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I don’t know if any Winchesters used .38 Special Black Powder ammo, so I apologize if they didn’t.
However, I have a gun that says “.38 Special Black Powder Only” on the round barrel.
I don’t plan on doing much shooting with it. I wanted to use it for a possible home defense weapon.
I was told that .38 Special Cowboy Action ammo should be safe to use in this gun, but I can’t find any available here in San Diego, CA.
It looks like I’ll have to reload my own cartridges.
I’ve found that there’s a Lee .38 Special reloading kit for about $40 which should work okay for me since I plan to only make about 100 rounds or less.
My question is, what powder should I use and what volume of this powder would be safe to use?
I understand that the FFFg powder size would be correct for this caliber in a pistol.
If I can’t get some actual Black Powder, what Black Powder Substitute powder could I use that would be safe to use and what volume?
Should I use a wad if a lower volume would be a safer load?
Any help with this would be appreciated. I may never have to shoot this gun, but I don’t want it to blow up on me it I do have to fire it.
Use of BP is not necessary, as all regular (not “+P” or other special HV loads) .38 Spl factory ammo is safe to fire in that gun; just like all regular .45 Colt factory ammo is safe to fire in BP Colts. Now, if you really want to take up the fascinating hobby of handloading, that’s a different story, but it’s not necessary merely to have a small supply of ammo for this gun.
And even if you really want to learn handloading, using BP (which I’ll bet is hard to find in CA) creates unnecessary problems–both gun & cases have to be cleaned scrupulously after firing, & some BP substitutes are as corrosive as BP.
Wads can cause problems if used incorrectly, & for your application are unneeded anyway.
What would be the best bullet type and weight in .38 Special factory ammo to result in the lowest pressure in the cylinder & barrel?
Chuck said
https://www.buffaloarms.com/38-special-125-grain-rnfp-black-powder-ammunition-box-of-50-amobp38spcl
The answer to his prayers, except…”out of stock.”
clarence said
The answer to his prayers, except…”out of stock.”
Didn’t catch that. Sorry.
jampard said
What would be the best bullet type and weight in .38 Special factory ammo to result in the lowest pressure in the cylinder & barrel?
The 38 long Colt is the predecessor of the 38 Special. One 38 long Colt load is to use a 150 grain bullet and 3 grains of Bullseye for 810 fps.
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