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Has anyone used these? I've decided to actually shoot the revolver that I own so I'm getting set up to reload .38 special but I can't find any Bullseye. Looks like Clean Shot is about the same burn rate. I hadn't even heard of this company before about two weeks ago so I'm not quick to trust them with explosives.
Shooter's World is quite popular with competitive shooters in Australia and New Zealand, including a dude I know that shoots a ton of IPSC and cowboy steel over there. If you can get past the lack of loading data, I would not hesitate to recommend them if you can find nothing else.
.38Spl is really quite forgiving to load for, depending on the gun you're going to be using. Any free-flowing, fine-grained powder from Bullseye/N310 through Unique should give good results. I say 'fine-grained' because you'll be dispensing pinch charges into a very tall case, and then shooting them out of a revolver. For that reason, I would use SW powders before flakier domestics like Hodgdon Clays, Unique, or Universal. AA#2 would be a somewhat pricey but superb alternative to Bullseye.
Flammable solids, not explosives. ;) I've been using Maxim (Spanish shotgun powder) that was imported, broken down into smaller quantities and sold as ETR7 or CSB1. There was damn little data at first, and guys were sharing their own chrono data. The Shooters World manual has pressure data! How can you go wrong with that?Quote:
Originally Posted by DocSabo40
There’s a bit of data on these and I think they’re worth trying.
There's data--but it's not quite the same as opening any reloading book and finding data for 105, 125, 138, 148, 158, 175, and 200-grain .38s. It probably doesn't matter a ton compared to, for instance, 9mm, and certainly not if you're shooting a modern, well-made .38 instead of a Spanish potmetal special.
I've been using this stuff for a few years now. The story I heard is that the folks who started the company are former members of the USA Shooting team and at least one of them has been to the Olympics. They import powders from Lovex (and re-brand them under the Shooters World Logo) and work with Lovex to produce new formulas. I primarily shoot .45 with a 200gr Hi-TEK coated lead SWC over 4.8gr of Clean Shot at 1.250 OAL with a crimp of .472. This load consistently chronos at 172PF. Clean Shot is clean burning, consistent, affordable and available; if you can't tell I like it. A potential pitfall is that it is a low volume powder, a double charge would easily fit into a .45 case with room to spare. Blackout and Tactical Rifle are also excellent options in their respective applications. I was fortunate enough to buy a bunch of this stuff in bulk and I am set for a few more years. If you are in the market for powder and this stuff is available to you, buy with confidence. I've used Clean Shot in 9mm as well and liked it. It has been some time since I have loaded any 9mm and I don't recall the load data off the top of my head.
FYI - Quite a bit of load data is available from Shooter's World/Lovex, they have a 50-page booklet for free on the website for download.
Sounds like it's worth a try then. My local indoor range apparently really likes the stuff, they have the complete line for about the same prices as Midway. I picked up a pound of Clean Shot for .38 and .45 loads.
On an almost totally unrelated topic, I shot some .38 special 125gr+P Golden Sabers out of my GP100 today. They had an odd mix of light recoil, but lots of flash and blast. I would be interested to replicate that some day, they were fun.
That is roughly where my funtimes .357 Magnums are at. I used 9.5 grains of Power Pistol under a Zero 125-grain JHP. Recoil is thumpy but quite comfortable out of a S&W 327, markedly less sharp than 2400 loads. Muzzle flash is easily visible to the shooter, sometimes even in daylight.
One of my favorite loads. Fun to shoot, very loud, and a great muzzle flash. I always bring some of this to the range in case I want to discourage certain people from shooting near me. I call it my "go away" ammo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wise_A