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38 Special 105g TC vs. 158 Keith accuracy


Warden Callaway

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I've been playing with my Frankenstein Colt in 38 Special and I've stumbled onto night and day accuracy. 

 

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My loads were 105g that were loaded with black powder.  Group shot from rest at 10 steps look more like a load of buckshot from 30. 

 

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My gunsmith buddy Bill Fuchs said old Colts 38 Special didn't like light bullets.   So I dough back in my bullet stash and found a couple hundred 158 Keith style I use in 357 Magnum loads years ago.  I loaded up 10 under 1cc of 3F black. I turned the cardboard around and shot the heavy bullets.  It made a big difference. 

 

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4 in nice group and one a little out - operator error? Close enough for cowboy work. 

 

 

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That 158 grain bullet has a great deal more surface area to grab rifling, for one. And that 105 shown doesn't have the best base till-out that I have ever seen either. Kinda looks like rats have been chewing on it. Maybe split the difference and try some 125's?

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The 105 was pulled from a round using a impact bullet puller.  After weighing,  I could have substituted a prettier new one.  Picture is blown up and cropped so makes it look worse than it is.

 

Just to point out how important to test your cowboy loads on paper.

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I use 165 grain Keith bullets in .38 revolver rounds simply because in my younger years Elmer Keith was "the man", and I thought that's how it had to be, so I cast up tens of thousands of the things (I worked at a lead smelter). Forty+ years later, I'm still shooting them up in Cowboy Action. :lol: If I live another couple years or so, I'll finally finish them off. Lyman 357446

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Maybe try a 100gn DEWC. Lots of surface on the rifling since it's a complete cylinder and the entire sides of the bullet run along it.  It's a very accurate bullet. 

 

JEL

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Me thinks you answered your own question. Hard to argue with the target. 

 

BP is something I've never dabbled in, but I seem to remember it likes to have something to push against. I'd be tempted to try a bullet like the LEE 358-146-WC. It's a common design, a RCBS 38-148-WC is the same. I use it in a 38 or 357 Mag case and it is accurate and seems to work in all my guns. It shoots to the sights in most as well. 

 

But bottom line, what you have is working. 

 

Not very pretty, but you could try and seat the 105 deeper into the case. To be legal a bit of lead must stick out from the mouth. Fill the void with Crisco if you need more smoke and soot. 

 

I like to read the old Keith articles on bullet design. He likes the band forward of the crimp groove, said it shortened the distance the bullet had to jump to reach the barrel and guided it through the throat. You little truncated cone bullet would not do any of that. 

 

Over the years I've acquired a few molds, I do have a 358429, perhaps time to dust it off and make some bullets. 

 

Thanks for posting.  

 

BB

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5 hours ago, Griff said:

BP has never worked with bevel-base bullets for me.  

 

Sometimes they don't work well with smokeless as well. Bevel based bullets make loading in progressive presses easier. In some instances they are less fussy to cast as well. Better shooting, not so much. In addition they are a pain to lube/size in a Lyman/RCBS lube/sizer. 

 

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One of the easier bullets to work with. They cast well and because they reduce the powder chamber capacity, good light loads are not hard to work up. They will not feed in a toggle link rifle. 

 

BB

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I inherited my father's 2" aluminum frame snubbie and went through the same process. First, I haven't tried all of the powders you listed. I've found HP-38 / W231 shoots the softest. For projectiles, I loaded some MBC 105 or 125 grn coated TC to 600 and 650 fps which were as pleasant as it will get. Rubber grips also helped.

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I Love wadcutters in revolvers! More bullet for the rifling and the most accurate. Does fill the case

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I'm not super picky.  I've always figured if I could hold the group to "Minute of Pie Plate" I could keep the hits on a 12 x 12 or 14 x 14 target.  Anything tighter is just cake.  I haven't bothered with casting my own bullets for 47 years.

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