I was testing out my new reloads (.38 sp, 3.4 gr W231, WSP primer, 158gr LSWC) and they shot well. Shot some factory UMC .38 FMJs afterwards. Put them away without cleaning. Opened both up today and noticed what appears to be grains of powder forward of the cylinder ( on the cylinder arm and the notch that the ejector rod/arm goes into. The loads shot fine with no squibs and grouped fine as well at 30 feet. Anyone have an idea what might be wrong here?
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Powder grain residue?
- Thread starter vellnueve
- Start date
TY43215
NES Member
231 will do that in 38spl. Never liked it for that round. You may try crimping until the bullet tumbles then back off just enough to stabilize the flight. That will give you more burn time and possibly less unburned powder.
Revolver loads can be tricky as can the powders. Bullseye and Tightgroup are both good 38spl powders 231 is dirty in revolvers.
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There nothing "wrong". What you're seeing is just what 231 does in a .38 Special. W231 burns very clean when there's enough of it. Like RGS said, it doesn't seem to work well with .38 Special. I don't know if it's the light charge (yours is very light) or the case volume vs powder charge, but you get what looks like unburned grains of powder left over with W231.
If you want a clean burning powder that was developed to work with light charges in big cases, try Hodgdon Titegroup. It's the "Swiss Army Knife" of powders.
If you want a clean burning powder that was developed to work with light charges in big cases, try Hodgdon Titegroup. It's the "Swiss Army Knife" of powders.
One thing that I have noticed is that the newer data for 38 specials is a lot lighter than previously published.
I think this is a liabilty issue because of all the new light metal S&W revolvers.
Here's a list of data that shows 3 different sources for W231.
158 GR. CAST LSWC*
Hogdon Powder 3.1grs to 3.7grs
Handloads.com 4.2 gr to 4.7grs
Speer 4.0 - 4.7
I used 4.5 grs and it was real clean, no left over powder and accurate.
I think this is a liabilty issue because of all the new light metal S&W revolvers.
Here's a list of data that shows 3 different sources for W231.
158 GR. CAST LSWC*
Hogdon Powder 3.1grs to 3.7grs
Handloads.com 4.2 gr to 4.7grs
Speer 4.0 - 4.7
I used 4.5 grs and it was real clean, no left over powder and accurate.
The Aluminum Airweights should have no problem handling a steady diet of .38 +Ps, and I don't think the Scandiums will have a problem either. It's probably just a liability issue period. That and many older .38s aren't getting any younger.
TY43215
NES Member
It is because of updated manufacturing processes for powders. The easiest way to determine the difference is by looking at the burn rate charts.
Some powder recipes have changed over the years. Some powders vary from lot number to lot number.
