Power Pistol Powder for 38 Spl

[Bigdog357]

Hey all, wanting to use Power Pistol powder for 38 spl 125 Gr lead bullets, not finding any data for this particular wt bullet in my two reloading manuals. Anybody got any tried and true loads for these bullets. These are just plinking rounds for my 4" Python and my 3" S&W Mod 65. If you have any data, please give me the Min/Max. I am going to use up some Magnum primers with this batch so I don't want to be near the max load and I want to stay under 900 Ft per sec to reduce leading.

 

[pinhead56]

Hey all, wanting to use Power Pistol powder for 38 spl 125 Gr lead bullets, not finding any data for this particular wt bullet in my two reloading manuals. Anybody got any tried and true loads for these bullets. These are just plinking rounds for my 4" Python and my 3" S&W Mod 65. If you have any data, please give me the Min/Max. I am going to use up some Magnum primers with this batch so I don't want to be near the max load and I want to stay under 900 Ft per sec to reduce leading.

I found some Power Pistol myself and I bought a lb to try in 38spl...BUT I haven't cracked it open and I only have info from the Alliant website...
They list a 125 grain load, (986 ft/s) check it out and let us know how it works out

 

[oldpink]

The charge of Power Pistol seems to hover around the 6 grain point for all the data from multiple sources that I looked at on the Loaddata site.
However, there are no data for lead bullets specifically of that weight that I could find, only for equivalent weight jacketed or plated bullets.
As long as you're shooting lead of the proper alloy and Brinell hardness, you should have no problems with leading, and the pressure levels shooting lead are nearly always a bit lower than for equivalent weight jacketed or plated bullets using the exact same components and powder charge.
Alliant themselves lists a 125 grain Speer Gold Dot (plated) in .38 Special with a starting charge of 6.1 grains of Power Pistol and a max charge of 6.8 grains of the same powder.
Alliant doesn't identify the exact gun used (likely a revolver with a 2" to 4" barrel), but the starting load charts at 986 fps, and the max looad charts at 1082 fps.
If you're using pure lead or a soft alloy, it would probably be best to go for the lower end of the spectrum to avoid leading, which I believe generally shows up between 1000 fps and 1100 fps.

 

[BE Mike]

The charge of Power Pistol seems to hover around the 6 grain point for all the data from multiple sources that I looked at on the Loaddata site.
However, there are no data for lead bullets specifically of that weight that I could find, only for equivalent weight jacketed or plated bullets.
As long as you're shooting lead of the proper alloy and Brinell hardness, you should have no problems with leading, and the pressure levels shooting lead are nearly always a bit lower than for equivalent weight jacketed or plated bullets using the exact same components and powder charge.
Alliant themselves lists a 125 grain Speer Gold Dot (plated) in .38 Special with a starting charge of 6.1 grains of Power Pistol and a max charge of 6.8 grains of the same powder.
Alliant doesn't identify the exact gun used (likely a revolver with a 2" to 4" barrel), but the starting load charts at 986 fps, and the max looad charts at 1082 fps.
If you're using pure lead or a soft alloy, it would probably be best to go for the lower end of the spectrum to avoid leading, which I believe generally shows up between 1000 fps and 1100 fps.

The Speer Gold Dot bullet is NOT a plated bullet, but a bonded copper jacketed bullet. I've loaded Gold Dot bullets with Power Pistol. AFAIK there is no published data for loading lead bullets with Power Pistol.

 

[oldpink]

The Speer Gold Dot bullet is NOT a plated bullet, but a bonded copper jacketed bullet. I've loaded Gold Dot bullets with Power Pistol. AFAIK there is no published data for loading lead bullets with Power Pistol.

I tried to get a definitive answer from that without actually calling Speer to ask, but there's no cite directly from them that I could locate.
There's a statement they have out there that's not quite definitive:
"Speer Gold Dot®. Using our proven Uni-Cor® technology, we bond the copper jacket to the lead core one molecule at a time. We've virtually wiped out the cause of most bullet failures — core-jacket separation."
I know for sure that their TMJ (Total Metal Jacket) bullets are plated, and their load data for their TMJ and Gold Dot bullets is used interchangeably for same weight bullets.
Just an educated guess here, but how about instead of conventionally jacketed and bonded, how about plated with thicker than usual (think Rainier, Berry's and others) plating with bonding as part of the electroplating process?
I'll see if I can call Speer come Monday to find out.

 

[BE Mike]

No need to call Speer. The Gold Dot is not a plated bullet, but jacketed. Here is a link: http://www.speer-bullets.com/resources/catalog/speerbullets-catalog/offline/2013_Speer_Catalog.pdf

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I ran to the basement to check my manuals.

Speer says 6.1 for 125 gr. bullet. There is no minimum as it is demarcated "DNR" (do not reduce).

The 158 gr. lead bullet load is demarcated 4.8 grains to 5.4 grains.

Speer Reloading Manual #14, pp. 879 and 876 respectively.