357 Sig reloading qs

R

rifleman0311

New member
Bout to start reloading the 357 Sig. Will these bullets work?

Berry's Preferred Plated Pistol Bullets 9mm .356" 124 gr HBFP-TP

What is the difference in 9mm bullets vs a dedicated 357 Sig? Any powder you recommend? Thanks for support

Ive been reloading for a few years, heard the 357 Sig can be tricky and I've read alot of the forums. I plan to use a Lee classic turret press, and Lee dies w/ factory crimp.
 
I don't load for 357 Sig; but as I'm sure you know, it's a very potent high-pressure round.

The "plated" part of your question doesn't bother me nearly as much as the "hollow base (HB)" part.

Hollow base bullets are designed to obturate at the base for barrel seal at low pressures. Pressures much lower than what would be considered typical for 357 Sig. Over-obturation can damage gun barrels.

I'd recommend going with a non-hollow based bullet design.

Regarding the "plated" part: Keep the loads fairly tame. 9mm Luger is capable of over-driving plated bullets. 357 Sig will do it even easier. Stick with intermediate speed propellants - as opposed to fast propellants; to moderate peak pressures. And keep the velocities in the "range ammo" neighborhood (1150 f/s or so - regardless of what the max velocity on the box states).
 
Thanks for the reply Nick, here's what the site has advertised; I purchased them because the hb was thought to allow higher velocities. But I have no experience with bullets like these

Plated to final weight and re-struck
for accuracy and precision. They are more affordable than jacketed rounds and won't foul
your barrel with lead.

Berry's Superior Plated hollow base thick plate bullets are designed for shooters who need
increased accuracy and higher velocities. The hollow base allows the bullet profile to be longer
and provides more contact area with the barrel and rifling to stabilize the bullet and improve accuracy.
The thick plate allows the bullet to handle up to 1500fps.

The bullet profile is longer but the weight remains the same and you can load these bullets using any
published load data for a jacketed bullet as long as it is the same weight bullet.
SAAMI MAX COL 9MM= 1.169"
SAAMI MAX COL .38 Super = 1.280"
SAAMI MAX COL .357 Sig = 1.140
Can withstand velocities up to 1500 fps.
 
I like AA#9 for 357 Sig. FWIW, I have to take it a little easy with my G23 with a Wolf barrel. I think it would benefit from a stiffer recoil spring. My P226 does better (+100 fps).
 
Dave P has stated the biggest problem with loading .357 Sig IMO. The OAL is sort of short, and most 9mm projectiles have a long snout/ogive.

Set it short enough to meet OAL, or even fit the mag, and the bullet winds up too far back for the rather short neck to grab it on the large part of the OD. Would those work? IDK. It's easier to tell with truncated cone. With RN it's hard to tell where the ogive ends- and often it ends further back than it looks.

Slower powders lean towards compressed loads. I found no problems with AA no5, but my purpose was a powder to cover my other handgun loads.
 
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