.38 and .357 pet load request

[BJung]

I'm casting Lee .38 cal 150gr FRN bullets for .38 special and Lee .38 cal 158 swc bullets for the 357 magnum cases. I've found pet loads online as 3.6gr Bullseye for the 38 and .357. A much lighter load is probably 2.8gr Bullseye. I also have AA2, AA5, and Blue Dot. Am I pretty much close to your pet loads? I don't want to make test loads for them now. I have waaay too many other test loads to shoot and want something to blast with. I will powder paint these bullets.

Thanks

 

[jski]

One load I’ve been using for range ammo is a kind of 38 Special +P+ or creampuff 357 load. I want something that approximates a round I’d actually use in a defense situation.

My recipe:

1. 158 grain Berry’s 357 bullets
2. Starline brass
3. Winchester small magnum primers
4. 7 grains of Unique

 

[jski]

Recently I’ve become interested in using 38 Short Colt brass in my K-frame 357, again from Starline. They have a slightly larger case capacity and are longer providing a greater seating depth capacity than the 9mm. And shorter rounds are easier to handle in reloading situations.

 

[TJB101]

9.8gr Bluedot for 158gr SWC or FP projectiles. Been quite accurate in my rifles

 

[Paul B.]

Bullet, the Lyman #358156 for the .38 Spl. and .357 magnum.
Load for the .38 Spl. 5.0 gr. Unique
Load for the .357 Magnum 14.0 gr. #2400.
Both loads have worked for me for so long I don't even remember when I started using them. Probably right off the bat for the .38 and 1958 when I got my first .357 Mag. I started reloading in August 1954. It's been a while.
Paul B.

 

[Rifletom]

Paul B.'s loads look mighty good. Me, same with the .38 spl. I stepped it up a bit in .357; 180gr Missouri rnfp coated and 11.5gr 2400. Bliss.

 

[SixShooterBP]

Has anyone tried Titegroup in the .357 with jacketed bullets?

 

[jski]

Just to follow up on my suggestion about using 38 Short Colt brass in your 357. Turns out this quite is quite popular in ICORE competition shoots and they load them to significant pressures with heavy bullets. 158 grain bullets are quite popular in these small packages.

So I called Starline and spoke with their ballistician. I asked if their 38 Short Case were designed to handle 9mm +P pressures.

His answer: “Absolutely!”. Oh yeah, he did give one caveat: for 357s only.

Remember, the 38 Short Colt brass has a case capacity just slightly larger than the 9mm case.

 

[bamaranger]

.357

I shoot so much autopistol these days, that the .357's have sat idle. But.....

-all up magnum load is 13.5 gr of 2400 and anybody's 158 gr JHP. I shot this from my 4.5" B-hawk and Marlin carbine as a deer load. Problem is, deer never shows when I carried the carbine or the revolver!

-my GP, plinking load is anybody's bulk 158gr LSWC and 6.0 gr of Unique. This shows a useful gain over .38spl loads, but is not as abusive as all up mag loads.

I use standard primers in both loads. As I never seem to carry BOTH the carbine and the revolver at the same time, the carbine stays zeroed for the JHP load, the B-hawk for the LSWC.

 

[jski]

.357, what kind of velocities are you getting with 6 grains of Unique and a 158 gr bullet?

I use 7 grains of Unique with 158 grain Berry’s bullets and get around 1050 FPS.

 

[LE-28]

My everyday practice load with .357 Magnum is 7.3 gr of BE-86. it''s the most uniform load I have found for .357. There is no powder position problems with this load, position just doesn't make any difference.

Hunting load is 14.5gr of 2400.

 

[44 AMP]

Am I pretty much close to your pet loads?

Understand the phrase "pet load" can be ANY load, its the "pet idea" of the person who develops it. It can be a target load, a mid-range load, or a heavy load.

My personal "pet load" for .38 Special is a 158gr bullet (any) and a charge of Red Dot that will push it to 850fps from a 6" barrel. (not looking up the exact charge weight right now, sorry...)

Why Red Dot? because I have about a dozen pounds of it, and it works tolerably well in the standard .38 special velocity range, though it is a bit dirty and smokes (which makes it like me, )

 

[zxcvbob]

In .38 Special, I like 158 grain lead bullets and 4.5 grains of American Select. (whatever small pistol primers I have open) Or the same bullet and 3.5 grains of Bullseye.

In .357 Magnum, I use Herco and AA#7 but I don't remember how much. 158 grain lead bullets and 125 grain Remington half-jackets.