I'm reletively new to reloading but reloading with an experienced friend.  I'm pouring my own bullets and molly coating them, 124 gr.  I started with 700x and have had no problems with those rounds.  Ran out and couldn't find 700x so continued with hp-38.  I have a hard time hitting a man size target at 12 yrds.  We've tried them in 2 pistols and 3 rifles with the same result.  Used 4.5 gr of hp-38, getting about 1150 fps.  We tried higher and lower charges with no changes.  

We're stumped, any suggestions?

Hodgdon doesn't have data for home coated and home poured lead bullets.

That said, HP38 has been on the market for decades and isn't known for being erratic in quality, though if you can find the lot # you can call hodgdon and see if they have a recall on it.

I'd be more curious about the bullets you custom poured and the coating

They are all poured from the same lead using the same mold.  I should pull some rounds with hp-38 bullets and load them with 700x and see if there is an improvement.  Thanks

I'm thinking along the lines there is an issue with the bullet or your velocity.  1150 fps is pushing a cast/coated bullet pretty hard.  I'd suggest slowing it down to around 1000 - 1050 fps.
Also, what alloy?  What diameter?  Molly coating or do you mean powder coating?

I've used HP-38/231 in a bunch of 9mm over the years.  Good stuff.

Sizing the cast bullets makes a significant difference.  Back in the late 70’s a Friend started casting 9 mm 120-124 grain bullets but bought a .355 sizing die.  We were getting terrible accuracy with numerous key holes.   Most cast bullets are .001-.002 over typical jacketed bullets.  I suggested using his .357 sizer and he said I was full of shit but out of frustration he tried sizing the bullets .357.   We got expected accuracy for our cast bullets and he never used the .355 sizer again.


We used melted down wheel weights and added 50/50 soilder plus dropped the hot bullets in water.   We had very good hard cast bullets that left very little lead in the bore.   We used a red lube from a heated lube sizer.   I’d suspect you have an issue with the coating, bullet hardness or sizing.   I’ve never seen different powders affect accuracy that much in a handgun.

Since hp38 is a ball powder I would back down the powder charge and re-work it up with magnum primers. Ball powders can be more difficult to ignite consistently as they usually have a heavy graphite covering.

Bullet diameter is your issue.  Remember, cast bullets have a bit of shrinkage when cooled.  Not much, but it can make a difference.

Sounds like a classic case.

1. your bullet starts out undersized.   It really should be a thousandths or two over groove diameter.
2a. Your bullets start out sized fine but your taper crimp die after seating is literally sizing them smaller than you cast or sized them to..
2b.  Your brass can be so undersized that it too acts as a sizer.
Take a hammer type bullet puller.  Stuff a soft bit of tissue in the nose of the puller.   Disassemble one of your homemade loaded rounds.  Measure the pulled round.

There is a great chance that your finished round is undersized for your bore.   A very easy mistake with cast even when it started out the right size.

try some different bullets, commercially made.

HP-38/win231 should make very accurate loads.

I gave up on LEE dies, too many were undersized.

Shot some of my bullets today with 700x, same problem.  2 ft group at 20yds and keyholing.  

Shot some today with hp-38 and 700x with my friend's bullets, same mold and sizing die I believe, different lead.  They shot 2 inch groups.  We checked the hardness of my bullets and it is 10 BHN.  Have we found the problem?  I understand they should be 14-15.

Powder coating thanks for the correction.

Possibly, but maybe not in the way that you think. A 10BHN bullet will absolutely handle 9mm pressures no problem. A much more common problem that is more pronounced with soft bullets is having your brass sizing your bullets down. Even with a case expander, the neck tension may be too great for the bullet you are using. The test for this is simple, pull a few bullets from loaded rounds and measure the diameter. If they are smaller than when you loaded them, that is your problem. It's probably your brass, but another possible source of this can be something like a Lee carbide crimp die, which has a resizing ring inside of it.

It is also possible you are shooting less than ideal bullets. If you are getting bullets with wrinkles and other imperfections in them, that will at the very least be an imbalance, and possibly allow gas cutting. It doesn't matter what coating you use, once the bore is fouled, its never going to shoot good.

#1 pull some bullets, check their diameter.

#2 make sure your bullets are at the very least fully filled out before coating.

HP 38 is a fast pistol powder, not hard to ignite in the slightest. Not every ball powder is Winchester 760.

no the hardness is fine especially powder coated.



Like I said disassemble one.  I am betting the diameter is less than it should be.


Even air bubbles in your cast bullets is less likely.

Edit to add...


poor fill in the mold would be pretty bad.   Rounded bullet bases, inconsistent around the last point of contact with the barrel throws shots off.


You could try good quality commercial cast and see it you have the same problem.    Forewarning....if the commercial bullets suck in fillout you’ll still have less than desireable accuracy.   Beware of any “deals and bargains” from Midway.  More than once I got them reselling shitty grade bullets that were only fit to be remelted.

I will follow the suggestions, thank you all for them.