Loading a soft .357mag

[chemo]

I've got this ruger blackhawk in 357mag but i only shoot 38 spl through it because quite frankly I can't handle 357mag. Well i can handle it but I don't really like it. Bought the gun to shoot 38spl primarly and get the possibility of shooting full house, but it never happens. I'd like to find a soft 357mag load, close to 38spl's recoil to stop messing with the chambers with those short 38spl cases.
Load suggestions?




I'm pretty sure this was covered before but haven't been able to find a thread with the search...

 

[Boomer]

If you want a snappy .38 Special load, I like 4.5 grs of Unique under a 158-160 gr cast bullet. Unique has fallen from favor with many, but not me. The same load in a .357 case would probably drop the velocity slightly, but I would still expect 800 fps.

 

[legi0n]

5.3 gr of Titegroup under a 158gr jacketed bullet.
do check your cases thoroughly for double charges!!!

 

[Ganderite]

If you are handloading, just use the max listing for any 38Spl bullet/powder you like, or a bit more or less.

I would do the same, but I have a few thousand 38Spl cases and only a hundred 357.

 

[chemo]

so basicly, a 38 load in the bigger cartridge doesn't affect the pressure?

 

[buster]

I'm trying different loads using 153gr swc and 141gr wc cast bullets.( BULLSEYE powder ) for revolver (357).

4-5gr bullseye 153 gr swc. cast bullets are loaded down to start with.

 

[easyrider604]

I'd like to find a soft 357mag load, close to 38spl's recoil to stop messing with the chambers with those short 38spl cases.
Load suggestions?

I'd go with a 125 grain plated JHP or RN projectile, 5.2 grains Titegroup. Soft, fast, accurate.

 

[Boomer]

If you load a .38 special load in .357 brass, you will notice a slight drop in velocity compared to the same load in .38 Special brass, but it will give you a starting point for your load development, or you might be quite content with the results you get.

 

[legi0n]

so basicly, a 38 load in the bigger cartridge doesn't affect the pressure?

Given the larger case volume, the pressures should be lower.
Except that:
-some powders (like H110, W296) are not supposed to be used in lighter loads. Couldn't find a good explanation why but that's what manufacturers say. I went 30% lower with no ill effects; maybe I was just lucky.
-some powders are position sensitive meaning they produce different results if ignited while near the primer or near the bullet.
-some may act like shaped charges when they don't fill most of the case.
-beware of too little powder in big cases. There was a pic on this forum of a blown Ruger GP100 on what might have been a double charge.

I did try Titegroup (supposedly position insensitive) with good results but after 1000 or so rounds I switched to a bulkier powder in order to avoid the double charge menace.

 

[chemo]

double charge menace!

I reload for all but my wheel gun, I never realised you wheelgunners were so scared of doubles :O
I will for sure pay attention


but so far recommendations are mixed...
bullets:
125
143
153
158x2

I'll use bullseye as that's what I have right now, but powder suggestions are also spread out

 

[B]

If you are looking to duplicate .38 then 158 grain lead is the way to go. At around 800-900fps it should very nice to shoot.

 

[jed]

have a look at imr's trailboss powder it is designed for low velocity loads. It fills the case up nicely so there is little chance of a double charge. I shoot mostly 158 gr lead bullets at about 800 fps from both my 357's very pleasant

 

[sunray]

"...a 38 load in the bigger cartridge doesn't affect the pressure?..." Nope. You can load .357 cases to .38 velocities, including 148 grain WC target loads, with no fuss. Shot 'em for years with 2.7 grains of Bullseye out of both a Smith 19 and a Ruger GP 100.

 

[Andy]

If you want safe 38 Special-like loads in 357 cases, use published max 38 Special loads and work up.

 

[bear.23]

Before you go and do some like taking a max 38 special load and just dropping that into a 357..

think about this...

Powder when ignited expands to fill a space to push the bullet out of the case and continues to expand as the projectile is being pushed out the barrel.. If you use a 38 special load in the 38 special you will be filling a larger air space before the bullet is pushed down out of the case.. Now I'm not saying that 357 magnum can't handle it.. But press you develop will be larger then in a 38 special... Fast powder could be a bad thing... If you are wanting a soft load work up a soft load... But another thing to consider is something called flash over...

PPC shooters usually discount it as we are really bad at under loading our 38 loads. but the theory is sound and I've seen at least one case that could have been this. That or it had to be 4 times the load he claims he was loading..

When you fill a case with powder and lay the case down there is power at the height of the flash hole.. the powder will ignite in a successive pattern... If you put so little powder in the case that when you lay it down there is no power at flash hole... and you have a happen to have a stange stike on the the pimer and the flash goes up rather then straight the powder could possible ignite at once... It causes a very strange pressure curve and if you have a tighter crimp you could have a catastrophic pressure load...

You want a smaller recoil use a smaller/ lighter bullet..
You want a 357 load use 357 load data.. They publish it for a reason..

 

[chemo]

the 357mag i buy I beleive are 147gr, sure they are lighter then some but the flame is massive and you get a mega boom.
thats exactly what i want to avoid...

 

[H4831]

Before you go and do some like taking a max 38 special load and just dropping that into a 357..

think about this...

Powder when ignited expands to fill a space to push the bullet out of the case and continues to expand as the projectile is being pushed out the barrel.. If you use a 38 special load in the 38 special you will be filling a larger air space before the bullet is pushed down out of the case.. Now I'm not saying that 357 magnum can't handle it.. But press you develop will be larger then in a 38 special... Fast powder could be a bad thing... If you are wanting a soft load work up a soft load... But another thing to consider is something called flash over...

PPC shooters usually discount it as we are really bad at under loading our 38 loads. but the theory is sound and I've seen at least one case that could have been this. That or it had to be 4 times the load he claims he was loading..

When you fill a case with powder and lay the case down there is power at the height of the flash hole.. the powder will ignite in a successive pattern... If you put so little powder in the case that when you lay it down there is no power at flash hole... and you have a happen to have a stange stike on the the pimer and the flash goes up rather then straight the powder could possible ignite at once... It causes a very strange pressure curve and if you have a tighter crimp you could have a catastrophic pressure load...

You want a smaller recoil use a smaller/ lighter bullet..
You want a 357 load use 357 load data.. They publish it for a reason..

WOW!
The 357 magnum came out in about 1935 and ever since a multitude of shooters have been loading every kind of load in them immaginable.
Heavy loads, light loads, 38 special cases, 357 cases, in every kind of load a shooter could think up.
Some well known shooters/writers, such as Skeeter Skelton, recommended full power loads in 38 cases, etc, etc etc.
Never mind all these weird theories, just load it up, heavy or light, any case you have, and shoot it.

 

[Al-Sway]

And please, don't be afraid of the 'double charge' boogey man!
If you are loading using a single stage and throwing the powder charge using a loading block, throw all of your charges and then check the whole block for any discrepancies. But, if you set up your procedures correctly, such as cases down in the block before charging (and obviously cases up after charged), you should have no reason to fear a double charge.
If you are using a progressive, then your quality control will depend on the type of progressive that you use. I use a variety (Lee, Dillon), but once they are set up and once I establish my procedures I do not worry about the 'double charge' boogey man.

 

[bear.23]

WOW!
The 357 magnum came out in about 1935 and ever since a multitude of shooters have been loading every kind of load in them immaginable.
Heavy loads, light loads, 38 special cases, 357 cases, in every kind of load a shooter could think up.
Some well known shooters/writers, such as Skeeter Skelton, recommended full power loads in 38 cases, etc, etc etc.
Never mind all these weird theories, just load it up, heavy or light, any case you have, and shoot it.

And blow your fingers or gun apart at your peril...

I'm not suggesting that a 38 special load is gonna cause problems but I am saying it won't be a duplicate.. Heck he could (space allowing) load 357 Mag loads in the 38 special case and be ok.. I wouldn't recommend it... But the gun should support the loads..

All i was recommending is that he not treat one load for the other.. Look at them as different cartridges and don't under load them..

 

[medicstimpy]

How mild do you want it? There are plenty of WC loads out there for .357 cases. Since my powder measure doesn't go lower than 3.5gr (recommended 3.3gr) for Titegroup, I use that with a 148gr lead WC.

You can load them hotter, too. I made a nice medium load with 4.8gr of Titegroup. Still accurate and more fun than the wimpy load, but the wimpy load is for accuracy shooting.

I shoot them out of both a 686 and GP100. Anything hotter, I save for my H110 loads.

As for double charges... watch for them carefully as you would with any reloading session, but at 6.6gr, you won't have to worry about blowing up your gun unless you accidently have a triple charge in there.