357 Mag

[chuckbuster243]

" I own a brush and don't care about a little buildup. Comes out easy"

that is what I was talking about, you check some may not know to check and clear, thus a problem

Bob

This is true.
When I see buildup to the point to cause issues... (Several hundred rounds atleast). When it gets thick enough to hurt something it just wont load a 357 at all.. I dont see any buildup when I shoot jacketed 38's just lead. Matt

 

[bigedp51]

I don't care who beats who up I just want to know about reducing 357 loads to slow them down a little you guys are showing your age did you forget the question already.

Google is your best friend for finding information, I typed in lite .357 loads

Loading the .38 Spl. & .357 Mag.
http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/loading-the-38spl-357mag

Another good place to look is in handgun forums rather than rifle forums filled with people older than dirt. :


light loads in a 357, 38 vs 357
http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/172116-light-loads-357-38-vs-357-a.html

Now Google Skeeter Skelton and Bill Jordan and you will find a wealth of .357 information. Before the internet you had to read gun magazines and these two gentlemen were the experts in their day on the .357

Make Right With a “.40 Lite”
http://www.handgunsmag.com/2010/09/24/ammunition_40lite_091806/

And again the Speer manual has loading data for short barreled handguns, the start loads with the faster burning powders make good practice loads.

Using Google and also having as many reloading manuals as possible to cross check the load data and keep you safe is your best bet.

 

[bheadboy]

Sketter Skelton Hipshots article from Shooting times -found this on another blog

"It's strange you should say that about the .38 Special and Skeeter Skelton; the reason being is that I have a Hipshots column from Shooting Times, March 1986, and in it he said just the opposite of what you're saying.
He started his column by writing that:
"I am not-and never have been-particularly enamored with it (.38 Special), and my purpose is not to get a rise out of you, but to make you think."
He then went on to give the history behind the .38 and how he found the 158 grain lead round nose load to be really inefficient. This was when he was investigating shootings while he was sheriff in Texas in the '50s. The next paragraph then began with:
"At that time, I had long before given up the .38 Special as my main battery and was carrying a holstered .357 or hot-loaded .44 Special, which I knew were adequate law enforcement guns."
He then went on for a number of paragraphs relating at how ineffective most standard lead HP loads were because they failed to expand, and that in his estimation, the .38 neeed at least 1,000 fps to even begin to expand. He also related how he really didn't have much experience with the +P loads but that he was concerned because of the wear and tear that they have on older or smaller, lightweight revolvers. After conferring with a number of other former LEOs, including Dean Grennell, Tom Ferguson, and Masaad Ayoob, Skeeter felt that the performance of +P ammo was still not up to where it should be for maximum expansion and performance. He finished the column with this last thought:
"For now, I cannot score the .38 Special, with whatever commercial load, in the same class as the .357, .41, or .44 Magnums, nor even with handloaded .44 Special, the factory .45ACP, or the factory .45 Colt ammunition... I very seldom shoot the .38 Special-probably the most used handgun cartridge of our age."

Bob
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[wapiti25]

Yes you can use Unique powder for both 38 Spl and 357 mag. Dies are the same, my RCBS has both listed on the label. A washer is handy to adjust the difference in case length but you still have to make small adjustments for the crimp and "belling" the case mouth. The washer is about .140" thick.

 

[Twisted Chemist]

2.8 bull and wadcutters in 357 brass to have light loads,
mind your manners
Bob

And get off my lawn!