Does all your S&W hate 158gr bullets?

[Andrew Quigley]

Howdy

 Both of mine do. I have a J frame and a model 10 and both shoot lousy with 158gr bullets. Throw in 125's whether jacketed or lead and they shoot great. Just wondered if that's something common with S&W's. Had a Rossi in 357 that hated them too come to think of it.

Andrew
 

[tomf52]

More likely something wrong with your 158 ggr bullets. All six of mine shoot them great.

[Wingman26]

38 special revolvers are generally regulated to shoot bullets in the 158 gr range, usually shooting lighter bullets like the 125 gr throws them way off.

[Mikey]

Andrew - what does 'shoot lousy' mean?  Poor groups?  Leading?  Que pasa?  Do you reload?  Are youusing commercial reloads???  Mikey.

[Andrew Quigley]

By lousy I mean a 6 to 8" group at 25yrds. Not from a rest but from a standing position with a Weaver stance. With the 125's I can get it down to 3".
 The my loads are handloads and the bullets are from a very good local source. Both the 125's and 158's come from him. Haven't shot any factory loads in the 158's in so long I can't remember how they did. Might have to pickup a box just to see.
 With my reloads I was using Unique powder and tried several different loads. Could be they'd shoot a little different with another powder. I'll try the factory stuff first and see how it goes.

[stimpylu32]

AQ

Depending on what powders you have to use , maybe Bullseye or Titegroup and you could also try some Trail Boss , all of these  will do a better job , i use a ton of Unique but not for 38 sp /357 mag .

Bullseye works best for me , with TG coming in a close 2nd. , i save the Unique for the larger cases with heavier bullets like 45LC and 45/70 .

Just something to think about .

stimpy

[Mikey]

Andrew - that's not a great way to evaluate the accuracy of a handgun.  The Weaver stance isn't really designed to enhance the shooter's ability to accurately shoot a handgun, it's more like the 'next step up' from a one handed draw/hold/fire. 

Please let me suggest that you 'bench' those two revolvers from a steady bench rest using a 6:00 hold on a standard 25 yd bullseye target to better assess their accuracy with those loads.  If your 158 gn loads approximate factory loadings your groups should be much better from the bench.  If not, I would suggest only changing powders.  I like Winchester's 231.  I duplicate the factory loads with that powder and a 200 gn cast swc and group almost one hole at 25m with my bodyguard and M10.  I don't use Unique in my 38 loads.

If you load on the +P side the j-frames aren't that great to shoot but from a Weaver stance at 25m, 6-8" at 25 yds is pretty darn good. 

The 125s are probably more accuarate because they are probably easier to shoot and you are more comfortable with them. 

Bench boththose babies and see how they really do with those loads, and adjust accordingly.  JMHO.  Mikey.

[jro45]

My model 13-1 loves those 158 gr bullets

[buck460XVR]

My 686 tends to like the 158gn bullets. I've shot em in Remington, Winchester Super-X, Federal(both American Eagle and the Fusion Line), CCI Blazers and hand reloads. Out of all the different bullet weights they just seem to fly the best out of my gun. I wanted to hunt with 180s but since the 158s shot better for me, I stuck with em.

[Lloyd Smale]

Well andrew i do put alot of time in on a bench and i have a 15 and had one other and two 64s and there wasnt a one of them that didnt prefer lighter bullets. I could get most of the guns to shoot 2 inch groups with heavy bullets but that was about it. Everyone of them will put the little lee 105 swc into an inch or less! My ppc gun is an exception as it will shoot about anything well but then its got a clark barrel on it and is probably twisted slightly differnt then a smith barrel. The one exception the the heavier bullet dislike was one of my 64s that my brother in law claimed really liked the lee 150 rf. But as far as swcs go none of them did well with heavies and even my ppc gun does slightly better with lighter bullets. If you cast that little 105 lee is a real sleeper of a bullet. Its very accurate and has real light recoil and when pushed to +p level loads really hits small game with athourity.

[tomf52]

Lloyd - The Lee 105 is about all I now shoot from all of my 357's and 38's. Been using my own home brewed charges of Bullseye as I have not been able to find any published sources for other loads. Have any sources on hand that I could look at? Thanks, Tom.

[Lloyd Smale]

no i dont Tom. I allways shot it with some pretty light loads and when i step up the velocity i just use data published for 125 jacketed +p ammo.

[Ahab]

My 686 tends to like the 158gn bullets. I've shot em in Remington, Winchester Super-X, Federal(both American Eagle and the Fusion Line), CCI Blazers and hand reloads. Out of all the different bullet weights they just seem to fly the best out of my gun. I wanted to hunt with 180s but since the 158s shot better for me, I stuck with em.

Interesting! My Blued 686 loves 180 grainers while my Vaquero likes the 125ers.

[Siskiyou]

What is the source of your lead bullets?  I bought a bunch at a gunshow one time that were very soft and must have been full of voids.  Leaded the barrel up and were not accurate.  I gave the reminder to a friend to melt down.

[Lloyd Smale]

I do my own

What is the source of your lead bullets?  I bought a bunch at a gunshow one time that were very soft and must have been full of voids.  Leaded the barrel up and were not accurate.  I gave the reminder to a friend to melt down.