Light loads for .357 Magnum

You can use .38 Special load data in .357 brass.

For example, I use a 148 grain wadcutter with 3 grains of Bullseye in .357 brass.  Of course you can use .38 Special brass in the .357 but I use the longer brass to help keep the chambers cleaner.

Pretty much limitless combinations.  I find that this load shoots reasonably close to point of aim in my revolvers (when they are sighted in for hunting loads), a good trait to have.
 
Reduced load: For me I'd still try Unique in the 357 case with a Thompson SWC bullet (Lyman 356156). This has worked for me in the past.

Paul B. :Thanks for your comments. I had made a longer post on 38-44 loads.Specific data was deleted. Figured a moderator would have a heart attack. I'd be banned for life. Some of that 38-44 data is otherworldly. That means two grains more than your tested hunting loads. The 38-44 loads are much heavier than today's +P's. My concern was a Bubba stunt of putting a full, even heavier, 357 Magnum charge in a 38 Special case with the Lyman 358156. Hopefully, if it happened a heavy revolver is involved. Incidentally, My Outdoorsman is #42XXX. Modern N frames don't compare. I have an interest in the guns and loads for them.
 
The only time I had trouble with a ring in the cylinder was shooting 38 Spec & cast bullets. The lube ring showed up before I got a box of 50 thru the gun.

Since then, I don't shoot 38 Spec loads in a 357 M gun.

Also, I don't load pipsqueak loads in a 357 M cases. If I wanna shoot wad cutters, they go in the 38 Spec cases.

I shoot mostly cast bullets in both and have for a while, but designate which handguns they go in, either 38 Spec or 357 Mag. Those guns are mostly for the kids anyways. They love shooting them. 10 and 11 Yr old grand daughters. The grand son shoots mostly the 44 Mag, 45 Colt and 45 ACP. He is wanting to shoot the Red Hawk and the Casull. Gotta load some up for him next week.
 
Another great powder for light loads in the .357 Mag is HP-38, offered by Hodgdon.  I use .357 brass, CCI small pistol primers, 158 grain RNFP lead bullets and 4.0 grains of the HP-38.  It burns clean, shoots point of aim at 25 yards with every Ruger Vaquero I have shot it in (3 of my own and 2 owned by a friend).  The recoil and report is about like a .22 mag.  I have used this load for 3 years in CAS and really like it.
 
Picked up some HP38 this week, and should be receiving some 158 grain plated bullets in a couple of days. Plan on rolling a few different loads this weekend and shooting next week. Will post results.

Edited
Received a box of Berry's plated 158Gr RN today. Loaded up a few rounds with HP-38; 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, and 4.6 grains. The plated bullets have a slightly different shape than the XTPs I normally use for full loads. The COL I loaded to was 1.600. XTPs have a COL of 1.590. They will drop in the cylinder just fine, and the cylinder rotates when the hammer is cocked. Will try them out later this week and post results.
 
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For my rifle I have been using a unique bullet from Penn, a 158 gr TCFP, which I don't find anywhere else. I only use 357 Mag brass for optimal feeding. I got caught by Penn's lead time, so just ordered some 140 gr TCFP from Missouri for quick delivery. I need to get ammo ready for the State match next month, and a Penn Bullets order goes to a black hole, just showing up some day. It has been 6 weeks now.

Now I will have to devise and test a load for 140 gr, assuming Trailboss at minimum level.
 
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I've been loading/shooting 158gr swc's with a stout load of Unique[+p load] in .38spl cases for sometime now. Gun is a New Model Blackhack with 6.5" barrel. Clean the chambers when done, no "carbon" ring. I use a 50-50 mix Hoppe's#9 and Kroil. Works.
 
Using .357 cases, I loaded some Berry's 158 gr plated RNs over 4 loads of HP-38 (4.0, 4.2, 4.4, 4.6). They all shot very well, but I think I liked the 4.0 loads best.
 
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I'll echo the great results on light loads of HP38. I found 4.1gn of hp38 propelling a 158gn lswc to be very pleasant and accurate. I put a red dot on my revolver recently and any ammo more accurate than that dot is darn accurate in my book.

looks like 4gn or so is working for the wider web as well, nice!
 
For my rifle I have been using a unique bullet from Penn, a 158 gr TCFP, which I don't find anywhere else. I only use 357 Mag brass for optimal feeding. I got caught by Penn's lead time, so just ordered some 140 gr TCFP from Missouri for quick delivery. I need to get ammo ready for the State match next month, and a Penn Bullets order goes to a black hole, just showing up some day. It has been 6 weeks now.

Now I will have to devise and test a load for 140 gr, assuming Trailboss at minimum level.
Click to expand...

Quoting my earlier post, which I can't edit, I found another source for the 158 Gr TCFP at Rimrock Bullets.
 
I load both full power 357mag 158grn loads using Lil'Gun for my leverguns and light power 357mag 158grn plated loads using Unique for my Uberti SA pistol. I use them together when I'm 'woods walkin' out in the Rockies for fun plinking and maybe a bit of small game if it comes up.

I've found that 18.0grns of Lil'Gun, lit by a SR primer, under a Zero 158grn JSP bullet works great in my Rossi giving me close to 2,000fps in my 24" rifle and about 30fps slower in my 20" carbine. At the other end of the power spectrum, my I also load 'mouse fart' level loads to plink with in my pistol. My Uberti SA Cavalry model (7.5" bbl) likes 158grn Berry's plated bullets over 4.5grns of Unique lit by SP primers for a light recoiling, low power plinker rd.

Both are pretty accurate in their respective platforms and work just fine for me. I've tried the pistol load in my 24" rifle and you can see the bullet travel downrange in bright sunlight, it's going so slow. The pistol load is so light weight that I can reload the brass for it a large number of times. It's almost like 45acp; load it til you lose it.

A simple trick to keep track of what's what is to load up the rifle power level cartridges in brass cased brass and the pistol power cartridges in nickel cased brass. Then it's just a simple glance at the brass color to tell them apart even though the two cartridges also have different looking bullets.
 
COSteve
Thanks for the info. I don't currently load .357 for rifle, but I like your idea of separate loads in different brass. Right now I identify different loads by bullet profile. Flat point Hornady XTPs for heavy loads and RN Berr5y's for light loads.
 
Hmm. COSteve, I have a question that perhaps you can help with. With the load I listed above in post #27, would that be a load I could shoot thru a Henry Big Boy Classic lever rifle in .357/.38spl safely? I'm new to the pistol chamberings in lever guns, hence the question. Thank you for any help and advice.
 
A 357 rifle, especially tube fed, will run better with RNFP but best with TCFP and with 357 Magnum cases. Otherwise you have to play games with where you crimp to get a length that will run okay. Avoid SWC because they can hang on the leading band.
 
I've shot several thousand 38 Special in .357 mags with no problem. Any buildup of lead or carbon or powder or fairy dust can be eliminated using a phosphor bronze brush and a 1000 rpm hand held electric drill. I use the following method on all my revolvers in all calibers.

Just chuck up a short section of a cleaning rod (say around 6 to 8 inches) in the drill and screw the phosphor bronze brush into the end. Dip in your preferred cleaning solvent and insert into a cylinder chamber. Trigger the drill and slowly make five to six passes slowly back and forth in the chamber. Repeat for the other five, dipping in solvent every other chamber.

Note that you are cleaning in a circular motion the same way that the reamer originally cut the chamber and thus will get into any small imperfections in the chamber much better than with an in/out back and forth motion that you will use without a drill.

Do not use a stainless steel brush -- it can damage the chamber when used with a drill motor.

After a few passes with the phosphor bronze brush, just run a regular cloth patch back and forth (no drill motor) to remove any left over crud, then oil, and you are done.

I've cleaned my revolver chambers this way for 30 years and have yet to detect any damage to the chambers.
 
Modern solvents are magic. Apply Gunzilla from a pump spray when you are still at the range and the gun is warm. Take it home and let it sit overnight. Usually, all carbon comes out on the first dry patch the next day. If you have lead, apply Sharpshoot-R's NO-LEAD and let it stand half an hour and patch it out. Clean as a whistle. Lazy man's way, but it works.
 
Back in the 70's when I was a teenager my dad only let me use Blue Dot when loading for the 357 Security Six and latter for 9mm - he was concerned about me double charging. I also was only allowed use of the single stage press. He wanted me well versed on setting up the dies for loading.

We cast our own bullets and the SWC mold would yield a 145ish gr bullet with the lead that we used. The recipe he had me use was 7gr of Blue Dot which filled a 38spl case about half full. It was a fairly tame load compared to the 357 mag loaded with 10 gr of Blue Dot with the same bullet. I ran a chrono on the 7gr 38spl load in the 90's with a S&W 357 with a 4" barrel and it was at 970 fps so it wasn't that much of a light load.

I shot 95% 38spl in the SS with everything being lead SWC. I never had an issue with carbon or lead buildup. I would spray it down with Hoppe's #9 and let it set overnight and then take it to the parts cleaner and brush everything down, run a brush through the cylinders/barrel, and then hit it with a blast of air to clean it every few months.
 
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