3 batches of .38 wadcutters loaded and ready for testing

[BehindBlueI's]

148 gr lead wadcutters loaded in mixed brass .38.
Winchester SPP
1.175 OAL

CFE - 3.9 gr

Acc #5 - 3.9 gr

Titegroup - 3.2 gr

These are all new loads for me, as I typically load 125 gr or 158 gr plated RN or RNFP bullets. I'll try to chrono them and evaluate each this week. I'll be tickled if the CFE works, as I've got a bunch of it but it was very inconsistent with 125 gr plated. It was extremely position sensitive. I'm hoping with the reduced case volume it will be less sensitive in this load. Acc #5 has been a good all around powder for me, but middle loads in revolver cases have left unburnt powder. This is a near max load and I think it'll be clean and consistent. Titegroup is a powder I've not messed with much over the years. I bought it when I couldn't get WST for my .45s during The Great Ammo Scare and still have about a pound of it. I've no idea what to expect out of it.

[LittleLebowski]

I hear nothing but good things about Titegroup.

[camsdaddy]

The only thing holding me from using titegroup with my 148 gr is the fact my Lee auto disk only measures down to 3.5.

[rsa-otc]

Titegroup is an excellent powder that meters accurately. I routinely get standard deviations in the single digit range.

My only objection to Titegroup is that it burns extremely hot. For any high volume revolver training with little time between strings the gun can get extremely hot and I have had students play hot potato with their gun during reloads and administrative handling.

It has been reported that due to the heat it doesn’t play well with lead bullets leading to smoky loads. Since I haven’t loaded lead bullets in almost a decade I haven’t personally seen this.

Although I must say that I never noticed flame cutting of the back strap on any of the 40 some company weapons until we used Titegroup.

At this point I tend to steer away from Titegroup for revolver. For revolver I fall back to Clays or Bullseye. Never liked Win231 because the guns were hard to clean afterwards.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Titegroup does burn hot, for sure and I avoid it for lead bullet reloads. My favorite .38 wadcutter load is a classic from Ed Harris: 148-150 DEWC (sprue cut forward) over 3.5 grains of Bullseye. It's standard pressure, full power (~800-825 fps in a 4") and very accurate. Kills small game like lightning and does very nice straight, deep penetration. I've gotten to where I all load in .38 Special is either the aforementioned DEWC or a 158-160 lead bullet of any quality design over 3.5 BE. It was the original factory load and works very well.

[okie john]

Titegroup does burn hot, for sure and I avoid it for lead bullet reloads. My favorite .38 wadcutter load is a classic from Ed Harris: 148-150 DEWC (sprue cut forward) over 3.5 grains of Bullseye. It's standard pressure, full power (~800-825 fps in a 4") and very accurate. Kills small game like lightning and does very nice straight, deep penetration. I've gotten to where I all load in .38 Special is either the aforementioned DEWC or a 158-160 lead bullet of any quality design over 3.5 BE. It was the original factory load and works very well.

This.

I grew up shooting 38 wadcutters over 3.0 Bullseye out of a heavy-barreled Model 10 that had been reamed to take 357 ammo. Works like a champ.


Okie John

[jh9]

My only objection to Titegroup is that it burns extremely hot. For any high volume revolver training with little time between strings the gun can get extremely hot and I have had students play hot potato with their gun during reloads and administrative handling.

It has been reported that due to the heat it doesn’t play well with lead bullets leading to smoky loads. Since I haven’t loaded lead bullets in almost a decade I haven’t personally seen this.

...

At this point I tend to steer away from Titegroup for revolver. For revolver I fall back to Clays or Bullseye. Never liked Win231 because the guns were hard to clean afterwards.


Titegroup does burn hot, for sure and I avoid it for lead bullet reloads.

My experience matches this. I and at least one other local revolver shooter used titegroup for IDPA before they lowered the PF. We both were using over book max to make 125PF. IIRC, it was 4.5gr with a 158gr lead bullet. It wasn't necessarily smokier/dirtier than alternatives, but holy hell would the gun get hot. Being a lefty, the forcing cone would get hot enough in an 18 round string to blister the web of the right hand when reloading. 5-7 stages made for a long day.

Oh, and a .38spl case would hold THREE charges of that over book max load. Double charges were hard to notice. The legacy .38spl case is not a good fit for very dense powders like titegroup.

[BehindBlueI's]

148 gr lead wadcutters loaded in mixed brass .38.
Winchester SPP
1.175 OAL


6 shots
4" Match Champion:
CFE - 3.9 gr

804
843
808
819
809
849


Acc #5 - 3.9 gr

703
672
689
689
731
705


Titegroup - 3.2 gr

902
933
888
881
861
866


2" Detective Special


CFE - 3.9 gr

665
670
735
688
717
685

Acc #5 - 3.9 gr

626
602
558
603
619
591

Titegroup - 3.2 gr

840
800
735
783
799
809

2" LCR


CFE - 3.9 gr

Not tested (didn't load enough to test in all 3 guns)

Acc #5 - 3.9 gr

609
594
643
625
620

Titegroup - 3.2 gr

808
810
802
807
810

WOW consistency in gun and ammo on that one.

Comparison - factory PDX-1 .38+P load in LCR, approximately 1 year old carry ammo:
953
857
880
864
894


Observations:
CFE was the least smoky and was the middle for recoil.

Acc #5 was lowest recoil and middle for smoke.

Titegroup was heaviest recoil and most smoke.

All loads were accurate enough and deviations were well within my range of personal error. I found the CFE quite easy to shoot well and the Titegroup was easier in the Rugers than the Colt.

Here's the CFE load out of the Match Champion:

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb183/Docwagon1776/Ruger/20160520_122859_zpsyelpie3r.jpg

The top two shots were covering the black dot with the fiber optic. I then covered the black dot with the top of the front sight blade and shot the remaining four. I'm pretty happy with that performance.

The circled ones are the same load with the Detective Special

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb183/Docwagon1776/Ruger/20160520_123349_zps6w2gjlkn.jpg

I blame me for the hitting high. I really need to paint the front sight on the DS as I'm not getting the front sight level with the rear sight, it's a bit high once I really see it.