Hey there, I loaded a few 357 magnum cases with 3.2 and 3.4 grains of titegroup with a 158 grain plated semi wadcutter with cci small pistol primers. I shot them out of two s&w 586 no dash revolvers. One is a 6 inch other is the 8/38 inch barrel. These rounds were really light so I made sure to check for squib loads after each shot I fired. The third shot I fired felt very weak and sounded weak and I knew it was a squib. I checked for barrel obstructions and there was indeed a squib. This was with the 6 inch 586. I have tried titegroup with 4.5 all the way to 5.6 grains of powder but dislike the snappy felt recoil. I looked around and would like to try some HS-6 as its a slower powder than titegroup and the pressures seem to be low. Do any of you have any recommendations/experience with any good .357/.38 special powders that offer a softer recoil impulse? I'm looking for light to medium power loads for 38 special / 357 magnum. The squib was easy to remove.
Reloading 357 mag squib and powder recommendation
- Thread starter Balance
- Start date
I use 38 Special starting loads (in 357 Mag cases) and watch for squibs like you did. You'll note that the start load for 38 Special with Titegroup and 158 gr bullets is 3.5 grs, so you were already on the right track, you just went a little too low.
You'll need to stay with fast powders like Titegroup, HP-38/Win 231, Clays, Unique, Bullseye and the like to keep recoil at a minimum and better avoid squibs. You can also go with lighter cast bullets. I use 148 gr HBWC's with 3.0 grs of Titegroup myself.
You'll need to stay with fast powders like Titegroup, HP-38/Win 231, Clays, Unique, Bullseye and the like to keep recoil at a minimum and better avoid squibs. You can also go with lighter cast bullets. I use 148 gr HBWC's with 3.0 grs of Titegroup myself.
No. A slower powder only burns reliabley at a higher pressure - more recoil.
HS6 would be a disaster. It needs a full charge to ignite well and is better with a magnum primer.
Your 158 would shoot well with 4.o to 4.5 of Titegroup.
Recoil is the product of mass and velocity - pressure does not play into it. However, the mass of the powder does, so with the same bullet and same muzzle velocity, the lesser powder charge (i.e. less of a faster powder) will produce the lesser recoil. Now you'll never notice the difference of 2-3 more grains of powder, but as Ganderite mentioned, the light load of the slower powder will not ignite as reliably as the light load of the faster powder.
I have been reloading .357 with 3.4g of Titegroup and 158 CJP without any squib issues. I was getting squibs though with lower grains of Titegroup using my Lee Auto Disk powder drop. If you are accurately measuring your powder, 3.4g is fine. I bet there was no powder in that load, or at least not all 3.4g.
"Slow burning" for smokeless powders is a highly relative term. We shooters won't feel the difference at all in them. As mentioned above it's used to control the pressure rise on bigger loads.
The Titegroup is what I use in my .357Mag cowboy action rifle cases along with a lot of other folks around here. Even at 3.2gns and with lighter bullets this SHOULD be a consistent burning load. So I'd be looking at how reliably your powder measure is dropping the powder and checking the powder to see if it's clumping due to some humidity issue or other in your loading area.
I prefer not to shoot the super light mouse fart loads like some others do so I load my .357Mag casings with 3.9 to 4.0gns of Titegroup behind the 130gn LRNFP bullet. This produces a recoil that is very much in the same range as a medium recoiling .38Spl load. But it's heavy enough to let me enjoy feeling like I'm actually shooting a proper gun.
The higher loads you played with are well above .38Spl territory and more into the .38SPl +P range. So if you check for .38Spl load data and generally add .2gns to the starting loads to make up for the added case volume you'll be good.
Another powder that has a good reputation for burning consistently with light loads is Bullseye. And a "target" load of 2.8gns of bullseye behind a 148gn wadcutter is super light and soft on the hands. So that same load with a 125 to 130gn bullet should work well for you.
If you're getting clumping of the powder in the bottle and powder hopper I'd look at getting some silica gel packs, dry them in a toaster oven and then put them in the powder bottle for a couple of days to dry out the powder.
The Titegroup is what I use in my .357Mag cowboy action rifle cases along with a lot of other folks around here. Even at 3.2gns and with lighter bullets this SHOULD be a consistent burning load. So I'd be looking at how reliably your powder measure is dropping the powder and checking the powder to see if it's clumping due to some humidity issue or other in your loading area.
I prefer not to shoot the super light mouse fart loads like some others do so I load my .357Mag casings with 3.9 to 4.0gns of Titegroup behind the 130gn LRNFP bullet. This produces a recoil that is very much in the same range as a medium recoiling .38Spl load. But it's heavy enough to let me enjoy feeling like I'm actually shooting a proper gun.
The higher loads you played with are well above .38Spl territory and more into the .38SPl +P range. So if you check for .38Spl load data and generally add .2gns to the starting loads to make up for the added case volume you'll be good.
Another powder that has a good reputation for burning consistently with light loads is Bullseye. And a "target" load of 2.8gns of bullseye behind a 148gn wadcutter is super light and soft on the hands. So that same load with a 125 to 130gn bullet should work well for you.
If you're getting clumping of the powder in the bottle and powder hopper I'd look at getting some silica gel packs, dry them in a toaster oven and then put them in the powder bottle for a couple of days to dry out the powder.
Greater pressure in the tighter space of the .38 special case so will be bigger recoil
Wrong!!!!
My 4.5 load is NOT Titegroup. It is 7625.
A good TG load would be around 3.5.
Some powders are sensitive to case volume or more specifically empty space in the case. Light target loads with a hollow base wad cutter will have empty space. I load light target loads with Campro HBWC 148 gr plated bullets over 3.5 gr on N320, in 38 special cases. I tried SR7625 in the same setup with mixed results. SR7625 is my favorite 9mm powder.
Buy a couple 8 pounders if you can find them. It has been discontinued. Too bad. It is a very useful general purpose powder.
