Can I load “FBI” style 38 Special with commonly available components? (Part 1) 

The FBI Load was our issued service round that I was forced to use in the early ‘80s. A man was being held hostage in a local motel hallway. He had his victim held in front of him like a shield w/a butcher knife in his victim’s mouth. Three rounds hit the bad guy in the throat, chest & thigh allowing the victim/hostage to escape w/minor cuts to the inside of his mouth. The ammo did it’s job and somehow the suspect I shot survived his wounds.

I like the Zero 158 grain LSWCHP from Powder Valley. They are a great value and lubricated with a waxy film like the Speer and Remington factory loads. I use a stout charge of W231 with CCI primers to get extreme spreads of less than 40 fps. They run about 950 fps. from my old S&W 10-6 with 4” barrel. Late to this party but better late than never! 👍😉

Big brother to the Alaskan XT. That is what I got and I am very pleased with it. Thank you gents.

Next to my Blackhawks I really enjoy my model 10.

Those reloads looked a tad snappy. Might try up or down the powder a tad. I use Titegroup on my .38 reloads, but they’re light loads. Really cool seeing that old Model 10 sending them. You’re gonna have a blast at your upcoming class!

Hey JC, you missed a video! I’d be curious to see if the swaged bullets at that velocity cause any leading issues. Soft swaged bullets never have worked well for me. Most of my .38 special loads since like 2005 were 125 hard cast with a near max load of Trail Boss when it came out and was plentiful. Now I’ll rethink with Bullseye, Titegroup and Unique. It seems like the gun on the rest causes the groups to pull right. The M-10 and you shoot great standing. Glad to see you back!

BTW, I would not use the thin cup Remington 1.5 small pistol primers with hot higher pressure loads. You could get pressure deformation of the primer and punctured primers. Those are for low pressure light powder charge target loads. For hot loads use the thick cup Remington 5.5 small pistol primers.

Good video. Thanks.

Howdy there! I'd love to see you tinker your way into the old 'Treasury' +P+ .38 special as issued by the US Customs Service in their 686 Revolvers- Might have fun with that!

The ES and SD seemed high, but these had plenty of power and your off hand accuracy was nothing to sneeze at. Good stuff!

Good stuff!

For a very clean burning load, try 4.4 grains of Trail Boss behind a 158 grain LSWC or LSWCHP. I get almost no unburned powder. I don't have a chronograph so I don't know what velocity I'm getting. You shoot that old model 10 pretty good. You might want to be on the lookout for some new stainless steel dummy rounds for the .38 special. They should help with speed loader practice.

My .38Spl. target loads are just 158gr. SWC pushing 800fps. I am using Unique also but lighter charge. You could try Bullseye for a faster burn rate but Bullseye is pretty dirty powder. I used Bullseye a lot for .45ACP target loads of 185gr. SWC. Unique is a medium burn rate and cleaner burning. Your off hand accuracy is good. Don't sweat it. Thanks for sharing.

Speer makes a lswchp 158 gr swaged bullet that I’ve driven to 1354 fps in a 357 magnum with no leading and excellent accuracy. It’s great in 38 special too.

Maybe Titegroup.