Hodgdon CFE Pistol in the .38

[Rick R]

Is anyone using CFE Pistol in the .38 Special and are you getting anywhere near the velocity Hodgdon is showing on their website?

125gr XTP at 1199fps?
158gr LSWC at 1048fps.
(albeit both from a 7.7” barrel)

I just got two pounds of this to play with.

[03RN]

Let me know what you get I've thought about picking some up.

[entropy]

I’ve used it with mid range .38spl 158gr LSWC. Let me look to see what the numbers are....

[Zeke38]

I hope I'm wrong but Hodgdon's used to use an 8" bbl for their velocity figures.

[Rick R]

I hope I'm wrong but Hodgdon's used to use an 8" bbl for their velocity figures.

Their website shows a 7.700” barrel, my 6” Security Six when measured from the breach to the muzzle is a bit over 7 3/4” if they’re using a test barrel in a fixture then at least it’s apples to apples.

I worked up a few test loads and went to the nearby public range over the weekend but couldn’t use the chrono because there were two couples with multiple new AR15 rifles and pistols, little experience and apparently lots of ammo. It was post a target, shoot groups, assess thru the spotting scope and leave on my part. At least primers looked good and brass fell out of the chambers even with max listed loads.

I loaded up the more promising combinations and returned this morning. I had the range all to myself and a perfect day with the Caldwell chrono. Which translates into “I didn’t shoot my chronograph ”. Interesting enough my 2 1/2” GP100 was in some cases as fast or faster than my 40+ year old 6” Security Six. But I previously owned a 4” Security Six that chrono’d faster than the 6” too (lost that one in the divorce).

Anyway,

In new Starline .38 brass with CCI #400 small rifle primers, five shots averaged, chrono at approximately 10’.

125gr Hornady XTP 6.4gr CFE Pistol (website max load at 1199 fps) 6”- 1081fps 2 1/2”- 1016fps.
The smallest group of the day was from the 6” gun at 20 yards with this load.

158gr NOE WFN 5.1gr CFE Pistol (website shows 5.3gr with a LSWC at 1048 fps) 6”- 960fps 2 1/2”- 951fps

It appears to me that Hodgdon’s data is close to real world. CFE Pistol meters well through my powder measure and the accuracy looks promising. Plus I’ve got nearly two pounds to use.