These are some of the first two batches of .38 special reloads I tried in my new/old S&W 14-3 Masterpiece. The classic target load for the .38 special is 2.7gr of Bullseye behind a 148gr hollow base wadcutter. I've got some Bullseye, but thought I'd try some other loads using both old powders and newer ones.
I first tried Unique, as I had some on hand. I've used it both for shotgun loads and in the past for .38 and .44 Special loads. It's the second oldest powder on the market (Bulleseye is the oldest) and its longevity is due at least in part to the fact that it's still a useful powder. I also tried a powder I hadn't loaded before, Winchester W231, which many handgun shooters say is the most versatile powder around.
My Unique load was 4.1gr behind a 148gr cast DEWC, seated flush with the case mouth. This is a bit hotter than the typical target load but turned out to be accurate in both the S&W and the Ruger Blackhawk. (I always test new loads in the Blackhawk first, as it's a tremendously strong gun.) While it was accurate, I had trouble getting the Unique to meter accurately in my Lee Disk Measure, even after giving it a good powdered graphite treatment. My weighed charges were as much as .4gr off from what the Lee manual said I should get from a given disk.
The W231 measured perfectly- within .05gr of what the Lee Manual claimed. That's pretty decent. I was using 3.5gr of W231 behind the same Dardas cast double-ended wadcutter bullets, again seated flush. The W231 produced more flash than the Unique, which was surprising, as W231 is a faster burning powder. Interestingly, most of the flash seemed to be coming from the cylinder gap- something other reloaders claimed to have observed in postings I found in various shooting forums. Accuracy was good, and recoil was mild, but I'm still looking for a milder load.
While the Lee manual listed 3.5gr as the starting charge, I found a number of shooters on line who stated that 3.2gr of W231 was their preferred load for target, plinking, and small game, so I loaded up 25 of those for testing, along with a similar number of cartridges charged with 2.7gr of Bullseye for comparison. In both instances I only seated the bullet to where the crimp groove was just at the case mouth. By having the bullet not seated flush, there's more room in the case for the powder charge, and pressure should be significantly lower.
The most pleasant load I've fired in the .38 special, and one of the most accurate, is the one my friend Ric uses for PPC- 2.2gr of WST behind a 148gr hollow base wadcutter (HBWC). I may end up getting some WST and loading a few of my own, using the cast wadcutters. I have a few hundred Remington HBWCs, but I haven't had good luck loading them in my press; they seem to all distort, or get shaved on loading by the dies or the case.
Update: I bought a pound of WST at Double Action and loaded 50 rounds with the same 145gr DEWC bullets I've been using. The Lee disks don't go low enough for the load I wanted, so I used the Lee microrometer-adjustable charge bar to get the 2.2gr charge. I had a good deal of difficulty getting this calibrated with the Lee scale, and there was a fair amount of powder leakage I wasn't able to eliminate.
I went back to the range with three loads: 3.2gr W231, 2.2gr WST, and 2.7gr Bullseye, this time crimped on the first groove rather than being seated flush. All were pleasant to shoot, and the 3.2gr W231 load is a big improvement over the 3.5gr load- much less flash and noise and more accurate. The 2.2gr WST load wasn't as accurate as the others, probably because I had so much trouble getting it to meter accurate from the Lee disk measure. I think I'm going to stick with Bullseye and W231 for my light loads for now.
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