Looking For A 38 Special load using 180gr Hornady XTP's

[Rocky Raab]

I don't have any recipes as such.

Here's what I'd do if I HAD to:

I'd look up the bullet/powder combo in the Hornady book under the 357 Magnum.

I'd cut the START load by a full grain of powder.

Now here's the most important part...do NOT seat the bullet to standard .38 Special length. Seat it out to full .357 Magnum overall length -or to the full length of your gun's cylinder, if the bullets stick out of the cylinder when seated that long.

But this advice is ONLY for use if the GUN is a 357 Magnum using .38 Special cartridge cases.

What you're trying to do is to mimic the interior case volume of the 357, but using 38 Special cases. You also need to drastically cut down the peak pressure of the rounds. The .38 Special is maxed out at something like 15,000 psi, whicle the 357 is rated for 35,000. Clearly, anything near 357 pressure is going to leave you with a few broken parts in your hand when you fire...or no hand at all.

For that reason, I do NOT recommend trying this at all if the GUN is a .38 Special. There's no way to know if that first test shot is going to blow up the gun until you pull the trigger. Then it's too late.

I'll repeat myself. The critical factor here is the gun. If it isn't a 357 Magnum revolver, forget it.