thought I was doing it right but guess not.


now back to square one.

cottonmouth wrote: If you have a 3 die set the expander die will flare the case.

J.B.

ah, yes I did, just realized it. thought it was something other than a die...

SubGunFan wrote:DO NOT shoot those 38spl rounds with 5.4gr of Unique in a 38spl ONLY gun. They are way above +P, but less than 357 Mag.

.

I guess I was assuming he was going to shoot them in a 357 frame ... Assume - I should not ... Agree with SGF - do not shoot in a 38 frame ....