Happiness is a Smith & Wesson Combat Masterpiece

... and a box of .38 reloads.

I bought this Model 15-3 used in 1996 and have put thousands of .38 Special reloads downrange through it since then.

Today I took it to the range to test a new-to-me load: a fairly soft cast Lee TL358-158 LSWC coated with Lee Liquid Alox on top 3.5 grains of Titegroup, sparked by Servicios Aventuras primers. I load the bullets unsized and then after seating, run the cartridge through a Lee carbide factory crimp die which not only crimps the bullet in place but also resizes the round so that it's within factory spec.

I ran 10 shots over my Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph and it clocked an average of 779.5 FPS with an SD of 17.2.

Rather than shoot for groups, I shot at my club's 25 yard plate rack. The plates are 12" discs and I hit them a lot more than not shooting fairly rapid double action.

This is a clean burning load leaving minimal powder residue and no leading.