,38 in .357 lever action mirror thread

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Although a whole different firearm, I bought a 357/38 Ruger Vaquero and it hasn't seen a 357 yet, lol.

[Mistered]

I bought a 357/38 Ruger Vaquero and it hasn't seen a 357 yet, lol.

Heck nothing wrong with this. Most of the time shooting 'full house' .357 ammo is unnecessary - and not all .357 mag guns are suited for steady use of it. I love my 'K' frame .357 Smiths but there is no denying they were NOT made for heavy .357 use. As such I load 'lite' .357s for it and shoot the same out of my BBB. As I often repeat - if a need exists for one to shoot high velocity .357 consistently then a gun designed for it should be chosen.

[Frontiersman]

I haven't had any issues feeding .38spl in a .357 lever. But I do shoot a lot of RNFP and they are pretty forgiving.

The dirty chamber issue is largely dependent on you powder choice, some just leave behind more "soot" than others.

99.9% of the time, I just shoot cowboy .357 loads. It eliminates the debate all together.

As always, hand loaders can have the best of both worlds.

[Preacher]

Same here. I usually shoot Winchester White Box out of mine with no issues with cycling. I also don't have any issues when I do switch to .357 ammunition. I'm also not picky about what I feed my rifle. I don't have any qualms about using cheap ammo.

[Frank V]

Welcome to the forum.
If you reload loading light loads in .357 brass will give good practice ammo. If you don't reload try cowboy action loads they tend to be a little lighter for competition & should give good service.

[txray357]

Same here. I usually shoot Winchester White Box out of mine with no issues with cycling. I also don't have any issues when I do switch to .357 ammunition. I'm also not picky about what I feed my rifle. I don't have any qualms about using cheap ammo.

Have you tried any of the 125 gr defense .38 special ammo?

[Preacher]

No. I shoot the 130gr .38 special WWB.

[Leftofcenter67]

I have a Henry BBS Carbine. I stupidly forgot to bring my .357 ammo with me to the range one time. So I bought 158 grain Federal .38 Specials. They fed properly, however I noticed when using .38 special the brass would eject not so smoothly, and get caught in the ejection port. You flick them away and no problem.
It would still function normally, I just by the time I got to the end of the box that it was annoying enough, that I'll just stick with .357 Magnum bullets.
Maybe just keep .38 Special for my revolver.

[Rifletom]

Now that I've had my BB Brass for a couple of weeks and shot it, I'll say this. It loads and ejects 158gr .38spl loads fine. Same, of course for .357 But, the POI is certainly different. Another poster mentioned he'll keep his .38's for his revolver and .357's for the Henry. Probably do the same. Well, with a few . 38's thrown in for the heck of it. Those .357 lever guns sure are fun.

[jcrowban]

I shoot them from my Henry and also two Rossi 357s. They shoot fine with 357, 38, 38+p. you do get a carbon ring from the 38 but not a big build up from just a few rounds. When I shoot I'll shoot some 357 or just rod the bore to clean the 38 ring before shooting 357. The Rossi doesn't like wad cutters and I haven't tried wad cutters in the Henry.

[Shakey Jake]

I don't like having to clean the burn ring out of the chamber after shooting .38 spcl in a .357 mag. I shoot .357 only to avoid the issue.

[Travlin]

The first cartridge reloading that I did in 1969 was for a Colt Trooper .357 with a six inch barrel I still have that revolver along with the factory target that came with it. A friend was stationed at a nearby Air Force Base and one day he presented me with a metal ammo can full of once fired military .38 special brass. I reloaded those cases until they were worn out, several thousand .38 reloads shot in the Trooper. I could shoot a .357 load any time I wanted and never had to scrub the chamber so it would fit.

[markiver54]

I don't like having to clean the burn ring out of the chamber after shooting .38 spcl in a .357 mag. I shoot .357 only to avoid the issue.

John...I too have experienced the burn ring when loading 357's after many 38's. Had to clean cylinders first!

[Shakey Jake]

John...I too have experienced the burn ring when loading 357's after many 38's. Had to clean cylinders first!

That's the reason I purchased the S&W 10 (.38 spcl). Got it fairly cheap so now I don't have an issue and also have another option.

[cooperhawk]

I used to shoot my 357 in competition and when I used 38 spl the burn rings made it hard to chamber 357s later. I solved that by throwing away all my 38 spl brass and just using 357 brass and downloading to 38 spl velocities. Solved the problem nicely. That's all use now.

[JDCoolCeltic]

I have used all the cheap ammo I could find and I have had no feeding issue. EXCEPT.
When I purchased my BBB, I could not find ammo for it ANYWHERE. Can't imagine why. The only store that had it was Dick's.
And all they had was Blazzer 128 LRN Aluminium case. This would not cycle AT ALL.
I had to load them one at a time to get rid of them.
Ha... made a good range project for my daughter.

[cooperhawk]

My enlarged lever and scope mount came today and I've already installed them. I had an old Marlin 4x scope that I put on it for now. Now I want to see what loads work best in the .357 Mag. Should be fun.

[greywolf138]

I just bought my Henry BBS and going through the owners manual (something I dont often do) I saw the warning about 38 special ammo. Being a reloader, I immediatly started checking my bibles and found the only difference in the 38 special loads was type of powder loaded. This created the different OAL. Didnt make sense to me, so I called Henry in Bayonne. They knew less then I did. A very nice young lady answered the phone but after listening to my question she could only give genaric stock answers. I asked if there was a "technical advisor" on staff. She said yes but he was on the phone and If I left my name and number he would call back shortly. I said fine and afte rgiving her the info i said good bye and hung up. Three hours latter the same lady returned the call and could tell me nothing more then before. I was like WTF.. this is the factory?Thank all, I found out more here in 5 minutes then two phone calls to the factory.

[CT_Shooter]

Welcome to the forum from CT, and I'm glad we were able to help you. In defense of the Henry CS, Henry does not support reloading and only recommends factory ammunition be used in their rifles. That said, you will be hard pressed to find a better customer service than HRA, so please don't let this experience color your opinion of their commitment to their customers. It is unparalleled. I know you will enjoy that rifle. I own one, too. And, I have never had a problem with .38s. Good luck... and I'm glad you joined the conversation.

I just bought my Henry BBS and going through the owners manual (something I dont often do) I saw the warning about 38 special ammo. Being a reloader, I immediatly started checking my bibles and found the only difference in the 38 special loads was type of powder loaded. This created the different OAL. Didnt make sense to me, so I called Henry in Bayonne. They knew less then I did. A very nice young lady answered the phone but after listening to my question she could only give genaric stock answers. I asked if there was a "technical advisor" on staff. She said yes but he was on the phone and If I left my name and number he would call back shortly. I said fine and afte rgiving her the info i said good bye and hung up. Three hours latter the same lady returned the call and could tell me nothing more then before. I was like WTF.. this is the factory?Thank all, I found out more here in 5 minutes then two phone calls to the factory.

[TN Mark]

I just bought my Henry BBS and going through the owners manual (something I dont often do) I saw the warning about 38 special ammo. Being a reloader, I immediatly started checking my bibles and found the only difference in the 38 special loads was type of powder loaded. This created the different OAL. Didnt make sense to me, so I called Henry in Bayonne. They knew less then I did. A very nice young lady answered the phone but after listening to my question she could only give genaric stock answers. I asked if there was a "technical advisor" on staff. She said yes but he was on the phone and If I left my name and number he would call back shortly. I said fine and afte rgiving her the info i said good bye and hung up. Three hours latter the same lady returned the call and could tell me nothing more then before. I was like WTF.. this is the factory?Thank all, I found out more here in 5 minutes then two phone calls to the factory.

Like CT_Shooter, I wouldn't expect nor would I rely on HRA to answer any reloading questions. It's simply not their area of expertise. The legal downside for them to engage in reloading inquiries is very wide and very deep. With no upside for them at all. Reloading inquiries are best addressed to experienced reloaders. Like you found right here on this forum.

My Henry 357 All Weather has been fed nothing but factory Federal 158 grain Jacketed Soft Point 357 Magnum ammo. Which it seems to giggle at when it devours them. Well, ok, maybe it's me who giggles a bit from having so much fun. I don't reload now but I am saving all my brass because one day I'd like to start to reloading.