What type of 357 mag bullets should I use .

Hornady Frontier work well for me. I cast my own most of the time. I had a couple of gift cards that were at the point of use them, lose them. Academy had them on sale for $23.95 for 300 LSWCHP 158 grain. Also some 158 grain LRN . I picked up all 4 boxes they had out. They have worked well in light .38 Spcl. loads, and some full power .357 magnum loads with AA9.

For super loud flash, bang, and boom loads jacketed bullets with H110/Win296 will do it. If you want versatile powder AA9 is hard to beat.
 
There are several different 'coated' bullets out there, so I would not automatically discount using a coated bullet because a person had a bad experience.

I reload hi-tek coated bullets for USPSA competition and find these bullets leave virtually no lead or residue in my barrel. You can pick up 500 bullets for ~$50/shipped, so very economical.

I have a .357 semi-automatic that I shoot for fun (not competition) for this gun, I need a fairly stout load in order to cycle the slide. 158gr bullets @ 1000fps and 125gr @ 1250-1300 fps seem to do the trick for that gun.
 
Am I the only one here who has found hard cast 158s to well withstand 1300fps in 357? I won't say I have no leading but I can shoot a couple hundred rounds and have about 10 minutes of cleaning before the bore is spotless. That's fair enough shooting cast in my book.

Obviously this is with hard cast ala Missouri or dardas cast. Also, there are a few versatile powders that do ok in 357. I like HS6 for a versatile powder that will load medium-heavy (not heavy heavy) 357 mag. Its a good well rounded powder that is a Jack of all trades (but as the saying goes, it is a master of none).
 
21gr of h110 under a 125gr xtp with cci srp has always turned heads at the range, for me
Nice fireball too
 
21gr of h110 under a 125gr xtp with cci srp has always turned heads at the range, for me
Nice fireball too
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That sounds like the WOW factor I'm looking for :D;)

Small rifle primers sounds interesting . I have lots of those ( CCI ) , Is that basically the same as SP magnum primers ?
 
Some really good questions which got some really good answers. No sense on me saying what has been well said and explained.

The 357 Magnum is an enjoyable cartridge to load and shoot and as you get more into loading the round you will enjoy the plethora of bullets and powders. A bullet type you want to try is the ever enjoyable to shoot wad cutter design. Pictured below are some 38 Special cases loaded with Missouri Bullet Company 148 Grain DEWC-BB.

38%20Wadcutter.png


The image is mine and if anyone wants to use it feel free to copy it, the linking is to my domain. :)

Anyway as you come to enjoy shooting 357 consider some wad cutter designs as they make really cool round holes in paper targets. :)

Ron
 
srp primers

srp primers are much harder than any mag primer for small pistol.

srp primers are much stronger than any mag small pistol primer.

put a srp & a mag primer ina case pop em at night & compare!

If you use srp primer relatively fast powders we use in revolvers DO NOT act the same.

Be informed when firing just primers the cyl will not open freely as the primer will have it jammed.

231 for plinkin loads , HS6 for intermediate loads & ya gotta have H-110 for Oh my GOD loads.

In my revolvers I mostly run the NOE 175 gr cast swc to 1k & call it good .
plinkin load is CLAYS under a wad cutter going as slow as possible without smoking up the case.

Enjoy your 357 magnum it`s 1 of the most versatile cartridges in a revolver except maybe the 44

GP
 
GP100man said:
srp primers are much harder than any mag primer for small pistol.

srp primers are much stronger than any mag small pistol primer.
Click to expand...

This is from a old 2015 thread here at TFL
https://thefiringline.com/forums/sh...ighlight=rifle+vs+small+pistol+magnum+primers
These are my notes from a conversation on June 14, 2009 with CCI's tech dept.

I called to discuss the technical differences between their primer types. I was put in touch with one of their tech reps who was very happy to discuss their primers. She mentioned that she had worked there for 38 yrs and was glad I wasn't calling to complain about the current primer shortage. I was asking about the cup thickness, formula differences, and formula amount differences between their #500 (SP), #550 (SPM), and #400 (SR). She had me hold a minute to get the detail specs up on her screen and this is what she said.

Cup thickness: The #500 has a thinner cup than either the #550 or #400, however, both the #550 and #400 have the same cup dimensions (including thickness) and material hardness (same brass).

Flash powder formula: All three sizes use the same formula for the flash powder.

Flash powder amount: The #500 has a slightly smaller amount (3 micrograms) than the #550 or #400 which both have the same amount.

I asked if the SR primers could be used as an acceptable substitute for the SPM primers. She compared the #550 and #400 and then replied that yes, they appeared to have the same specs, same dimensions, same cup thickness, same formula, and same amount of flash powder. She even noted that the SPM primers were slightly taller than the SP primers and were spec'd the same dimensions as the #400.

I asked if she knew any reason not to just use SR primers for both magnum pistol and rifle applications based upon that information and she said that many employees who worked there only bought rifle primers and used them for all their reloading, magnum or not. They just started at the minimum and worked up their loads. The only exception being for custom pistols where the thicker rifle and pistol magnum cup contributed to misfires, which she said only occurred in custom race pistols.
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Sounds like we have a conflict of data ;) Maybe other manufacturers SR vs SPM primers are different but CCI seems to be the same . I will add that it's my understanding that CCI changed there cup thickness in at least one of the primers maybe more in the last 15 or 20 years . I can never remember what yaer or which primers they reworked but believe it was the #400 .

Regardless I will be testing both types of CCI primers in some 357 loads . These will likely be loads using HS-6 powder in Federal brass pushing 158gr LRNFP bullets . I will shoot them over a chronograph for comparisons . Although my chrono and hand gun testing does not do well together . Not sure why but I get WAY more error readings when testing handgun loads then I do with rifle .
 
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Metal_god,

No problem substituting srp's for spm primers. Done all the time. FWIW, 7.0gr of HS-6 behind your 158gr lead bullet makes for an excellent .38 +P load.

Don
 
When I first started reloading, I used Federal small rifle primers in everything. ("everything" at the time was .30 Carbine, 9mm Luger, and .38 Special) They worked, and I didn't have to worry about accidentally loading a pistol primer in the .30
 
Update

I've already mentioned the 158gr LRNFP I bought . Over the weekend I bought 200 - 180gr XTP's & 400 125gr XTP's . I'm also looking at these http://www.evergladesammo.com/mg-38-357-125gr-jhp-bullets.html for stout 357 plinking bullets ( Montana Gold 158gr JHP ) at about $.13 each or $.19 per loaded cartridge . Which should be a pretty good all around load for the price .


A couple weeks ago I went to the gun show and picked up 2lbs of HS-6 and 1lb of H110 along with more primers and a 500ct of Fed brass ( I like having all the same head stamp brass ) I figured I'd have the same problem I had when I started loading 45acp . Some case walls are thicker then others and I could feel when crimping the inconsistencies from manufacturer to manufacturer when using mixed head stamps . I know on the whole in 45acp that's not going to matter much but now that I'm loading for a cartridge that the consistencies of the crimp will matter . I went ahead and bought some Fed cases and trimmed them all to the same length .

So the gun has been tested with factory ammo . I polished all the inner working of the trigger and hammer as well as replaced the trigger return spring and hammer spring reducing the trigger pull from somewhere around 11lbs to 8.5lbs . loading components are bought and cases are prepped .

It's time to set up the 357 tool head on the Lee CTP and start loading . I plan to get out to the range on the 11th so I'll need to have all my tester loads ready by then . ;)

I also have a case capacity test I'm trying to get to as well but the new toy seems to have a leg up on that as it pertains to available time
 
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After seeing Ron's Missouri Bullet Co DEWC they are my next purchase for my revolver. I have never tried a DEWC profile, looks cool a he**. Decent pricing also.
 
357 mags for GP-100

Where to start; I have loaded 357s for a Ruger blackhawk for years. 231 is a great powder for target loads, like the rainer 158 RNFP. A friend of mine has a GP-100 and one very accurate load that we have for that one is a Hornady 140 grain, on top of 14.5 of 2400. You should consult the Hornady manual before loading it, but it is very accurate. I don't use magnum primers with 2400; it can create some pressure issues, in some cases.

The post above regarding 21 grs. of H-110 with the 125, has also been a good load for me in the Blackhawk. A word of caution about that, the slow burning magnum powders like H-110 and 296 have a minimal start-Max load gap. Be sure to follow the loading manual. You always work up to a max load. You will get better velocity and perhaps accuracy with those magnum powders at long distances.

Loading for the 357 has been a lot of fun; I have tried probably 100+ different loadings for a number of different bullets. You can find a few that are "pet" loads for your particular weapon.

If you want more information about my experiences with it, send a PM.

AZ Sharpshooter
- NRA Lifer
 
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