That snub nose was made for Bullseye

L

Longshot4

New member
I am really amazed at the difference in some powders. I loaded up some 38s last night. I used two different powders not expecting much between them.
The two loads were taken form Hornady Vol. II. I planed to use a old box of Hornady #1050 158gr. RN that has been in storage for decades. You might be Fermilure with the knurled baring surface and dusted with powdered graphite. Well I used some old Win.Standard small pistol primers Red dot and Bullseye for the second choice to punch the target. I started model 19 with a 6" barrel and Red Dot loads of 3.5 shot good with my tremoring hands. At about 15 Yds. I was somewhere around 2 1/2" 5 shot group. I wasn't expecting much. Then I tried the same load in the Rossi m88 with about a 1 1/2" barrel. The group seamed to scatter. I suspect that may of been my tremor shooting. Then my partner started to pack up so I put the 5 rounds with Bullseye in the Rossi to quickly get my testing done. It looked like it was shooting lasers. The group was just over 1". I found the load for the stubby Rossi. So now I can easily see the difference in a faster burn rate for shorter barrels. The Bullseye seamed to be a little dirty but who really cares?
What do you think about that?
 
I guess slower-burning powders might not impart enough velocity to a projectile to stabilize it well, before it exits the short barrel. A fast-burning powder that normally burns completely might be expected to send the projectile out the barrel with enough velocity that it would be better stabilized.

I suppose that if the charge weights increase so that the slower-burning powder imparts higher velocity to the projectile, better accuracy may be obtained, but probably at the cost of pleasant shooting.

I am not acquainted with your medical condition, but I don't have any tremor, and there have been days when I would have been VERY happy to shoot a 2.5" group at 15 yards! If you are doing that well WITH a tremor of any kind, then my hat is off to you!
 
I think you can't determine much without shootig from a rest and repeating the experiement. Fast powder and soft swaged lead bullets do go hand in hand but Red Dot and Bullseye aren't all that far apart. I wouldn't read too much about powder speed vs barrel length into it. My most accurrate snubbie loads are with Blue Dot and cast DEWC. My best .25 acp loads prefer Unique over Bulleye or Red Dot.
 
Think paragraphs.
Decidedly huge difference between a 6" 19 and a 1.5" Rossi. None of which has anything to do with the powder. Does mean the Rossi doesn't like the Red Dot load though.
 
I have shot thousands upon thousands of 38 Special rounds in various snubbies using 3.5 grains of Bullseye with LSWC, JHP, LRN, LBBFPRN, etc. Point of aim between the bullets type is close enough that I cannot tell a difference between bullets. I truly think that my flinch causes more variation in impact than bullet configuration. Velocities are so similar it would take a statistical analysis, (perhaps Students T test?) to see if there is a velocity difference between a LSWC and a LRN of the same alloy.

I have shot that load in many revolvers, some I still own, some I do not. I have shot that load in 38 Snubbies, four inch barreled 38’s, and 357 Revolvers. It shoots very well regards of the revolver.

The dumped charges are as similar as I can make them, given a Dillion progressive, there are variations due to which primers I used. Primer use is based on who was making the cheapest primer at the time of loading. Winchester has been the consistently low cost primer maker for a while, most loads are WSP.

I have never found a need to use the same case, so I am using brass that has been fired God Knows how many times and a rainbow of headstamps. All of which shoot fine.

I have shot other powders and other loads, but Bullseye is so constantly accurate and shoots to Point of Aim in the fixed sight revolvers, that I have standardized on that load and powder and see no reason to chase the “Powder de jour” . I have a few factory ammunition data points in the data below. Even though velocity is not an exact indication of pressure, when my ammunition is close to standard pressure factory ammunition in terms of velocity, I consider my loads within standard pressures.

My S&W Airweights are regulated for 125 grain loads, so I developed some Bullseye loads for them, I have not included these in this table.

Code: 
[SIZE="3"][B][SIZE="4"]Colt Detective Special mfgr 1963 [/SIZE][/B]  


158 gr LRN 3.5 grs Bullseye thrown, CCI primers mixed  cases		
24-Jul-99	T = 100 F !	
			
Average 751 fps		
Standard Deviation 32 fps
Extreme Spread 90 fps
High 805 
Low 715		
Recorded shots 22		
					
158 LRN 3.5 grs Bullseye WSP Mixed cases	 8-Jan-06 T = 52 F
Ave Vel =	675.9				
Std Dev =	18.6				
ES	96.18				
High	723.9				
Low	627.7				
N =	32				 
					
158 LSWC 3.5 grs Bullseye WSP Mixed cases	8-Jan-06  T = 58 F
Ave Vel =	706.8				
Std Dev =	15.55				
ES	65.87				
High	742.9				
Low	677				
N =	32


[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Pistols%20various/ReducedColtDSChromed833724DSCN5855.jpg[/IMG]				 
					
				
[B][SIZE="4"]Colt Detective Special  mfgr 1974[/SIZE][/B] 

158gr LSWC 3.3 grs Bullseye CCI 500 primers, Dillon Loads  17-Oct-93  T = 65-70F
Ave Vel =	682	fps			 
Std Dev =	33				
ES	96				
High	733			
Low	637			 	
N =	6				
					
					
Colt Cobra 2" barrel 30-Jan-05 	T = 42 F 
158 gr LRN 3.5 grs Bullseye thrown, Fed 100 primers mixed  cases	
					
Average                        696.6	
Std Dev	20.49	
Extreme Spread	72.93	
High	745.5		
Low	672.6		
13 recorded shots	
shoots point of aim when properly held, otherwise goes left

		
				
					
[B][SIZE="4"]Taurus M85 B2UL  2" Barrel  	[/SIZE][/B]	
					
158 LSWC 3.5 grs Bullseye thrown, Mixed Brass WSP 11-Dec-04 T = 54 F
Ave Vel =	686.3		 		
Std Dev =	13.63		  
ES	58.48		 
High	718.8		 		
Low	660.3		 		
N =	30		 		
shot little high and centered	

			
158 LRN  Master Factory Ammo 30-Dec-04  T = 56 F
Ave Vel =	698.2		 		
Std Dev =	20.56  		
ES	105.8		
High	753.5		
Low	647.6		 		
N =	32
shot 6" high centered,until barrel leaded

		 		
					
158 LSWC 3.5 grs Bullseye Mixed brass Fed 100 30-Dec-04  T = 56 F
Ave Vel =	706.2		 		
Std Dev =	23.45		 		 
ES	81.94		 		 
High	748		 		 
Low	666.1		 		
N =	48
		 		
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Pistols%20various/DSCN5643.jpg[/IMG]
					
[B][SIZE="4"]S&W M638-3 Airweight Bodyguard  	[/SIZE][/B]	
					
148 LWC Lead 2.7 grs Bullseye thrown Mixed Brass WSP	
18-Mar-07 T = 52 °F					
Ave Vel =	611.6		 		
Std Dev =	22.04		 		
ES	75.92		 		 
High	648.1		 		 
Low	572.2		 		
N =	25				
little high					
					
158 LSWC 3.5 grs Bullseye Mixed brass WSP		
18-Mar-07 T = 52 °F					
Ave Vel =	611.1		 		
Std Dev =	9.64		 		
ES	28.05		 		
High	626.3		 		 
Low	598.3		 		
N =	32				
4-6" High accurate					

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Smith%20and%20Wesson%20Pistols/ReducedM638AirweightMarkingsDSCN-1.jpg[/IMG]
[/SIZE]
 
3.5gr Red Dot under 158 cast is entering +P territory, where 3.5gr Bullseye is not...
Click to expand...

Those limits are based on super soft Speer lead bullets, and neither are in +P territory when you look at other data sources besides Alliant where they list charges for jacketed bullets.
 
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