Reloading 38 spl in a 357 mag dies

tokguy

tokguy

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Dumb question time.
I've aquired a Pietta SAA in 357 mag. My girl's obviously like firing 38 spl more than 357. Hence we've fed it 38's.
Dad has 357 die's in his reloading box but the original instructions are gone.
If he just set's the dies up tighter to accommodate the shorter 38 special rd's the 357 dies should work fine , no?
Standard primers as well?
I was going to try something along the lines of a CAS load.
Any fav's?
Thanks
Tokguy
 
.38 special and .357 mag dies are the same and can be used to reload either.

My recommendation, and what I do, is to simply load .357 mag but cut the loads down to .38 special velocities.

This way you never have any cleaning issues with that crud ring in the cylinder from using the .38 sp cases, and you could then easily up the charges whenever you want to have some fun.

And I never use anything but standard primers in my .357 mag loads regardless of the powder charge.

I have been shooting 5 - 7 grains of Power Pistol depending on how hot I want them, but you could even go less if you wanted, that is the beauty of a revolver. Alliant lists up to 8.5 grains I believe.

The other loads I was using were anywhere from 3.5 to 5 grains of bullseye for some lighter plinkers with cast lead bullets. Alliant lists 4.8 grains with a 158 gr LSWC.
 
They are interchangeable. Try to find the instructions for the dies, as it's important to pay attention to how much the cases get opened up for bullet insertion, and how much they get crimped after bullet insertion. I prefer to work the case mouth the minimum that gets the job done (enough belling at case mouth to get bullet inserted without damaging cast bullet or case), as my cases wear out through cracking at the case mouth. If you don't bell them enough, they snag the bullet and distort the case or bullet base, if you over bell them, they wear out faster.
 
You may have to shorten the seating/crimp die in order to effect a crimp on the 38 case. Had to do that with a set of Pacific dies 50 years ago. . May depend on the manufacturer of the die nowadays.
 
I agree with all of the above comments, but especially the one about loading the .357 cases to more comfortable levels. I've been doing that with 148 gr wadcutters for years to save the cylinder ring issues.
 
Loading .357 cases to .38 velocity is a great idea... I have been loading both .38 and .357 in batches because I have a ton of .38sp brass and only a couple hundred .357, but I will have to just load .357 to stop messing with the die setup each time.

Still, I prefer the power of 13 grains of 2400 in .357

Cactus
 
Just load .357 brass to .38 Special velocities. And use a differently shaped bullet so you don't mix 'em.
.38 Special doesn't need a crimp unless it's being used in a lever action.
RCBS .38/.357 dies came with a spacer. Just a washer with a hole big enough to fit the die. Less fuss to load .357 brass with .38 data though.
 
Cactus said:
Loading .357 cases to .38 velocity is a great idea... I have been loading both .38 and .357 in batches because I have a ton of .38sp brass and only a couple hundred .357, but I will have to just load .357 to stop messing with the die setup each time.

Still, I prefer the power of 13 grains of 2400 in .357

Cactus
Click to expand...

Regarding the re-setting of the 357 dies:

I set up my 357 dies for 38SPL. Then if I want to use 357 casings, I have a thick steel washer that raises the dies a distance equal to the difference in the length of the 38SPL and 357 cases.
 
Metman2 said:
Regarding the re-setting of the 357 dies:

I set up my 357 dies for 38SPL. Then if I want to use 357 casings, I have a thick steel washer that raises the dies a distance equal to the difference in the length of the 38SPL and 357 cases.
Click to expand...

can you post a picture of what your talking about?
 
lee also 'mentions" that you need set the seating die out a turn and a half or something to work with 357- lots of people DON'T READ the instructions- same deal with the 44spcl/44 mag- but i just use mag cases with spcl loads
 
Metman2 said:
Regarding the re-setting of the 357 dies:

I set up my 357 dies for 38SPL. Then if I want to use 357 casings, I have a thick steel washer that raises the dies a distance equal to the difference in the length of the 38SPL and 357 cases.
Click to expand...

:agree: did it for years as I had an endless supply of once fired .38 Special and not very many .357 cases.
 
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