OK guys got my first stubby this week and love it, but I am trying to load some rounds for the wife to shoot more comfortably, and here is what I am seeing and I would welcome advice on this load.

So here is the skinny......
Hornady 124gr JHP XTP
6.5 grains of HS-6
Reg small pistol primers
Equals around 930 fps and 13,100 cup pressure, recoil is ok.....

I shot them into a 2x6 pressure treated board, and they did not mushroom at all, and it went 3/4 of the way thru, not very impressive to say the least. Maybe it was the wood, maybe it was the bullet head, that is what I would like to know if anyone has seen the same thing.

Any suggestions on a different bullet, that will have better performance at the low speed.

On a separate note, I did down load a few other rounds and at 5.5 grains of HS-6, same powder brand, and had a squib, and yup it stuck in the barrel. I was shooting in a downward angle, drop was about 10 feet vertically at 25 feet away. I had talked to a few of you guys about that very thing. That was a pain to get out....lol.

Puddle

My wife and sons (and I) shoot our S&Ws with cowboy rounds and it is very pleasant.

Loading something like these should do the trick for a practice:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/i...rounds?a=357941

For real world lots of choices and yours looks solid.

keep my dick tracy full with +p. i absolutely love it.

Thanks Mark...... I am going to get her some of those to plink with.

Anyone ever take 38 special brass and cut it down to make a shorter case......... to about the 38sp short length....?

This would (in the case of down loading) make the small amount of powder take up more case inside space and cut down on squibs.... thoughts...

why just seat a larger projectile deeper?

I surely could, but wouldn't that give it a little more recoil, and I am trying to reduce that, for the wife, just for practice only, that's why I choose the 125gr. But I was really disappointed with the mushroom.

I would want her to carry full load rounds while carrying. She wont feel it if she has to use it.

nope.. seat a projectile and seating it deeper would reduce the case capacity. You'd have higher pressure and you'd have to work up to the load.. but it would allow you to go below starting without cutting brass down...

Heavy projectiles, low velcoity, not much thump, but controllable

OK I will buy some of that, more of a push and not so much crack.....do you know where I can find a powder size chart, I might try a powder that takes up more space, like Unique...

get some 38 wad cutters used for target practice and load these with an appropriate powder, you get the full diameter of the bullet hole, and will shoot mildly enough for the wife. cheap enough to get a lot of practice improving accuracy which trumps power.

Absolutely.. "a lot of practice improving accuracy which trumps power"

sigh..................okay,fill in the following questions:

What brand revolver,length of barrel,and what is the ACTUAL bore diameter(you get it by slugging the bore with a soft lead slug).
What powders do you have access to,not what ones would you like.
What make is the brass.

my 38spl load
200gr LSWC
3.0 Bullseye
790fps

my kids don't seem to mind it.

Thanks Agent19, appreciate the info, 3.0 is not much powder, in a 38 special case, never had a squib....? I had one with 5.5 of HS-6, granted HS-6 is a very small size powder, and I was shooting in a downward angle, not much of a one, but it was downward. I think all the powder moved up against the bullet head and just plain did not light up. But I was watching for that very thing, so it was easy to recognize. 790fps is pretty slow and I bet the kids don't mind, nice load, I will make some notes on that one.

dustydog,

I am shooting the S&W 642 2" inch barrel, well a little less than 2 to be exact... I am not going to shoot lead heads, just a personal preference.....I have access to HS-6, because I use it on others, which is not a deal breaker, but very convenient, I have H110, Titegroup, maybe a few others if I need to, I am wanting to try Unique, it seems to big a bigger size powder, taking up more inside case space, which would help with the squib stuff..... I am really interested in cutting down some of my 38 special cases to a shorter length, which would help with squib problem I had. I really would like to find a resource for powder grain size, which might lead me to use one brand that took up more case space and if I were to shoot in a downward angle, I would have less worry of a squib. I will not load anything that gives me any chance of a squib, the wife will just have to shoot the 6.5 grains. I also really like the 38 special shorts that Mark linked above, seems like a real option. Then I could take the empty cases and reload them again.....

I would have been surprised had the .38 gone through the 2x6. Pressure treated wood is sometimes damp, depending on how long you have had it and where it is stored. It has been my experience that bullets fired into wood don't really expand anyhow, dry or damp. Most wood runs about 7-15% wet depending on how it was dried and the material itself. The pressure treated stuff is infused with a liquid making it not very desirable to bugs. Additionally, the bullet weight is not very high, momentum as it were. The thing does not have a lot of throw weight.
As far as powder, I don't think I would use HS6 but that is a personal thing. Tightgroup, Unique (the old standby and one you cannot go wrong with), AA5 are but a few. The .38 is so easily loaded that pretty much anything will work well. The subject of Bullseye came up, you could do worse than that. It is very good in .38 but please be careful that you do not double charge the case. I used to use 3.4 in the .45ACP with 195 gr semi wadcutters for 50 yard slow fire when I fired NRA 2700s back in the 70's.
What you may do is to Google powder burn rates. Some of the powder sites, Hodgen, Alliant or so, have published burn rates as do some of the reloading manuals. You can extrapolate an unknown powder by comparing loads with burn rates or by merely looking at a burn rate chart. I would avoid stuff like 2400, AA9 etc.....too slow.
Anyhow, if you have Titegroup you may want to just go with that for the bullet you are using and its intended application. Titegroup is a double based powder and can be a little sharp. If you don't like it try the VN line. All this garbage being said, as the manual states, watch your seating depth (affects pressure), crimp and reduce their max loads by at least 10% when starting although I have about 6 manuals and they all list different powder charges. What can I say. Oh, I just finished loading about 500 .38s. Used Unique behind a 158 grain semiwad (my favorite bullet in .38) with a moderate crimp. No pressure signs, no problems. Good luck.

No squibs with 3.0 of bullseye... to DATE.

Trail Boss is a good powder to try/use for light loads.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

Agent19, funny thing......at church today I hit up one of my buds about this subject......he said 3.0 bullseye and 148gr WC.....I laughed and said yeah heard that before..... he just about talked me out of the 124gr JHP, just like "scythefwd" was saying, it will not be too much recoil, actually very easy to shoot. I think I will order me some 148-200gr lead WC and get me some bullseye....

Paratus, might try the Titegoup with the WCs too, thanks for the info.....

H110 is too slow for 38spl. I would not think titegroup or hs6 is so position sensative that would cause a squib. I have used them for years and never had a problem with either. If you are looking for a powder that fills up more of the case and give good velocity, you can try power pistol powder (if you can find it) otherwise, titegroup and Hs6 should meet your needs.

FWIW, your load is below the lowest load listed in the Hornady #9 for that bullet. They show 800fps, and that's from a 4" S&W. You said yours is a 2". Did you chronograph it for that 930fps, or is that just a guess?

Also, FWIW, manufacturers that load low-recoil loads seem to use 110gr bullets a lot. Perhaps this still gives enough velocity to expand the bullet while keeping the recoil (and energy) pretty low.

Does your wife carry the gun? Or is it a house gun? If you want more power, expansion, whatever, and still a mild shooter, a heavier/bigger gun is the most obvious answer.

jr45, I would have not thought so either, but it happened, others on here had warned me it could, so I was watching for it..... especially when shooting in a downward angle..... I was only loading 5 rounds at a time, then walking out on the porch to shoot them, so I know they all had powder in them, I was very careful when making them......

aurora40 , yeah the FPS number was out of the book, HS-6 6.5gr under a 124gr JHP, this number was just a close estimate, I realize the length is going to make some difference.

Yes this is for her to carry or me to carry when applicable.

Actually she shoots a 1911 better than any other, go figure, but not quite a pocketbook gun.

I am just working a load for her to shoot comfortably, so she will shoot more, that's all. She or I will carry a factory round for CC

Big prob will be the jacketed bullets,need a lot of energy to swedge a .010 thick jacket to a bore.
Yes,the AA 5 will shoot clean,soft and cheap.As low as I would go would be 4.3 grains,not much flash,recoil,etc.Unique trumps them all(and any other powder within two place on the burn rate charts is fine)got amazing accuracy with a flat 4 grains and a 158 SWC cast hard.Fror a SD or small game round,same load with a 148 HBWC does a lot of damage to soft tissue as well as bone with almost no recoil.

I see, it's from Hodgdon's reloading data. They are using an 8" barrel. Going with the Hornady velocity, one might guess 750fps from a 2" gun? That's in the ballpark of 150 ft-lbs of energy. Free recoil will be proportional to this. If you really just want a plinking load your wife enjoys, you can either reduce the velocity or the bullet weight to decrease this. It sounds like to cut velocity, you'll need a different powder. Trail Boss sounds like it might be an interesting solution here? My Lyman's manual lists starting loads below 500fps for the 125gr XTP for 700x and Unique.

Going with heavier slower bullets, a 158 would need to be under 700fps and a 200gr around 600fps to be at or below the same energy/free recoil. Granted people perceive recoil differently, so perhaps those would feel better to your wife.

Just some thoughts...

totally agree with both of you, thanks for the perspective.

Can anyone recommend a 148gr - 158gr HBWC or SWC with enough hardness to keep the leading down.......? I might try some WC bullets if I can find one with enough hardness to do the job. I have shot some lead heads before and after awhile, lead peeling off as it exits is something I want to avoid