Another day on the range, and another set of test results. These are the first loads I’ve tried with Boudreau’s 158-grain powder-coated semi-wadcutter bullets. I loaded the Boudreau bullets into .38 Special cases for evaluation in a Colt Python and a Smith and Wesson Model 60. My first reloads were with Accurate No. 5 powder.
158-grain Boudreau bullets in candy green. Boudreau’s makes a good bullet.Fresh .38 Special reloads. The candy green color goes well with brass cases.
These days, you take what you can get when it comes to reloading components. I previously developed accurate .38 Special loads with Bullseye, Unique, Power Pistol, and WW 231 propellant (you can read about them on our Tales of the Gun page), but I haven’t previously loaded .38 Special with Accurate No 5. It was the only powder my reloading shop had in stock, so I bought a couple of bottles to try.
Classy-looking ammo.Accurate No. 5 propellant.
Finding data for powder-coated bullets is a bit dicey, and it’s even more difficult with Accurate No. 5. There’s load data on the Accurate website, and they recommended a load range of 5.3 to 5.9 grains for this powder with a 158-grain powder-coated bullet. I loaded at 5.4 grains (0.1 grain above the minimum) to try in both my Colt Python and my Model 60 Smith and Wesson (both of which have been massaged with custom triggers from good buddy TJ’s Custom Gunworks).
Colt Python results at 50 feet. Not bad for an initial load. Subscribe to the ExNotes blog for future load tests.Smith and Wesson Model 60 load results at 50 feet. This is not too shabby for a snubnose revolver.
I recently tried Boudreau’s 9mm 125-gr bullets and I was very pleased with the results (you can read about that here). I’m just getting started developing loads for the .38 Special with the Boudreau powder-coated bullets.
9mm ammo reloaded with Boudreau’s powder-coated bullets.
You may have noticed that Boudreau’s Bullets is now an advertiser on the ExNotes site. I like the product and we want to share the knowledge with you. You can call the number on their site; ask to talk to Ralph. He’s very knowledgeable and you will be in good hands.
A week or so ago I posted a load development plan for my .38 Special Smith and Wesson Model 60, and I recently finished the Model 60 load testing. The Model 60 with its new Altamont grips and the custom work good buddy TJ did for me is surprisingly accurate.
Altamont grips on the Model 60. They improved accuracy significantly.
I tested four bullets and four different propellants at two different levels, and I fired two 3-shot groups with each load combination. The one exception was the Hornady 148-grain swaged hollow base wadcutter bullet, which I tested with one propellant (Bullseye) at one level (2.7 grains). I did that because the wadcutter load is my standard target load (and it’s what my Star progressive reloader is set up to produce). The other bullets were the Hornady 110-grain jacketed hollow point, the Hornady 158-grain jacketed hollow point, and a cast 158-grain flatpoint bullet a local caster produces.
The four bullets used for this test: The 158-grain cast flatpoint, the 158-grain Hornady jacketed hollow point, the 110-grain jacketed hollow point, and the Hornady 148 grain hollow base wadcutter.Four propellants used for this test: Unique, Power Pistol, Bullseye, and Winchester 231.
The propellants were Bullseye, Unique, 231, and Power Pistol. As I mentioned above, all groups were 3-shot groups, and I fired each from a bench at 50 feet. I tested for group size and for deviation from the aim point, and I used the standard NRA 50-ft slow fire bullseye target. Point of aim was at 6:00 for all loads.
A few of the NRA 50-foot slow fire targets. I fired several groups on each target, marking my shots as I progressed. I took about 3 hours to test fire all loads included in this test.
The group size/accuracy results follow.
In addition to recording group sizes, I was also interested in where the groups printed with respect to my point of aim. I held my aim at 6:00 on the bullseye. Here’s what I found.
With regard to the group size testing, some of the loads were consistent, and others had some variability I think was mostly due to me. Many of the groups that went above, say, 2.3 inches or so in group size had two of the three shots right next to each other and then one was a flyer that opened the group up. I attribute that to pilot error. Yeah, I know, if I used a machine rest I could have eliminated that, but I don’t have a machine rest. You get what you get with this test, and that’s me.
The 110 gr Hornady JHP shot significantly low with all loads, and its accuracy was okay but not great. It was close enough, I think, for a defense round, but this bullet shot 4 to 6 inches low pretty consistently. That’s because the lightweight bullet squirts out of the barrel before the muzzle has a chance to rise much in recoil (so it hits lower). You might think that these 110 grain bullets would offer a significant recoil reduction, but if that occurred, I couldn’t feel it (the recoil felt about the same as the 158-grain loads). My conclusion is that, for me, 110-grain bullets are a nonstarter for the Model 60.
My standard target load (2.7 gr Bullseye and wadcutter bullets) grouped relatively well, although for me it shot about an inch to the right in the Model 60. That’s probably close enough for government work. It’s good to know this load works, because that’s the load my Star reloader is set up to make (and I make a lot of them).
The 158-grain bullets are obviously what the Model 60 is set up to shoot, and of the two tested, the best accuracy occurred with the 158-grain cast bullet and Winchester’s 231 propellant. It’s a sweet load at either the high or low propellant level, and it shoots essentially to point of aim at 50 feet.
I can also load the 158-grain cast bullet with Bullseye on the Star reloader, and that load did okay at 2.8 grains of Bullseye. The Star reloader has a small amount of adjustment in it for powder throw, but I would leave it at 2.7 grains (the same as the wadcutter load) if I loaded the 158-grain cast flatpoint bullets on it. That’s close enough.
Overall, I was surprised at how accurate a little snubnose can be. It’s not dramatically different than larger target handguns. Some of this is undoubtedly due to TJ going through the gun and making sure everything is perfect. And some of it is due to the Altamont grips. I sure enjoy shooting this handgun.
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