What type of 357 mag bullets should I use .

[Metal god]

I get my new 357 GP-100 out of jail tomorrow . That's what we call the 10 day waiting period here in CA . I'll be taking it out on Sunday and will use factory ammo only the first time out . How ever after that I will likely only shoot reloads . I load a lot of plated bullets in 9mm & 45acp but they don't need much of a crimp . As I understand it the 357 needs a heavier crimp then those cartridges and most plated bullets don't seem to have a cannelure .

On the whole I don't want to shoot lead but am willing to give coated lead bullets a try . I guess my point here is that loading for revolvers is new to me and I need a little guidance on the best bullet choice for my needs .

Should any bullet I use for 38 or 357 have a cannelure ?

This will almost be exclusively for range fun at distances from 10 feet to 100yds maybe 2 to 300yds once and awhile . I'll also want a separate load that will have the big heavy recoil WOW factor ( just cus ) .

The big WOW load will likey be a heavy bullet of at least 158gr and likely 180gr . I'm still going to want it to be accurate and safe from bullet set back so what's the bullet I need there ?

As for the short to long range bullet . I really have no idea what might be best . I'm finding the plated bullets aren't that accurate at 100yds . We shoot at 8 , 10 and 12 inch gongs at 100yds and the Rainier bullets I'm using don't seem to consistent at 100yds . It could be me ( NOT ) or the 4" semi auto's I'm using XD but my 1911 shoots them a little better .

I'll likely be buying some bullets in the next couple days based on the recommendations I get here .

FWIW I have no "magnum" powders yet like H-110 . I use W231 , Titegroup , CFE-pistol , HS-6 , WSF . Most of those should work fine for my plinking loads that will likely only be loaded to 38spl or +P power . The bold powders are what I was thinking on starting with . Any issues with those powders in a 38spl or +P loadings ?

On a side note , along with not having any of the slower burning magnum powders . I don't have any magnum primers . ( I'll likely get a brick soon ) but for now as long as I'm not using those slower powders and not loading to magnum pressures . Are my CCI and Win SP primers ok to use for now ?

Another side note , I intend to only use 357 brass although I do have some 38 brass . Does it matter if I'm loading 38spl loads/pressures in the 357 brass ? Thinking possible start pressures or ignition issues do to the larger case ?

 

[zxcvbob]

WSF would be great, except there's no load data for it. I've actually used it before in .357 Mag, just winging it and trying to keep the loads conservative. If you can find some load data somewhere (I haven't looked for a while) that's what I recommend.

Herco works really well with heavy cast bullets. It's one of my favorite revolver powders.

HS-6 sometimes needs a magnum primer. The other powders you listed do not (except maybe CFE-pistol, I'm not familiar with that one)

 

[ligonierbill]

I have always used CCI 550 primers in my GP-100, but that's just me. Other than H110 or other "magnum" powders, not necessary. I have not loaded plinking loads for mine, but I have run a couple cast bullets: Oregon Trail 158 and Cast Performance 180. Both have a crimp groove, and you should use it. For cheap jacketed bullets, get a bag of Magtech 158.

The main bullets I shoot are Hornady XTP 158 or (if you want to hunt in CA) Barnes XPB 140. Powders: I have loaded H110, 300-MP and AA#9. All work for heavy loads. I lean toward AA#9. Do not, as I'm sure you know, download H110. A good crimp is important to good performance.

The 357 is very versatile, not too finicky and lots of fun. Enjoy!

 

[603Country]

For my hot loads, i shoot 125 gr JHP over Universal powder. For medium loads i shoot Lasercast 158 gr hard cast wadcutters. Great accuracy.

 

[BBarn]

I've used 158gr. plated bullets in the 357, but only at low/medium velocities (1000-1100 fps). I used a light crimp and made sure the bullets weren't jumping forward during recoil. However, I'm still moving away from plated bullet use in revolvers since they don't have a crimping groove. I much prefer a crimp groove so I can apply a nice crimp and load to higher velocities if desired.

I've used coated cast bullets (that have crimp grooves) with good results and am now using those in my revolver plinking/practice loads. For max velocity loads, I use either gas check cast or jacketed with a crimp groove.

I rarely shoot my revolvers over 50yds., so I don't have any significant experience with bullet accuracy at longer ranges.

W231 works well in the 357, but max loads don't yield top velocities. The velocity difference becomes even more significant with barrel lengths over 4”. HS-6 also works well in the 357, yielding a little higher velocities than W231. Highest velocities will come with the use of powders like 300MP, W296/H110, and #9. It's generally a good idea to use a magnum primer with HS-6 and W296/H110. Some also recommend magnum primers with loads that exceed around 10grs. or so of powder.

2400 is another powder that gives high (but not the highest) velocities in the 357. And it seems to do so without the need for a magnum primer. In fact, there are several published 357 Magnum loads using Alliant powders that specify standard (non-Magnum) small pistol primers.

Many people use 38 Special level loads in 357 Magnum cases. If I were to do so, I'd probably start a little above the starting point of the 38 Special loads, especially if using plated or jacketed bullets. The extra volume of the 357 Mag. Case lowers the pressure and velocity a little as compared to the 38 Special case.

 

[mkl]

Should any bullet I use for 38 or 357 have a cannelure ?

A crimp should not be necessary for light to medium .38 Special loads so you can use almost any bullet you wish. On the heavy .357 loads you may need a crimp to keep the bullet from backing out due to recoil.

To determine if a crimp is necessary, make up six rounds without a crimp. Measure the OAL of round six. Fire rounds one through five. Remove round six and measure the OAL again. If it measures longer than when you loaded it, the bullet is backing out and a crimp would be advisable.

 

[Nick_C_S]

I get my new 357 GP-100 out of jail tomorrow.

Congratulations. I'm a Smith guy, but the GP-100 is a fine gun. Welcome to the revolver club. It's the place I call home. I do like 1911's for sport shooting (I have three - including my home defense gun); but other than that, I'm pretty much a revolver guy.

As I understand it, the 357 needs a heavier crimp

Yes. For two reasons. First, the bullets can pull out during heavy recoil. I personally have never experienced this phenomenon. It's possible it has happened without my knowledge. So from my perspective, it seems to be a non-issue. But it must be somewhere I suppose; and I am not discounting it.
The second reason is because big magnum loads need a firm crimp to hold the bullet in place during the ignition phase of the slow propellants being used. I roll crimp all jacketed bullets. And I heavy roll crimp all big boomers.

most plated bullets don't seem to have a cannelure.

X-treme's 158 SWC and RNFP's do. But I don't roll crimp them. I only use the cannelure as a seating guide. I use a taper crimp die for all my plated ammo (all calibers - this includes 9mm, 10mm, 45 ACP, 38/357 & 44 Mag/Spl). And I load a lot of plated ammo - I'm a big fan. There are varying opinions on this, but for me, I won't roll crimp a plated bullet - period. I recommend getting a taper crimp die if you plan on loading/shooting a lot of plated ammo.

am willing to give coated lead bullets a try.

I had worse luck than most with coated. Leaded my barrels more - much more - than lead.

Should any bullet I use for 38 or 357 have a cannelure?

No. Basically, it shouldn't factor in on your bullet selection.

I'll also want a separate load that will have the big heavy recoil WOW factor (just cuz).

Of course you do.

The big WOW load will likey be a heavy bullet of at least 158gr and likely 180gr.

These need to be jacketed. No ifs ands or buts. I've tinkered with 180 grainers, but IMO, they should be reserved for lever-action carbines. That's where they shine.

I'm still going to want it to be safe from bullet set back (it's pull-out in revolvers) so what's the bullet I need there?

Jacketed - with a heavy roll crimp. The phenomenon likely only comes into play with the boomers. Ranger fodder shouldn't do this.

FWIW I have no "magnum" powders yet like H-110 .

You'll need a "magnum" purpose propellant for sure. Over the years, I've had fantastic luck with W296 (H-110). It does require a magnum primer. And it's not known for its versatility either. W296/H-110 is a "one trick pony." But it does that one trick really well: It makes exceptional full-house magnum loads; and that's what you're buying it for, right? Oh, and it smells really good burning - there's that too .

There are others that I'm sure work really well too (4227, 4100, AA#9 [it's magnum-ish], 300-MP, etc.) - but I have no personal experience with them. These days, I like my magnum loads to be just a bit on the tame side, so I've moved to 2400 - an "entry level" magnum propellant, so to speak. It's more versatile (can turn it down and it still runs right) and it doesn't require a magnum primer. But that's just me.

Any issues with those powders in a 38spl or +P loadings?

Yes. They require more pressure than that developed in 38 (+P or otherwise) to run right. So don't use them for that purpose.

I don't have any magnum primers.

You may or may not need them - depending on your propellant selection for making the big boomers.

but for now as long as I'm not using those slower powders and not loading to magnum pressures . Are my CCI and Win SP primers ok to use for now?

Yes.

I intend to only use 357 brass although I do have some 38 brass . Does it matter if I'm loading 38spl loads/pressures in the 357 brass?

No. But the operative word here is "pressures." Not 38 Special recipes in 357 mag brass. You can use fast powders to make range plinkers in 357 cases; and you can use 38 Special load data as a starting guideline but the final recipe will be a little higher because the larger case is going to result in a slower burn rate and a lower peak pressure.

Thinking possible start pressures or ignition issues due to the larger case?

Not likely to be an issue. But the performance of the ammo could be (low pressure, as explained above) and possible charge weight adjustments may be in order to get good consistent running ammo. Not a difficult issue to resolve.

 

[snuffy]

Lots of great questions, I'll answer with over 50 years of experience and personal observations to back it.

"Should any bullet I use for 38 or 357 have a cannelure ? "

Yes most definitely! Unless the bullet is very light ,(at or under 125 grains), and using light powder loads. West coast bullets, now the extreme line, had a 158 SWC plated bullet with a cannelure. Albeit a very shallow cannelure, it was meant just for revolver loads. I got 500 of them, tried a couple of stout loads, the shallow cannelure AND not being able to put a heavy crimp on them resulted in them "jumping the crimp" under recoil, the last round of six had moved forward.

The big WOW load will likely be a heavy bullet of at least 158gr and likely 180gr . I'm still going to want it to be accurate and safe from bullet set back so what's the bullet I need there ?

Bullet set back is NOT what you should be concerned with. Bullets being pulled forward are the problem. The recoil acts on the bullet that wants to stay where it is while the gun is recoiling away from it. Bullet jumping the crimp.

As far as powders go, H-110 and WW-296 are the same powder. Both will do the "WOW" loads. Stay away from LIL gun!! Rumor has it that it erodes the back of the barrels of revolvers. I have used AA#9 for some 357 magnum loads, it seems to be a good one.

As for bullets,you can't go wrong with a 158 Hornady XTP. It's accurate and the terminal performance is good.

 

[mikld]

I'm not a fan of plated bullets, I tried about 1,000, not impressed. When I start on a new-to-me cartridge I use a "tried and true" load, right out of my manuals. Often I start with a jacketed bullet (with cannalure) and in my 357 I started with a 158 gr. JHP (that was in '90 I believe). Once I got used to that bullet I branched out to different bullets and now use mostly 3 bullets; 125 gr. LRNFP, 125 gr. JHP. and an excellent 160 gr. Lachmiller LSWC. All these bullets get a roll crimp into the crimp groove or cannalure, both for bullet retention and for ignition, and amount depends on load, bullet powder....

 

[Jim Watson]

I am going to put the 8 3/8" barrel back on my Magnum and blow the soot out of the rafters at the range. I will be shooting gas check and jacketed bullets. I don't cast any more, so don't have the option of matching a plainbase bullet to throat and bore.

 

[Nick_C_S]

As for bullets,you can't go wrong with a 158 Hornady XTP. It's accurate and the terminal performance is good.

+1

They're awesome.

 

[std7mag]

Metalgod,
I'm probably going to catch some grief on this one but...

Main difference between 38/357 and your 9mm and 45ACP is that the latter 2 take a taper crimp. The 38/357 take a roll crimp.
I would recommend a separate seating and crimping dies.

I'm using 158gr lswc mostly.
For jacketed i'm running 125gr hp over a load of Alliant Power Pro 300.
Your not going to find a better powder for the 357.

 

[T. O'Heir]

Plated bullets use cast bullet data. Plated bullets are not jacketed bullets.
You only need a crimp on hot loads. And only enough to keep the bullet in place under recoil.
You don't need magnum primers for .357 either. Magnum primers are about the powder used, not the cartridge. H110, for example, does not require 'em.
"...at 100yds..." At 100 yards, it's not the bullet. That's a really long distance for any handgun.
"...+P loadings..." A GP-100 won't care what load you use. It'll shoot hot .357 loads just like they're .38 Special 148 grain WC's with 2.7 grains of Bullseye with no fuss all day every day.
"...38spl loads/pressures in the 357..." .38 loads work just fine in .3576 cases. Even those 148 grain WC's with 2.7 grains of Bullseye. Been doing it for eons. Saves you having to clean the cylinders before shooting .357's after shooting .38's. That's not a big deal anyway. One pass with a .45 calibre brush does it.
Just follow your manual and you'll be fine. Don't try to get Hodgdon's site velocities though. For some daft reason they used a 10" barrel for their load testing.

 

[Hammerhead]

I use 158 grain plated bullets without cannalure up to 1,100 fps in 357. With a minimum of flare a light roll or medium taper crimp is all you need. 8.4 grains of HS-6 with a Rainier 158 plated FP and a light roll crimp is one of my favorites. 1000 fps or better. Very accurate at the 50 yard line.

For the wow factor loads use a jacketed bullet with cannalure and a full roll crimp.

I use 357 brass for all my loads regardless of power factor.

Lately I've been shooting 125 grain jacketed bullets almost exclusively. They can be found almost as cheap as plated if you shop the sales. The Speer 125 TMJ over 7 grains of HP-38/231, Unique or N340 is my current favorite. Not a 38, not a magnum, it's juuuust right.

 

[Metal god]

Thanks for all the great info guys , it's been helpful . Well I went and bailed her out of jail and have to say , she sure is purdy .

I have another thread talking about mods I can do and one I'll do is smooth/buff out all the internal trigger parts . I thought I'd test the trigger pull with my cheap spring type trigger pull gauge . It goes to 9lbs and it registered way off the chart . So I hope to lessen that some but wont do anything until I run some factory loads through it . Feel free to join the other thread if you haven't yet
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=595030

 

[Real Gun]

You seem to be asking for a lot of informal guidance, while you really should just use the powder companies' load data, supplemented by support for lead bullets via the Lyman Cast Bullet handbook. Brian Pearce articles are good sources too.

I got some plated bullets shipped by mistake when I ordered lead. They would be okay, except they are .358 instead of .357. I wish I had accepted the offer to return them for replacement.

Primers though are worth discussing, in that primers indicated by load data are more what was used in testing the loads as opposed to what is absolutely required. Associating primer type with powder charge rather than the cartridge is better, so it is a matter of when to take exception to the primer indicated by load data. It seems there are few powders that really require magnum primers. I use them with W296/H110, SR4756, and HS-6, the latter two to clean up unburned powder seen with standard primers.

I am another one that uses XTPs for hotter loads, although I have dabbled in gas checks with good results. I try to get along with cheaper lead. Everyone seems to want to sell hard bullets for 357 Magnum, but my loads suitable for lead do better with hardness in the 12 range rather than 18 or higher.

 

[Metal god]

You seem to be asking for a lot of informal guidance, while you really should just use the powder companies' load data,

I can't disagree with that . I often turn to this forum for guidance not unlike calling a friend and discussing something . There are several members here that although I can't call them "friends" . I do respect there opinions and a few have already posted in this thread. I have five manuals including the Lyman Lead cast manual and use them all so I agree fully with you .

in that primers indicated by load data are more what was used in testing the loads as opposed to what is absolutely required.

Maybe not absolutely but I definitely consider it a strong recommendation . My thinking would be along the lines of using magnum primers when using slower powders like 300mp . I've read many times on here about 300mp not igniting well and reloaders having issues . It seemed to always come down to wrong primers , not enough crimp or down loading it . I would assume H-110 would be similar . That is the type of info I like getting from these forums . The type that's not always in the manuals and why I ask the questions .

By happenstance yesterday I was in the area of the reloading store . So I stopped in and picked up a brick of magnum primers and some 158gr lead RNFP bullets . They did not have coated and I did not want premium bullets yet although it's becoming pretty clear that the XTP is what I'll be getting .

My budget blew up yesterday with the $200 still to pay on the gun , factory ammo to shoot at the range today and the bullets and primers . That put me over the $400 mark for the day and that was much more then I intended on spending to finalize this total purchase .

I have what I need for awhile so I'm going to try and stop spending money on this firearm yeah right

 

[Real Gun]

I hope the lead bullets you bought are not the commonly distributed Hornadys, because they are swaged, a softness better reserved for 38 Special, and they have no crimp groove, which is not insurmountable with a soft bullet and roll crimping into the lead.

 

[603Country]

If you want a real good hard cast lead bullet, that Lasercast 158 gr Keith type wadcutter is a real good one. I buy them in the 500 bullet box. They are lubed and have the crimping groove. I shot them over Unique for years, have now switched to Universal, and use standard non magnum primers.

 

[Metal god]

I hope the lead bullets you bought are not the commonly distributed Hornadys, because they are swaged,

No these are X-treme bullets with a cannelure . I made them open the box to be sure . Not sure about the hardness but there diameter is .357 using calipers . These aren't exactly what I'm looking for but thought what the hey might as well have something on hand . I'm not anti lead but avoid it if I can , I really prefer a more lead safe type of bullet but also don't want to break the bank on plinking bullets . I was really there for the primers and came across the bullets .

I had a choice of SWC or RNFP and assumed the RN would have a better BC at 100yds . Will that really matter , probably not but I don't care about really clean holes in paper so the RN seemed best for my application .