Getting Serious About Fifty Yard
Results in the .38 Special
© 2014 - Ed Harris
My two previous articles on loading
accurate .38 Special ammunition gave background on my loading methods, and what
sort of accuracy to expect when testing .38 Special ammo indoors at 25 yards. As interesting as that preliminary data may
have seemed, it was a mere tease leading up to the real test. Anyone serious about testing ammo knows that nothing
else matters other than how well the ammunition shoots outdoors in the real
world of field and target shooting, which starts at FIFTY yards. Anything else is as Frank Marshall would say,
is just “fooling around.”
Recapping Col. E.H. Harrison’s
conclusions in the NRA Hand loader’s Guide, so you don’t have to go back
and look them up… To be called among “the best,” .38 wad cutters in the golden
days of 1960s Bullseye competition had to be capable of grouping 3 minutes of
angle, or about 1-1/2” at fifty yards, in a minimum series of five consecutive 5-shot
groups. “Good” hand loads using factory
swaged, hollow-based wad cutter bullets of match quality should approach this, averaging
about 3.5 minutes of angle, or slightly less than two inches at 50 yards. Anything averaging larger than two inches at
50 yards isn’t capable of a shooting perfect score with concurrent high X-count
needed to win a National or Olympic competition. But, practical shooters know that handgun ammo
which will consistently average two inches or less at fifty yards is still entirely
satisfactory for field use, because that is far better than most people can
shoot.
When practical shooters seek dual-use ammo
to feed both their cowboy or single-shot rifle and a wheel gun, accuracy takes
on a somewhat different dimension. You
want all the accuracy possible, and that same ammo must be far more accurate
than you can shoot with 58 year-old eyes and iron sights from either gun.
Wad cutters are the accepted accuracy
standard for paper punching, but beyond 50 yards their gyroscopic stability and
accuracy suffers, regardless of what firearm you use them in. “Traditional” .38 Special ammunition loaded
with lead round nose, lead flat nose, or semi-wad cutter bullets feeds more
smoothly from the lever guns and “carries’ up” better beyond 50 yards than target
wad cutters.
So, I tested four factory .38 Special
loads as benchmarks, then an assortment of factory swaged and cast wad cutter, lead round
nose, lead flat nose and semi wad cutter bullets at 50 yards to see where they
shook out.
The factory load benchmarks were a good
lot of better than average 158-gr. Lead round nose and three different batches
of wad cutters, one oldie, but goodie, and two new boxes, one cheap, one
expensive. The box of historical
interest was “the last” of what the late LTC Ellis Lea described as “the best wad
cutter
The 158-grain lead, round nosed ammo I
tested was a batch loaded by Norma in
The new and expensive ($18) box of
Winchester wad cutter from Midway was disappointing, one group containing a
keyhole which enlarged it to almost six inches, the best group was just under
two inches and five targets averaged of over three inches. Cheaper Than Dirt’s imported Czech
bargain-basement $9 stuff shot surprisingly well, averaging about two inches.
Of the factory swaged hollow based wad
cutters only Remington’s averaged less than 2” at fifty yards. The often recommended 2.8 grain charge of
Bullseye averaged 1.8”, exactly was Col. Harrison’s article said it should, but
increasing the charge slightly to 3 grains shrunk the average to an inch and a
half. The Remington 158-gr. Lead SWC flat
base of .358 diameter loaded to 1.45” overall with 3.5 grains of Bullseye was also
pleasant surprise which averaged about an inch and a half, as well as good wad
cutter reloads. Speer’s 158-gr. Lead Round
nose with 3.5 grains of Bullseye was also a pleasant surprise, shooting as well
as my prized lot of Norma LRN.
So, knowing what the factory loads and hand
loads with swaged bullets do, I tested traditional lead .38 Special loads with
cast bullets so see how they measured up.
Cast bullet loads included the Saeco #348 double-end, bevel-based wad
cutter, my favorite hunting bullet, the NEI #161A 190-gr. Flat nose; and
bullets cast from a newly purchased NEI #161A four-cavity, which was shortened
to remove the base band, producing a 150-grain flat nosed cowboy slug.
The Saeco #348 double-ender shot,
loaded unsized, and crimped in the crimp groove over 3.5 grains of Bullseye averaged
1.87”, which agreed perfectly with Col. Harrison’s conclusions. Both 190-grain and 150-grain versions of the
NEI #161A, loaded with 3.5 grains of Bullseye averaged about an inch and a half
at 50 yards, actually slightly better than the wad cutter. Since a couple shot holes with the 190-grain
version showed slight yaw at 50 yards, I decided to increase the charge
slightly to see if it would improve stability.
A charge of 4.2 grains of Bullseye, crimping in the top lubricating
groove at 1.55” overall length averaged 0.87” with the largest group 1.07” and
the smallest 0.61! @~&*% Now THAT
got my attention!
I decided it was time to try some .357
Magnum brass. Seating the 190-gr. NEI
#161A in the normal crimp groove using .357 brass the cartridge OAL is 1.58”.
4 grains of Bullseye gave about 1000
f.p.s. from the BSA and averaged under an inch and a half. Increasing the charge to 4.3 grains enlarged
the average slightly, but it was still less than two inches. Increasing the charge still more to 4.5
grains enlarged groups further. It was time to try a harder alloy.
Midway’s online catalog showed a 190gr.
LFN bullet from Hunter’s Supply which looked like a dead ringer to the #161A,
but cast from a harder 92Pb-6Sb-2Sn alloy.
So I bought some and while waiting for them to arrive I loaded some
Next trip to
Hmmm, what will these things do at 100
yards? Stay tuned…