reloading 357 / 38 special worth it?

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islquest

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Hello folks, I recently purchased a new (to me) revolver and I am wondering if it's worth buying the gear to reload or just keep buying my ammo at the local shop. This is the only handgun that we are looking to reload for, the others are 22's. Is it worth the cost of the gear, what gear would I need? I received, from my late father, a Lee Loader kit for our hunting rifles but it one of those all in one box kits.
If it makes any difference: I usually go out and put about 50 rounds down the barrel when I hit the range, if the wife and kids are with my we may double that amount, and it's usually 38 special because my broken body can't handle too much of the 357 any more.
Thanks for any advise.
 
For the volume you're talking you could pick up a cheap single-stage press and reload for half the price of factory. .38/.357 is dead easy to reload as it is a nice straight case. As a bonus you could load up mouse-fart loads and save even more wear and tear on the body!
 
islquest said:
Thank you for the reply. any particular press you would recommend?
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Presses are like pickups... Everyone has their favourite and all the others are crap!!!!!!! I use a RCBS Partner Press to deprime and resize my brass before running it through my progressive. It seems to do the trick and was very economical.

That said, I'm pretty sure there are some with WAAAAY more reloading experience who will chime in and help you out. Happy shooting!

PS: your Lee might be suitable. You should see if you can post more details re: model etc.
 
Lee makes a hand press that complete with dies and scoops costs less than $100. It's small enough to fit into a small tackle box. I haven't looked at them recently but I believe that price is still relative. The kit also includes a "scoop" so that you don't have to weigh the powder charges.

The "Lee Hand Press" will also neck size the cases for your other firearm.

If I were only loading for one rifle and handgun, the Lee hand press would be the way I would go. Pick up a set of different scoops to adjust powder charges as well.


If I cast my own bullets, with wheel weights from my stepson's garage, my overall cost is around 10 cents per round, maybe less, depending on the powder/primers, assuming you already have fired brass cases.

If you're going to cast your own, look into powder coating as well.

The last time I looked, a box of factory 38special was running around $25 per box, for the cheap Blazer, with aluminum cases. They can be reloaded but not more than a couple of times.

Save your handgun brass or clean out the scrap bins at the range. The trays the cases come in, make handy loading blocks. You would need 40 cal or 45 cal trays for the rims of the 38/357 to fit to the bottom.

Back to the Lee Hand Press. I've loaded thousands of cartridges, both straight wall pistol and bottle neck rifle, with mine. Very handy on a big gopher cull, over a weekend.
 
I use the Lee Hand Press and Lee dies for my low volume calibres (.38, .40, .45). Loading .38 is definitely worth it, I estimate my cost savings to be about 50%, more for wadcutter loads.
 
Yes, worth it especially .357.

Get a single stage press and some dies and you’re good to go. If you shoot more a turret or progressive would be speed up the process.
 
Dillon Square deal if you want to load progressively. I would get a bench mounted single stage otherwise. Then you can easily load for rifles too.
 
Gatehouse said:
Dillon Square deal if you want to load progressively. I would get a bench mounted single stage otherwise. Then you can easily load for rifles too.
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The Square Deal is great if you're loading for pistol only and want to do that in volume (busy competitor!), but it doesn't do rifle ammo. A bigger Dillon will do both, but a single stage press is simplest and least expensive and will get 'er done for the widest range of ammo types.

Current military ammo (223, 9mm) tends to be manufactured in greatest quantity to lowest price point (usually!) while there's not much volume in revolver ammo this century, and with it being so easy to collect your brass and reuse it the community tends to be long on reloaders and short on factory ammo. So there's a lot to be saved money-wise, plus revolvers don't care as much about having exactly a "normal" round like you would to cycle a semiauto, so folks start exploring down near the minimum charge or up near maximum, and loading your own and being able to choose your settings lets you go there. That said, I've generally gone with the "starting" powder charges from the loading manual and seen no need to move from there.
 
If you already have reloading equipment I would try it with what you have.

Revolvers are great for reloading. Don’t have to bend over and search for the empties
 
I recently started loading for a 38/357

I can make 38 special loads (158gr cast bullet, powder, primer, brass) for $14 for 50 rounds, 357 Magnum JHP for $30. That's factoring in Starline brass being used 10 firings.
 
todbartell said:
I recently started loading for a 38/357

I can make 38 special loads (158gr cast bullet, powder, primer, brass) for $14 for 50 rounds, 357 Magnum JHP for $30. That's factoring in Starline brass being used 10 firings.
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if you cast your own bullets you could easily cut that cost in half.
primer = 5-7 cents each
powder = 1-2 cents per load
case = 1 cent (based on 10 reloads)
bullet = free (if you scrounge range lead or wheel weights)
Total = 7-10 cents per round x 50 rounds = $3.50 - 5.00 per box

Even if it costs $200 to buy a melting pot, bullet mould and size die you could recoup that simply by loading 15-20 boxes of ammo. After that you're basically getting your bullets for free. These days by far the most expensive item in reloading is the projectile so that's where you can realize the biggest saving.
 
Gatehouse said:
How long does it take to cast 1000 38 caliber bullets?
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Depends on how much experience you have, the number of cavities in the mold and the size of your melting pot as well as whether or not your bullets need to be resized/lubed/powder coated.

It's not something that should be approached lightly IMHO. It is something to do if you have lots of free time and a lack of funds. There are several good commercial bullet casters in Canada.
 
I have dealt with most methods mentioned on this thread, I have a 303 Brit Lee Loader, a Lee Hand Press, and an RCBS bench mounted press. I personally wouldn't recommend the hand press to anyone that has the space to mount a press somewhere. I bought mine at a time that I had nowhere to mount a press. It works just fine, it's just really nice to not have to hold the press while doing your stuff, a bench mounted press leaves me with one hand to operate the press and the other to deal with components, or two free hands to deal with components.

OP I would look into a cheap single stage press. The Lee Reloader Press is cheap (https://budgetshootersupply.ca/product/lee-reloader-press-only/) and would get someone started, just add dies and a scale.

A hand priming tool is super nice to have too. Well worth the money spent.
 
There's an old Lee Turret in the EE for $120. I use a newer Lee Turret for my .357 reloading, but I move the dies manually, so it is like a single stage but I never need to change the dies.
 
My .38's & .357's only know cast 150gr & 158gr SWC's. I use a Lee turret with auto index & powder measure through expanding die. I separately decap/size & prime then its almost as fast as a progressive.
 
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