Trying some different types of bullets for .357

[JEBar]

I think it was a Big Boy Steel Carbine H012MR .... per their website it is supposed to weigh 6.59 lbs without ammo or scope .... at her age, my wife no longer has the upper body strength to handle it .... looking back, I should have anticipated it .... guess my want to get her it for her took over

[tx gunrunner]

My SASS/CAS loads are real pussycat and they are only 750 FPS . Remember the are loaded for FPS not accuracy . 1lbs of Unique will load 2000 rds and they shoot good too . Pistols I shoot Gunfighter that is a gun in both hand and is how I shot the target below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rX7OAawpkk

This old guy in the video is the best in gunfighter in my class .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcUpH9qqRU

[Travlin]

Looks like this type of shooting has become a reflex with you. How long have you been doing it? Very good shooting and thanks for listing the loads. If I could afford it, I think that CAS would be the most fun for the $$. I have always been attracted to single action handguns and old style lever guns. I still have an 1897 Winchester shotgun for my house gun.

[tx gunrunner]

How long have you been doing it?

If you look at my avatar my SASS number is 7720 and SASS is now over 100,000 I believe . That is over 16 yrs . I was do this before long before I was a SASS member . Here is some of my SASS guns . My shotguns for years were Stevens SS hammerless and 1897 Winc ... Now it is the 1878 Colt hammer gun . I no longer can shoot SASS/CAS for the last few years because of my health , but don't ever feel sorry me I've done it all . Now I shoot pellet and BB guns and started with now slingshots too . I have a 10 meter range in my house .

[clovishound]

Update, I was thinking this morning. I know, thinking usually gets me in trouble. Anyway, I went out to the reloading bench and loaded an SNS in an empty case then pulled the bullet with a kinetic puller. I noticed two thin lines of exposed lead. One at the canelure, and one near the base. The one in the canelure was cured by readjusting the crimp just a little lighter. I identified the line near the base as the mouth cutting into coating when starting to seat the bullet. I adjusted the expander die to a little more aggressive flare.

Both lines are gone. Had the base issue with .357 magnum setup. Readjusted for that as well. Unfortunately, I just loaded a bunch of the .38 specials at the old adjustments. Still, the .38 was only a minor issue, I was more worried about the .357 magnum. I will load up a small batch and run them when I get a chance and see if the leading goes away.

I had everything set up for plated, didn't have any issues with the first iteration of coated. Perhaps the coating on these is a little thinner, or more fragile for some reason.

Hopefully, I'm on to something.

[clovishound]

Well, ran about 40 of the SNS through today. Accuracy was good. Still had some leading. Not real bad. A couple runs through with a brush, and several patches later I quit getting any flakes on the patches. In a shorter barrel that I could easily look through the breach, I might consider living with it. In a long barrel that I cannot get a good look at the breach end of the lands, I think I will stick with something that doesn't lead. I did find some Universal, so that may give me better accuracy with the plated without jacking up the cost too much. I have some heavy plate 158 grain HPs on order. I will try them with the Universal when they come in. Maybe this will be nearly as good a combo as the HPs with IMR 4227.

[Sunkist357]

I have loaded about 1000-1500 180gr .40, 1500 9mm 124gr and 500-700 158 swc Acme Red bullets with good results. The barrels on all the guns used were easy clean-up and accuracy has been as good as I'm able to shoot. When I have a good day they are generally one hole jagged hole groups wih the occasional flyers. That's me, not the bullets. With 1000's of Missouri Bullets before that, accuracy was the same but the barrels were a mess due to the lube as much as anything else. A 16-18 Brinnel bullet dosesn't get into leading country much until you go past 1500 fps in my mind. I shoot the 158 SWC between 1000 and 1200 fps with medium burning powders. My take on it is that if the coating isn't compromised by too much crimp or scrapping during seating, thay are as clean as plated or jacketed. For any leading, especially with cast 405gr and 520 gr 45-70 rounds, I soak a patch with Ballistol, set the gun aside for awhile, after a general cleaning, and the Ballistol lifts the lead out of what otherwise looked like a clean barrel.

My first outing with a new Steel .357 20", I put over 100 Acme SWC moving at about 1100 fps thru it. (loaded with #7) I ran a Bore Snake with Ballistol on it thru the gun between the Acme and some hotter 140gr XTP partially to clean it and partially to cool everything down. By then I was getting used to the sights and trigger and was keeping everything in 3"-4" at 25 yds. I was erratic with anything slowwer than 1100fps. I'm loading the SWC up to nearly 1200fps and the 140gr XTP at just over 1400fps (These are Lyman 10 " test barrel numbers with Accurate Arms loads.) The numbers will be lower out of my GP 100's but they will be plenty stout out of revolvers. I'll let you know how these new loads do but it may not be for a couple weeks. Stay safe and shoot straight.

[ditto1958]

I don't have a .357 rifle yet. I've been shooting SWS 158 grain RNFP bullets in my Blackhawk, and I like them. I've been getting them for $39.99 for a box of 500.

A friend at the range loads 158 grain coated bullets for his Henry .357. I'll have to ask him next time I see him what brand he buys.

[CT_Shooter]

I've started using ZERO 130 gr. FMJs in .357. I like the charge I've settled on, though I would love to know what speed it has out of my Henry rifle and Uberti revolver. I don't own a chronograph, yet. I had to extrapolate a charge using pistol data for 125 and 140 grain jacketed bullets, since I couldn't find anything, anywhere for 130 grain jacketed bullets in .357. I came up with a range for Win231/HP38 that starts at 7 with a max of 8, using a magnum primer. I'm going to hold it at 7.2 grains for a while, since I only shoot paper at 25 and 75 feet and I like them in both guns.

I've just reloaded another 100 rounds that I plan to shoot tomorrow. I use a 7cc Lee dipper to measure out the powder and I only weigh a few charges along the way just to be safe, though they never vary. The dipper is absolutely consistent and with my single stage press, I find it very easy to use. It may take me an hour or so to do 100, but it's a pleasant, distraction free way to spend some time.

[Sunkist357]

There shouldn't be any real difference between the 130 and a 125gr jacketed speeds. It is close to 1400fps out of a revolver and close to 1600fps from your rifle. Lee 2nd Edition has 130 Jacketed data.