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Posted: 12/28/2010 3:09:35 AM EDT
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I have a .38 158 grain flat lead round nose mold made by lee
I am trying to load some rounds using these bullets and win 231 I have noticed that lees minimum COAL of 1.550" is way too long to fit in my revolvers cylinder, as is the min COAL of the win 231 +p load which is 1.481" I cannot load these bullets unless I go well under the min COAL so what the hell am I supposed to do? I'm new to reloading and everyone says not to stray from the data so that doesn't sound like a option, I see that this round does not begin to fit well in the cylinder until I get it down to around 1.440" or 1.450" which is around the crimp groove. help! |
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I don't completely understand your question but here goes
Bullets from different company's will not always be a perfect match to reloading info. Reading between the lines in a reloading manual can be dangerous You have a bullet that is a normal weight for your caliber and seating it to the crimp groove will give you a cartridge length that will work with your gun. Normally reducing COAL will increase pressure so one needs extra caution. I am not sure where you are getting your lengths from and suspect there is some mix up due to different COAL with a round nose or flat point bullet design? My Lee " Modern Reloading" gives a standard 38sp load for a 158gr lead bullet as 4.2 - 4.5 gr 231 with a Minimum COAL of 1.45 . Checking my Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook shows to different 158 gr bullets Flat point with 146 OAL 3.5 - 4.7 gr 231 standard load and up to 5.0 for +P Round nose 1.550 OAL 3.5 - 4.9 gr 231 standard load and up to 5.2 for +P If I were shooting this load in a 357 revolver (where I shoot most of my 38's) I would start at the max for a standard load and ease up to the +P fairly load . I know my modern 357 is rated way above any 38 or 38+P so I am not too cautious If I were shooting this load in my 642 Airweight (+P rated alloy frame) I would drop 10% below standard 38 special loads (4.0 gr 231 in this example) and slowly work up. Looking at the Lyman info the +P load only gets you about 50fps over the standard load and that is in a 4" test barrel so in my 2" S&W I would only expect 30FPS difference so I would likely not really push into the +P area much . Reloading is not a exact science because there too many variables. In this case the bullet could be cast different than the test for the manuals, primer is different (or a different batch) and the powder is a different lot. I sound like I am preaching here, I don't know your experience level and there could be a rank beginner peeking at this thread. Basic reloading cautions should apply here- use a manual , preferably several , and start low and work up towards published max (which for many reasons you may never be able to reach) |
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I am loading .38 special
I am loading from the second edition lee modern reloading manual lee never states bullet types, just materials and weights the load is 158 grain lead bullet win 231 min charge 4.0 max charge 4.5 min oal. 1.550" this OAL is way too long to fit in the cylinder of my 642 lee also includes this load in the +p section 158 grain lead bullet win 231 min charge 4.5 max charge 4.7 min oal. 1.481" this load is also too long I am loading bullets casted in my flat point round nose lee mold I'm not sure that the mold number is but the box reads 358-158-RF I would also like to add none of these seating depths allow me to seat to the crimping groove |
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Load the bullet to about 1.45 or 1.455, whatever is needed to get to the crimp groove and get the cartridge inside the cylinder.
Hornady has load data for similar bullets with similar charge weights of W231 loaded to 1.455 inches. These are low pressure loads due to the desire to keep the speeds low with the lead bullets. You should still start with a charge weight less than maximum listed. I would probably choose 3.8 or 4.0 grains of W231, unless I wanted a really soft shooting minimum load running around 650 fps. |
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