.357m Ammo type for Henry Big Boy Steel?

[kbdplinker]

HI All,


I have a question about suitable ammo for a Henry Big Boy Steel .357 H012G.

The manual states:
The calibers and capacity of the H012G models are as follows:
.357 Magnum/.38 Spl - 10 rounds, Carbine - 7 rounds

.357 Magnum is designed with .357 Magnum cartridges in mind. While you can use .38SPL loads, you must ensure they are 158GR with an overall length that closely mimics the .357 Magnum cartridge. Due to theshoulder location on the carrier, the gun will not feed: 110GR,125GR, 130GR, etc. .38 special loads reliably.

All of my shooting is purely paper or plinking.

I have been buying:
PMC Bronze .357 Mag 158gr. JSP because it has a flat soft point partial jacket
Sellier & Bellot .38 Special 158gr. FMJ becasue it meets the weight recommendation and also has a flat point

The 357 is ok, there are some feeding issues with it, gets jammed on the loading ramp about 1 out of 4 times, and trying to insert it with the loading gate is next to impossible it seems to jam about half way in. I suspect its the soft flat point getting hung up.

The 38s works perfectly both feeding and inserting in loading gate... I'll can stick with this.

The questions I have are:
Is there any problem using lighter or heavier weight .357 than 158GR?
What is your experience using ammo with a non-flat nose, and how much of a round point is safe (being a tube mag)?

Thanks

 

[scotteboy]

Hey K.
I have the same rifle and only had issues with campro round shoulder flat point. Seems to catch when cycling.
Mine seems to like truncated cone and hollow point bullets better.
Lighter or heavier bullets won't make a difference as the COL is the same.
Can't comment on round nose bullets as I've never used them.

 

[kbdplinker]

Hey K.
I have the same rifle and only had issues with campro round shoulder flat point. Seems to catch when cycling.
Mine seems to like truncated cone and hollow point bullets better.
Lighter or heavier bullets won't make a difference as the COL is the same.
Can't comment on round nose bullets as I've never used them.

Thanks SB

I’ll grab some of these and try
https://g4cgunstore.com/product/sellier-bellot-357-mag-158gr-fmj-50rds/
Similar jacket to the 38s.