.38 Special and .45 ACP question

M

mkoeh475

Inactive
Hi guys, new to handgun reloading, but have done my fair share of reloading for rifles and shotguns.

Guns:
Springfield 1911/.45ACP
M&P .45C

S&W66 and 27-2 (4inch), loading for .38 Special

Equipment:
Dillon 550 B
Dillon dies

Components:
Misc headstamp brass
CCI small pistol primers
Federal large pistol primers
Rainier 200gr flatnose
Rainier 158gr flatnose
Clays powder

I know these aren't ideal supplies, but it's what I've currently got on hand. Any recommendations on powder charges for both is greatly appreciated.

From hodgdon it looks like between 3.9 and 4.3 grains for the 45 and2.8-3.1 grains for the 38. Could anyone confirm? Rainier doesn't have data online that I can find. But Hodgdon's site said the above loads. Is this pretty close? Thanks in advance!
 
Do you have a reloading manual such as Lyman's 49?

It shows your 45 as accurate but the 158gr uses 2.6-2.9 Clays. This is with lead bullets, not sure how it compares with your Berry's.
 
The Rainer bullets I assume are the swaged copper plated types. Perhaps not the most popular choices but should nevertheless work fine. For Clay loadings about the best I can do is to pass along data from the Lyman 49th manual. A 200 gr jacketed bullet loading for the .45 is shown as 3.9 to 4.4 gr Clays, 730 to 790 fps velocity. For a 158 gr jacketed for the .38, 2.8 to 3.2 grains are shown, velocities 648 to 712 fps. Both the .38 and .45 loads are on the mild side compared to other powders. Better powder choices might include 700X, Bullseye and 231 for the .38 and same for the .45 along with Unique.
 
I shoot a lot of Rainier plated in .357 and .45.
I always use jacketed data because they shoot close to jacketed speeds over the chrono. Here's a good read.
http://38super.net/Pages/How%20Fast.html

The Rainier 158 FP is an excellent bullet for .38 levels and up to 1,100 fps in the magnum. My current load is 8.4 grains of HS-6 with the 158 FP in magnum brass with a medium profile crimp, a pretty stiff load and they shoot great.

Used a lot of Rainier .45 200 grain plated SWC's in my HKs over the last 8 years, no complaints at all.
 
For simplicity's sake I always used lead bullet data with the plated bullets I reloaded. I went to the manufacturer's web site for reloading instructions, but settled on lead data. I only shot up about 1,000 plated bullets 'cause I saw little benefit using them (if I needed higher velocity ammo, I'd go with jacketed bullets. If I wanted "normal" shooting I go with cast lead. My lead bullets do not lead the barrels of my guns and I can get the 1200 fps threshold easily with cast.).
 
Thanks for the feedback. I haven't gotten around to any reloading....daughter #2 came here last weekend so I've been busy.
 
If I had a .357 Magnum revolver that I meant to shoot .38 Special plated bullets in, I would start with full charges. This goes against Internet Nanny Expert recommendations, but a reduced load of fast burning powder and a "sticky" copper surface is a lot more likely to stick a bullet in the barrel than a full load is to blow up a gun with about a 100% safety margin.
 
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