357 revolver load q

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Alchemist

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Just for fun I’d like to try my hand at longer range (for me) revolver shooting. 25-50 yards. Right now I’m loading 158gr round nose lead Hornady frontier over 3.8gr of Accurate 2 in .38 special for regular under 25y plinking/shooting.

My 8” Dan Wesson should be here soon and so I’d like to see how accurate I can get it at longer distances. What should I be looking to reload? Should I use my .357 magnum cases and make up magnum loads instead of .38 spl? What kind of projectile? Right now I have some Titegroup, IMR Red and Accurate #2 powder but I could get something else if that would be better. For projectiles I have some Campro 125gr jacket semi wad cutters, some Campro 148gr hollow back wad cutters and some 125gr Hornady XTP along with the 158gr Hornady lead frontier I mentioned.

I don’t have magnum primers right now, just small pistol and small rifle. Do I need to pick them up?

The reloading thing is new for me and a lot of fun so far. I just want to be on the right track and the collective experience here has been very useful!
 
Good link below with .38 and .357 loads from Skeeter Skelton.

My Friend, The .357
by Skeeter Skelton

Shooting Times Magazine
June 1988
http://www.darkcanyon.net/MyFriend_The357.htm

More light loads below.

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Small rifle and small magnum pistol primers are the same . BTW those 8" Dan Wessons are very accurate revolvers. I used to break claybirds off the bags at 75 yards with one.
 
I don't see why you'd need a different load for a very slight difference in shooting distance. Any load that shoots good at under 25 yds is going to be OK at 25-50 yds.
 
I never did much 357m loads, but when I was shooting a smith 52 semi auto, 38 sp with wimpy loads ,75yrs was no problem.
And your new DW should shoot like a short rifle , when you get use to it.
I had a 6 in model. Great gun.
You can use 38 , but if you have lots of 357 brass, use it for long range, ( 50 yd is not long range):stirthepot2:
BTW ,Do not load 357 loads in 38 sp brass , It gets exciting in a hell of a hurry. No was not me, But I seen the gun, a N frame smith, it was fine, but all the screws started to back out. A K frame would have went south. they where warm 357m loads
I used Winchester 231 for light 38 sp loads as I had a barrel of it. There is better powder. for 357M
But it has been 20 yrs since I loaded 357m.
 
Thanks guys...it’s long range for me. I’ve been shooting most of my handguns at 15 yards or so. My range won't allow hand guns at 100 yds but 50 is ok.
 
less than 25 yds all you need is a light target load using a wadcutter


at 40-50 yds the wc will go un-stable and groups will increase

so for the 50 yard line and farther you need a swc
test out different loads and some times .5g or less of powder increase will make your groups go from so so to great
a good load at 25 might not be good at 50 .... you only know when you try

there is so many powders for the 38 / 357 just pick one and try it
 
I shoot handgun Silhouette up to 100M with 357 Mag and my most accurate load across the board is 7 gr UNIQUE under 158gr Hornady XTP or even Campro TC’s for practice. They’re not super hot loads but are very accurate. If your knocking down Rams at 100M you may even want to try max loads of H110 or 2400. At 50yds 7gr UNIQUE in 357 Brass will be perfect.

My 25 ya target load for 38’s is with 2.7gr Bullseye under the Lee soup can 148gr WC. Out past 25yds I was getting my most accurate groups with 3.5gr BULLSEYE with 158gr Lee TL RN bullet. My testing with a variety of WC’s and SWC’s showed the RN was more stable out at distances. This load had a hard time knocking rams over though. You had to hit them at the top.
 
I have been shooting Dan Wessons for years and have multiple barrel lengths. I prefer shooting with the 8" barrel, I find it deadly accurate. Different barrel lengths do prefer different loads, as your POI will vary but you can adjust for it. However, I typically just load for the 8" barrel that I prefer.

Anyways, my go-to load for thousands of rounds is: I only use .357 brass, small pistol primers (usually CCI), 5.6g of Titegroup, and 158g CamPro TCFCP. I find the Campro bullets work well and do not dirty the barrels nearly as bad as any WC lead bullets. If you shoot shorter barrels, reduce the Titegroup all the way down to 4.0g for a 4" barrel.
 
Zedbra said:
I have been shooting Dan Wessons for years and have multiple barrel lengths. I prefer shooting with the 8" barrel, I find it deadly accurate. Different barrel lengths do prefer different loads, as your POI will vary but you can adjust for it. However, I typically just load for the 8" barrel that I prefer.

Anyways, my go-to load for thousands of rounds is: I only use .357 brass, small pistol primers (usually CCI), 5.6g of Titegroup, and 158g CamPro TCFCP. I find the Campro bullets work well and do not dirty the barrels nearly as bad as any WC lead bullets. If you shoot shorter barrels, reduce the Titegroup all the way down to 4.0g for a 4" barrel.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that! Lots of recipes to try!
 
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