Give me some good mid power 357 Magnum loads for a SAA Clone

S

Stopsign32v

New member
Well I realized the other day I don't have a SAA in 357 Magnum! I shoot that round a lot so it made absolutely no sense to me. So I cured that within a week.

I got a 4.75" barrel Uberti old style with the 4 clicks.

What I'm wondering is what loads would be good for it in 357 Magnum. I do not plan to shoot 38 Special ever in this revolver, simply because I have a lot of 357 Magnum brass and I don't want to worry about two separate rings in the chambers. That becomes a pain in the ass IMO when shells don't fall out.

I want a nice kick in the wrist while taking it somewhat easy on the gun. I'm a huge fan of 45 Colt with 8gr of Unique. THAT is the recoil I like! :cool:

Will be using 158gr copper plated bullets. (They take more abuse than people seem to think and CAN be loaded over cast lead max loads fine without leading of copper leftover from what I've seen in 45 Colt)
 
I like 12.5-13.0 gr Accurate #9 or 13.0-13.5 gr Alliant 2400 for my little above medium loads with a 158 gr cast GC bullet.

They both chrono around 1200-1250 fps.

These loads are all with in the powder manufacturers min/max loads.
 
Dufus said:
I like 12.5-13.0 gr Accurate #9 or 13.0-13.5 gr Alliant 2400 for my little above medium loads with a 158 gr cast GC bullet.

They both chrono around 1200-1250 fps.

These loads are all with in the powder manufacturers min/max loads.
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Do you shoot this in a SAA? If so what is the recoil like?
 
I shoot the same loads in my SAA and my Blackhawks.

It ain't a full house load, but you know when you let one off.

I don't like shooting AA #9 in full power loads as it is rather snappy, at least to me.

For the full power stuff, I use H110/WW296, but not with cast bullets.

I have never shot plated bullets, so I can't comment on their performance, but the loads are very good with my cast bullets.

Other powders will work well too, but I just settled on the AA #9 and the 2400.

Forgot to mention that my handguns are 6 1/2" barrels.
 
I like 6.0 Unique with 158 plated in 357 brass. Feels like a full power 38 load, maybe a bit more. 6.5 was definitely over 38 levels, but well below magnum recoil. Muzzle blast is always tolerable with Unique in 357.
I've had very good luck with plated 158's in 357 for a long time. 148 grain DEWC's too. They make even Unique seem clean shooting and they are very accurate. I'm still trying to tame plated 125's (leading, cut plating).
 
General purpose .357 load for me is 5gr Red Dot under any 158gr bullet...

It's a bit more stout than most factory .38SPCL +P loads (appx 950+fps in 4" barrels), but not as hot as a 158gr Buffalo Bore +P...

If you worry about soot, I do not recommend Red Dot...

Hercules, then Alliant published this load for decades...

If I want full on .357 Mag power, I use H110/W296 or IMR4227...
 
7.0 gr Unique w/ a 158gr bullet.
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Yeah. Me too. Runs 1103 f/s through my 4" bbl. Has a nice recoil - you know you're not shooting a 38 Special; but they're definitely not a booming full magnum round either. It's in a sweet spot. A good all-around range shooter. I think it would be good for a single action too. If our OP was thinking about moving up to 7.5; I believe there's likely enough headroom to move up that far.

I use a plated bullet for these, btw. Usually X-treme's SWC; but sometimes their FP too. Same recipe. Same seat depth.
 
Nick_C_S said:
Yeah. Me too. Runs 1103 f/s through my 4" bbl. Has a nice recoil - you know you're not shooting a 38 Special; but they're definitely not a booming full magnum round either. It's in a sweet spot. A good all-around range shooter. I think it would be good for a single action too. If our OP was thinking about moving up to 7.5; I believe there's likely enough headroom to move up that far.

I use a plated bullet for these, btw. Usually X-treme's SWC; but sometimes their FP too. Same recipe. Same seat depth.
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I think I will do a few 7gr and 7.5gr Unique and see how I like them. I really love Unique powder.
 
I noted your earlier comment about cases not falling out. If that is due to an internal lead ring build-up, it is probably increasing the pressure of your 357 loads, too. You want to clean those out. I've had good luck with Wipe Out's NO-LEAD product. Put it in. Wait an hour. Patch it out. Short of that, put some Kroil in and let it penetrate for a day or two and brush it out and clean it normally.

I quit running 38 brass in 357's altogether thirty years ago. Same reason. It just goes into the K-38 now.
 
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