.38 load in .357 cases, thoughts?

B

Butzbach

New member
Folks,

I’m thinking of loading some .357 brass with.38 +P loadings. My goal is to prevent the .38 Special crud rings I get in my cylinders. My edc is .38 +P and these would be my weekly practice rounds.

Any comments, suggestions, advice, recommendations, philosophical ruminations . . . . ?

Enquiring minds want to know.
 
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Lots of people worry about crud rings and use magnum cases for all loads. Add a little powder to allow for the increased powder space or seat deeper if bullet design allows.
 
Now I clean after every range outing so that might be a factor but I have NEVER had an issue with .38 in a .357 causing buildup that eventually causes issue.

I mean I don’t shoot thousands of rounds but I have never even seen a hint of it.
 
Me, either. No crud ring in my Python as a PPC gun shooting nothing but .38s and a lot of them. But people come to the internet to worry about stuff, so let's help.
 
cslinger said:
Now I clean after every range outing so that might be a factor but I have NEVER had an issue with .38 in a .357 causing buildup that eventually causes issue.

I mean I don’t shoot thousands of rounds but I have never even seen a hint of it.
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I too clean after each range session and I always encounter crud rings. It has never created a problem with inserting rounds but it doesn’t belong there.
 
Jim Watson said:
Me, either. No crud ring in my Python as a PPC gun shooting nothing but .38s and a lot of them. But people come to the internet to worry about stuff, so let's help.
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Snarkyness is not helpful. Worry and addressing an actual condition are two different things.
 
That is the way to go. Reloading the .357 case will allow you to load from 600fps to the max of .357 in the same case. No reason what so ever to use .38s in a .357 revolver if you reload in my opinion. Save the .38s for .38 revolvers... So go to your .38 Special section and start loading! You won't find any 'magnum' powders there of course. For example, looking at Lyman's for a 155gr bullet they have Bullseye listed from 2.8 to 4.4 (+p). Same bullet in the .357 section has Bullseye listed from 4.8 to 7. So now you have a full range of velocities you can achieve from around 3.0 to 7.0. I usually start at the high side of .38 (in this case say 4.0) and see what velocity that achieves and for accuracy of course and then go up/down from there. That's my thoughts.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Watson View Post
Lots of people worry about crud rings and use magnum cases for all loads. Add a little powder to allow for the increased powder space or seat deeper if bullet design allows.

“A little powder.” WHAT?
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Butzbach,

Jim is simply saying to add a little MORE powder to make up for the slight increase in case capacity, and he is correct.

Don
 
USSR said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Watson View Post
Lots of people worry about crud rings and use magnum cases for all loads. Add a little powder to allow for the increased powder space or seat deeper if bullet design allows.



Butzbach,

Jim is simply saying to add a little MORE powder to make up for the slight increase in case capacity, and he is correct.

Don
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I can’t find “little more” in any of my reloading manuals.
 
rclark said:
That is the way to go. Reloading the .357 case will allow you to load from 600fps to the max of .357 in the same case. No reason what so ever to use .38s in a .357 revolver if you reload in my opinion. Save the .38s for .38 revolvers... So go to your .38 Special section and start loading! You won't find any 'magnum' powders there of course. For example, looking at Lyman's for a 155gr bullet they have Bullseye listed from 2.8 to 4.4 (+p). Same bullet in the .357 section has Bullseye listed from 4.8 to 7. So now you have a full range of velocities you can achieve from around 3.0 to 7.0. I usually start at the high side of .38 (in this case say 4.0) and see what velocity that achieves and for accuracy of course and then go up/down from there. That's my thoughts.
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Thanks very much for this specific documented feedback.
 
rclark said:
That is the way to go. Reloading the .357 case will allow you to load from 600fps to the max of .357 in the same case. No reason what so ever to use .38s in a .357 revolver if you reload in my opinion. Save the .38s for .38 revolvers... So go to your .38 Special section and start loading! You won't find any 'magnum' powders there of course. For example, looking at Lyman's for a 155gr bullet they have Bullseye listed from 2.8 to 4.4 (+p). Same bullet in the .357 section has Bullseye listed from 4.8 to 7. So now you have a full range of velocities you can achieve from around 3.0 to 7.0. I usually start at the high side of .38 (in this case say 4.0) and see what velocity that achieves and for accuracy of course and then go up/down from there. That's my thoughts.
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Exactly. I've been doing this for nearly 50 years. As others have said, if you want to duplicate published velocities using .38 Special data in .357 cases you should bump your load up by maybe 10% or so. I'm gonna have to try that one of these days.
 
In the words of Sgt Hulke from Stripes, "Lighten up, Francis!" :D

"a little more" powder is general advice and entirely correct. Want to know exactly how much more? LOOK IN THE BOOKS. (or online, if you trust online sources).

And be aware that when you look in the books, you are going to find differences in the data. This is because everyone's dats is compiled using slightly different components. Different bullets, different Lot#s of powders, primers etc, and most importantly, different guns.

There is no "just add .4gr more Blasto powder and you'll be fine". I would consider anyone giving that advice to be an unreliable source. That specific amount might work in their gun, might work in yours BUT it also might be trouble in your gun, Only testing will tell you.

As to the "Crud rings" they are real, and some folks have issues with them. I never have, but that may be entirely due to the differences in the guns and ammo that I shoot and the amount and way I clean compared to what someone else is doing.
 
If you use magnum brass (like I do) there is plenty of data for light 357 loads.
Almost all starting 357 loads will be close to 38 spl, and if the starting load is too much, then work down in .2 grain increments until you reach the power level you want.
 
For me, I use 0.5 increments, if I have a wide enough range. You get there faster and no harm done. If not quite where you want to be, you can always split the difference :) . When I test, I test 15 shots over the chronograph per load.... That would add up if you only go in 0.2 increments :) .

< I can’t find “little more” in any of my reloading manuals. > Don't worry, when you've been reloading for 40 years, it will come to you.
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+1 . More volume means a 'little bit more' powder :) . Simple as that. For example in the .44s, it turns out about 1.0 grain will get you there if using Unique. Ie. 7.5 of Unique in .44 Special is aprox. equivalent to 8.5 in .44 Magnum under same 240g SWC bullet.
 
I don't have tested numbers for a little more powder because I have not found case length to be a source of trouble and have shot .38s in .357s when I did not need Magnum Power.

But in Lyman, the Maximum .38 Special load of Bullseye with 160 gr #358311 is 3.6 gr for 863 fps.
The Starting load for .357 is 4.9 gr for 821 fps.
That is 1.3 gr, 36% which is WAY more than I would have thought. I'd have added half a grain and gone on.
Which shows how valuable a book and a chronograph are.
 
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