Where to go for load information

[gsc3zny]

I have 2 books, Lee and Lyman 49th, went to Alliant powder website, loaddata.com and cannot find a recipe for what I need, so I am asking for help. I will be loading 158 gr JFN-Berry's-Using Alliant powder American Select-None of my resources have this combo. Any suggestions? or keep buying books?

[XDRoX]

I doubt you'll find a book with that exact combo. Just use any 158gr lead data and call it good.

[TacticalPlinker]

You won't find load data for Berry's bullets. Same with Xtreme and other manufactures. But I think max velocity for most of their stuff is something like 1,500/fps.

Not sure about American Select. But if you can't find exactly what you're looking for, find its equivalent.

Look up burn rates for powder and a similar bullet from another manufacture. Start there.

[BigBronco]

It is fact that Xtreme recommends mid range copper jacketed data for their plated bullets from the Speer manual for a like weight bullet. Don't believeme check their web site.

[stilly]

I have 2 books, Lee and Lyman 49th, went to Alliant powder website, loaddata.com and cannot find a recipe for what I need, so I am asking for help. I will be loading 158 gr JFN-Berry's-Using Alliant powder American Select-None of my resources have this combo. Any suggestions? or keep buying books?

If it aint in the BoLee then it does not exist...

With that said, I see I am not alone in this, you need to know that EXACT/PRECISE does not really fly in reloading. So this EXACT combination of components needs to be dumbed down.

If it were me in your shoes, I would start here: 158gr lead OR jacketed bullet with American Select powder.

What is this? a .357/.38 load or something?

I.E.
According to the BoLee, Page 556 You can find a 357 mag 158gr with American select for 5.3-5.7gr and an oal of 1.580. reada lil further down, and for a lead bullet they show 5.6-6gr...

That is what I would start at, 5.3...

[gsc3zny]

Yes .38 sp. Jfn bullets

[koehn,jim]

Try the Lyman cast bullet book. Pm me the load you want and I will look it up. You can also go to the Castboolits website.

[stilly]

Yes .38 sp. Jfn bullets

IF I were in your shoes shooting .38 special jacketed flat nose bullets and I wanted a way to load them up with American select, then I would look at the BoLee on page 566.

NOW here is where it might get a tad tricky., but this is reloading, so maybe not really.

IF I ONLY had the book of Lee, Then I would see that it says to start LEAD at: 3.8 and MAX is at 4.3 with an OAL of 1.420 Oh I see why you shoot this 420!

No seriously, Just follow what I say, I am NOT saying that this is correct, BUT this is what I would do.

I would look at the previous .357 load that I gave you

According to the BoLee, Page 556 You can find a 357 mag 158gr with American select for 5.3-5.7gr and an oal of 1.580. reada lil further down, and for a lead bullet they show 5.6-6gr...

And maybe download it.

Notice how the LEAD is a little lighter then the jacketed? But what is ONE thing that both of those loads have in common? They both have a charge of 5.6-5.7 in them.

SO, I bet that a safe load for these .38 loads would be 3.4-3.8 since the only data I see is LEAD and it starts at 3.8 and goes to 4.3, I would start a load at 3.8 and if I was happy with it, see if I can load less and be just as happy.

38 spc:
158GR JFN
American Select 3.8-3.4gr
OAL 1.420
Mixed Brass
TULA SPP (cause I use and love tula).

Then, if I thought it was a good load, I might keep it, but maybe even load DOWN, maybe make about 5 or 6 shots in 3.7, then 6 more in 3.6, maybe even down to 3.4. As long as you can shoot your 3.8 you should not have too much problems. Just BE VERY CAREFUL. But if you pull the trigger and all goes well, then you just developed yourself a new load. Pat yourself on the back, check for pressure signs and if all looks good, make some more, JUST BE CAREFUL if you go higher.

NOW, Alliant has a 146gr bullet charged with 4.1gr of American Select which makes me feel good because it is a lighter bullet, so more powder can be tossed in there. They do not show American Select for a 158gr .38 special for various reasons, maybe they have not gotten around to testing yet, maybe they just suck, maybe they only know powder, maybe the guy is sick, who knows, but I feel better about that load now.

You can also look for a higher load and borrow some of the numbers from it. If you found the data for a jacketed bullet at lets say 158-170gr you can possibly copy the charge data from it and that should give you a starting point. But do NOT get a charge from a lighter bullet and use that charge for a heavier one.

And above all, please keep in mind, I am just some guy on the internet telling you what I think. If you can do your research a bit more and look a little bit more, you can possibly validate this information I gave to you. But if you blow yourself up, you did it on your own. Of course I will feel bad for you but I really hope that if you make this load, you share with us how well it went and what you decided to do with it. It looks in the realm of sanity to me. I would honestly make this and shoot it. Good luck. Sorry that I was the only one to take a stab at it, but I do tend to be a rather experienced noob at this even though I KNOW I am no expert...

If you like this load and you continue to cast and shoot it, I might be able to make some of your bullets blue and then you can have pretty bullets that possibly do not foul up your barrel and you can shoot them however fast you want to.