Good 357 and 38 special target loads

tjhaile said:
For all practical purposes, the same rifled blank would be used to make a barrel used for either a .38 Special or .357 Magnum. Most carbon steel barrels are made of 4140 or similar alloy, regardless of the intended use. The weak link would be the cylinder, anyway, since this is where pressure is highest and the wall thickness is the least on a revolver.

If you want to shoot off the box of .357s you have, fill your boots.
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Unless it's a gain twist or squeeze bore - there are too many variables here, the gun was built for bullseye (not even PPC). The unknown is the bit that removes fingers.
 
that revolver is more set up for bullseye style shooting than ppc as it has a trigger shoe and a one hand grip. but could be used for any use. a good load in 38 cases are the aforementioned 148 grn HBWC ahead of 2.7-2.8 of bullseye - its been used for years because it works. Also for ppc i like a 158 SWC as they are a little easier to load and i put either 3.0 of bullseye or 3.2 of 231 and they shoot soft and very accurate. you will go broke quickly if you try buying 357 brass but .38 is still fairly easy to come by and with these loads lasts forever.

best of luck and enjoy your s&w - i thought about buying that one myself

Andy
 
If I took the grip off and put the hogue grip on would it change your guys minds? First off I am going to shoot it and then post later. I can't see how a barrel change can make so much difference. I don't see people saying this when they switch out barrels on rifles. There is not an obstruction in the barrel to increase the pressure to the point of a sturdy pistol blowing up. It is in almost new shape, was originally built for 357 loads. I could see what your saying be true if I was shooting compressed loads or what not but if the model 13 was originally built to handle 357 that is what its purpose was. Someone just put a bunch of target stuff on it the barrel is the same diameter, the forcing cone is completely round and the barrel itself is 3/4 of an inch thick. The cylinder which takes the ingition and the brunt of the force is made for 357.

I just can't see how someone upgrading a gun would do so with the intention of making it unstable and unsafe. You guys have me so confused now I guess I learned a lesson from this and that is if you want to know something for sure you have to do it yourself and find out, otherwise you are stuck with answers form experts that say 2 different things.
 
BigGameHunter said:
If I took the grip off and put the hogue grip on would it change your guys minds? First off I am going to shoot it and then post later. I can't see how a barrel change can make so much difference. I don't see people saying this when they switch out barrels on rifles. There is not an obstruction in the barrel to increase the pressure to the point of a sturdy pistol blowing up. It is in almost new shape, was originally built for 357 loads. I could see what your saying be true if I was shooting compressed loads or what not but if the model 13 was originally built to handle 357 that is what its purpose was. Someone just put a bunch of target stuff on it the barrel is the same diameter, the forcing cone is completely round and the barrel itself is 3/4 of an inch thick. The cylinder which takes the ingition and the brunt of the force is made for 357.

I just can't see how someone upgrading a gun would do so with the intention of making it unstable and unsafe. You guys have me so confused now I guess I learned a lesson from this and that is if you want to know something for sure you have to do it yourself and find out, otherwise you are stuck with answers form experts that say 2 different things.
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I'm not saying it's unsafe - what you have is like a rally car, they start with a production car and then gut it and tailor it to what they intend to do with it. In this case I can guarantee that whoever built that gun did not just screw on an off the shelf barrel - building that revolver probably cost 3 times what a factory revovler would cost. One of the things that was paid for was removal of the 'slop' that you get in a factory revolver. It is actually possible to build a revolver with parts that are 100% within the acceptable tolerance range and have a gun that does not work, due to the tolerance range of the parts. The parts on that revolver would be re-fitted by hand to minimum tolerance, when you shoot magnum loads through a gun like that it causes wear at a rate that is much faster and more severe than it would be in a production gun. You can drive a rally car as your daily driver, but it probably isn't going to work as well as any number of other cars.
 
You have a good point I didn't realize it was such a high end piece I just wanted a basic SW for target. I got it very reasonably priced too. Like I said I will try the 38's through it first and mostly shoot them anyways I just want to know if the need arises I can put a 357 load into it and not have to worry just load and go. I got this pistol for the intention of doing the qualifying at my local range.

I don't know if you have ever heard of it but it is called QTS certification and basically you have to shoot a certain score over so many targets, hand them in with a 3rd party signature on them I believe (To show you are actually capable of said shooting) and you get badges for it. I figure if I can do this, then I would like to eventually get into IPSC as my one fried is really on me about trying that but I want to make sure I get my shot to a high level. I am a good shot but I don't think I am "that" good or IPSC good. But I want to be. My other pistols available to me are my Ruger P89, My fathers Radom or the High Standard that are good enough pistols for target shooting. If I can get better with my 9mm I plan on getting a CZ75 or something that I can make into a IPSC gun as the P89 although one of my favourite pistols is too big and might not be an appropriate decision.
 
Just an update to this post. My cousin and I took the handguns to the range and I put 100 rounds through her (1 box 38 special, 1 box 357 magnum). The gun functioned perfectly and there was no sign of having an issue with the 357 loads. I must say that with cheap Remington UMC loads the sights were a bit off (low, right). Unfortunately I didn't bring a screw driver to adjust however just holding over high left and I was able to hit black on the target and group very well. 357 had a bit higher tragectory so when shooting them both at the same time there was a difference but not much.

I want to thank everyone on this post for there advice. Even when there isn't complete agreeance it is great to hear everyones opinion and believe me I do respect it. Thanks again.
 
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