Elmer’s Loads
Elmer’s heavy .38 Special loads are about as iconic as Elmer himself. When I first started handloading almost 40 years ago, the .38 Special was one of the first handgun cartridges I loaded. It was natural to do so. I had just graduated from the police academy, and we were issued Ruger Service Sixes chambered in .38 Special. Our street load was Winchester +P 158-grain SWC HPs, more commonly known as the FBI load.
I had access to all the .38 Special brass I needed from our range and collected copious amounts of it. The Ruger Service Six is also chambered in .357 Magnum, the only difference being cylinder chambering. If the same gun can handle .357 Magnum loads, they can also handle Elmer’s heavy .38 Special loads.
Elmer’s load consisted of the Lyman/Ideal mold 358429, weighing 173 grains, loaded over 13.5 grains of Hercules 2400. When Alliant bought Hercules, 2400 was slightly faster, so the load was dropped to 13.0 grains of 2400. This charge was sparked with a standard small pistol primer. Prior to 2400 powder being released, Elmer used Dupont #80 powder for his heavy loads.
From my 4″ Ruger Service Six, velocity was just shy of 1,200 FPS with exceptional accuracy. Back then, shooting 2″ groups at 25 yards, standing, with this gun was the norm. With my Ruger 6.5″ 3-screw Blackhawk velocity was 1,260 FPS and just as accurate. I shot thousands of these handloads. I never missed not having/shooting .357 Magnum loads with Elmer’s hot .38s. When shooting at the range, several people would ask me what I was shooting. I’d grin and simply say oh, just some .38 Specials.
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