Jacketed or lead bullets in my single-action revolver?

[Triggernosis]

I've got a Cimarron in .38 Spec. and am getting ready to load up a couple hundred rounds that I will be using as an all-around load - game dispatch, defense against critters, and plinking. Which should I shoot, lead or jacketed? I'm thinking either a 158 gr. all-lead SWCHP or a jacketed SJHP..... The price between the lead and jacketed doesn't seem to be much.
Any recommendations?

[Loke]

You don't say how hard these bullets will be. At 38 Special velocities there will be minimal expansion, or none at all with a hard bullet designed for the 357. A soft, pure lead cast bullet should give some expansion. Another option would be a swaged slug. You may even be able to find some copper plated ones that should minimize leading, not that it would be a problem with standard 38 Special loadings.

[Buck Elliott]

It has been so long since I loaded jacketed bullets for a single action revolver, I can't really remember when it was.. Probably 15 years ago, at least, and that was for a special project.. Shop around some, and get some good cast bullets.. Something in the 150 grain vicinity should do nicely.. At .38 Spl pressures and velocities, leading should not be a problem, and is easy enough to brush out, if you catch it before it really makes a mess... Which I doubt will happen. There is really no need for super-duper jacketed bullets in a .38 Special..
The Cimarrons are fine guns, and you should get many years of enjoyable service out of yours..

[6pt-sika]

I like cast bullets better then most and that now is all I load for lever action rifles and my revolvers .
Also I have pretty large hands .

Anyway I used to have a circa 1957 Ruger Flattop 44 MAG . And I didn't think the recoil would be that terrible shooting some left over 44 MAG lever actions rounds i had . Anyway to make a long story short , the Ranch Dog 432-265GC pushed with 23 grains of H-110 ain't no revolver load . The trigger guard liked to broke the first knuckle on the middle finger of my shooting hand !

Granted the loads are a good bit stout for a revolver .

Now I shoot a more moderate load using the Lyman 429244 in my S&W 629 4" .

[J Miller]

I'd use a cast SWC bullet with a flat base. Something along the idea of the Keith 358429 and I'd load it over 5.0grs Unique ... IF .... the Cimarron will handle heavier loads.
If not, I'd find a 158 to 160 gr SWC, flat base of course, and load it over 4.5grs 231.

I've shot thousands of both these rounds in various revolvers with excellent accuracy.

Joe

[junkbug]

I remember 130 grain jacketed roundnose bullets being available very inexpensively some time ago. These were made for use in military Hauge convention compliant ammo for MP personel and such.

I would not hesitate to use them.

Use what you can find most inexpensively, and experiment.

Have fun.

[Griff]

Is this a full-size SAA? It ain't their little Model P Jr., is it? If it's their full-size SAA then I'd look at something like Remington's 110 or 125 JHP offerings in .38(+P). A tad flatter shooting than the heavier bullets, but... with muzzle velocities at 995 & 945fps, they're good performers. I don't know if I'd shoot a steady diet of that +P level in the smaller sized Model P, Jr.

[O.S.O.K.]

I would say that the best bullet for the jobs listed is a flat based keith as Joe recommends. You will get good performance with the lead bullets - higher velocity for the same pressure and good penetration. Unique is a good propellant for this job.

Here's some from Leadheads: https://secure25.securewebsession.com/p ... /order.htm The 357-168 Keiths. They should give great accuracy as well.

[Triggernosis]

It ain't their little Model P Jr., is it?

Yep, it's the P Jr..

Well, it appears that the consensus is to go with lead. I'm thinking this one should work OK:
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballistics ... spx?id=224
What do y'all think?
Powder? Is W-231 O.K.?

[2X22]

It has been so long since I loaded jacketed bullets for a single action revolver, I can't really remember when it was.. Probably 15 years ago, at least, and that was for a special project..

Same here. Except it may have been over 30 years since I used anything but cast.

I have several thousand jacketed bullets on my bench for just about every pistol caliber, but seem to never use them, why should I when cast PB SWC's do just about everything I need a pistol to do.

2x22

[Ray Newman]

Try copper plated lead bullet made by Berry: www.berrysmfg.com/
Cost a little more than lead; cheaper than jacked. But without leading issues.

I have been shooting their .38, .40, .41, .44, and .45 calibre pistol and .30 WCF bullets for some time now. Am well satisfied with them. Do belive there is still free shipping on orders over U.S. $50.00. Some calibres may be available at Cabela's.

[Lefty Dude]

If the piece in new and unfired I would fire a 100 round or so of jacketed thru the barrel before I shot lead. New Uberti barrels can have some very small rough areas, the jacketed rounds will burnish the bore for you. After the 100 rounds, use JB bore paste and clean the bore. This will polish the lands & grooves. Now the piece will shoot lead much better.

Just my opinion you understand, and this always works for me.

[rond]

Missouri Bullet Company makes a 125 gr. RNFP that I really like for .38 Special, 4.2 gr. Titegroup.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I shoot a lot of 140 gr. Laser Cast bullets over 4.0 gr trail boss for CAS in the .38. It would be good for practice and do like Griff said and just buy some good loads to use as back up to your hunting rifle or for SD loads. (after making sure you know where they print).

[J Miller]

It ain't their little Model P Jr., is it?

Yep, it's the P Jr..

Well, it appears that the consensus is to go with lead. I'm thinking this one should work OK:
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballistics ... spx?id=224
What do y'all think?
Powder? Is W-231 O.K.?

About 3 years ago I saw one of the Mdl P Jrs at a local gunshop. I emailed Cimarron about it specifically asking if it would handle +P loads. Their answer was no it was not proofed for anything over standard SAAMI loads. I don't know if that is true or not as I never purseued the matter.

Many years ago, back in ohhh about maybe 1978 or 79 I loaded up several thousand 38s using that exact Speer 158gr SWC and the Hornady equivalent. I loaded them over the then current Winchester load of 4.3grs of 231 and found that to be a very excellent load. So yes 231 is OK. Actually more than OK it's only second to Bullseye as the best 38 Spcl powder out there. My opinion of course.

I still have well over a thousand of that load left. Wanna come help me shoot 'em up?

Joe

[the telegraphist]

IMHO in single actions, lead projectiles are king, its what they were designed for. Thats not talking about the Big Rugers and others, just traditional SA revolvers.
My Colts thrive on them.

[mikld]

The bullet you posted a link to is a very soft swaged bullet. I would think velocities with so soft a bullet must be kept fairly low to eliminate as much leading as possible. The key to shooting lead bullets is bullet fit. Too small will defineately cause barrel leading and too large may cause cylinder throat leading. IOHO, size (or buy) bullets the same size as the cylinder throats of your revolver (example; throats measure .359", shoot .359" bullets.). Good shooting lead bullets should be .001"+ over groove diameter, so a good fit would be for a revolver with .359" throats and .357" groove diameter would be a .359" bullet. Personally I'd choose a Keith style SWC or a Round Nose Flat Point with a large meplat (flat nose part)...

All my guns shoot lead only except my .223, and 90% are cast wheel weight alloy.

hey, just an old guy's 2 cents worth...

[Triggernosis]

How do I measure my throat diameter?

[JB]

I used to cast and shoot thousands of lead bullets, but since I don't shoot like I used to, I've switched over to jacketed slugs. The lead o.k. with standard loads, but I got tired of scrubbing lead our of my bores from Elmer Keith style magnum loadings.

[O.S.O.K.]

That Speer bullet will be just fine. But if you look at the Leadhead link that I posted, you will see the better choice at a lower price. And yes, W231 will work great.