General Purpose .38 Special Load
Is there a general purpose load for .38 special?
Not sure how you wish to define it but...
by Hoot 
, Diversityville, Liberal-sota, Saturday, March 05, 2022, 15:33 (994 days ago) @ Drago
my everyday load would be 4.5gr. Unique under a 158-ish SWC. Loaded at least a short ton of those.
Not sure how you wish to define it but...
I've always understood that 8.5 gr Unique and a 255gr was an all purpose load in .45 Colt. Something along those lines.
yep, about the same...
by Hobie 
, Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Saturday, March 05, 2022, 18:45 (994 days ago) @ Drago
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Sincerely,
Hobie
Yep. That should get a feller right up to original...
by Hoot , Diversityville, Liberal-sota, Saturday, March 05, 2022, 19:00 (994 days ago) @ Drago
Colt specs as well as being considered "safe" for Colts and replicas. I shoot quite a bit of that as well.....when I get to shoot these days anyway. 
General Purpose .38 Special Load
by Bob Hatfield , Sunday, March 06, 2022, 07:59 (993 days ago) @ Drago
3.5 grains of Bullseye is also a standard load for many years with a 158-grain lead bullet. I always found that load to be more accurate with a round nose bullet. It is my go-to load when shooting old Smith Revolvers.
Bob
Yep, 3.5gr of Bullseye…
by Slow Hand , Indiana, Sunday, March 06, 2022, 08:06 (993 days ago) @ Bob Hatfield
I’ve Liao many thousands of that load under any variety of 158-ish gr bullet and also a full wadcutter whether hollow based or solid. I always like it because I can tell non Re loaders that you can get 2000 rounds out of a pound of powder (theoretically, anyways…)
They've pretty much covered it...
by Paul , Monday, March 07, 2022, 19:52 (992 days ago) @ Drago
a 158 grain leaden projectile (pick the profile of choice - RNL, SWC, HP, etc) a bit of Unique or Bullseye - or W231. There are several other powders that work as well, but those pretty much fall in to the "generic 38 SPL load" category. I tried a load of 4227 a while back, something I got off of Taffin's work if I recall correctly, but got a lot of unburned powder and didn't find that it gave me anything else worth mentioning. I just ran a bunch of 158's and plan to load up some over Unique, Bullseye or W231, if time allows. Need to run some 3030 and 45 Colt first.
Thank you.
Thank you gentlemen.
You might read some Skeeter Skelton and John Taffin
by Rob Leahy , Prescott, Arizona, Saturday, March 19, 2022, 22:03 (980 days ago) @ Drago
keeping in mind pressure changes with modern powder. John Taffin has a bit of wisdom to share on the .38 Special. Taffin Tests are my go to for wisdom.
http://sixguns.com/tests/tt38spcl.htm
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