.38/.357 subsonic question?

[toledo]

I dont have much experience with reloading pistol/rifle ammo. I am adding a H&R .357 as a host for my Osprey 9 that is coming. I plan to shoot factory .38 special 158 grn jacketed bullets. From what I can find these should be perfectly subsonic out of a 16" barrel. I also plan to reload 180 grn Hornady XTP hollowpoint subsonics.

My question is do I want to set up to reload .38 or .357 for the 180 grn load? Will the reduced case volume of the .38 be a good thing or will I need the higher volume of the .357? Anybody have any load suggestions for this?

Another question- Do I have the option of reloading .357 max bullets in the .357 mag case? I'm not sure if the suppressor could handle the volume and pressure that would come from pushing a 250grn bullet to 1000fps but that's a different subject.

 

[helotaxi]

I dont have much experience with reloading pistol/rifle ammo. I am adding a H&R .357 as a host for my Osprey 9 that is coming. I plan to shoot factory .38 special 158 grn jacketed bullets. From what I can find these should be perfectly subsonic out of a 16" barrel. I also plan to reload 180 grn Hornady XTP hollowpoint subsonics.

My question is do I want to set up to reload .38 or .357 for the 180 grn load? Will the reduced case volume of the .38 be a good thing or will I need the higher volume of the .357? Anybody have any load suggestions for this?

I wouldn't be too worried about *needing* the extra case volume but I would use it nonetheless. I prefer .38 loads in .357 brass, personally. Doesn't gunk up the chamber. You're looking in the range of starting charges from the Hornady manual to keep the 180gn subsonic.

Another question- Do I have the option of reloading .357 max bullets in the .357 mag case? I'm not sure if the suppressor could handle the volume and pressure that would come from pushing a 250grn bullet to 1000fps but that's a different subject.

I don't think that the suppressor is going to be your limiting factor. The .357 mag case capacity will be. I'm not sure you could get enough powder in the case to get 1000fps from a .357 with a 250gn bullet. I'm also not sure if the rate of twist in the .357 rifle is fast enough to stabilize the long 250gn bullets. This could be catastrophic with the can.

 

[toledo]

Thanks for the thoughts. You may very well be correct on the twist rate and Ill do a lot of research before going forward with anything. For now I just need to know which reloading set up to go forward with. It sounds like the .357 is the way to go with no real advantage to the 38.

 

[Shaky]

You'd need a twist rate in the 1:15 range to stabalize a .985", .358" bullet.

 

[toledo]

What grain does that come out to? It looks like the handi rifle is 1:18 3/4 for both the mag and max.

 

[helotaxi]

Sounds like either the 200 or 250. The 180gn isn't nearly that long. I'd probably stick with the 180 and lighter.

 

[Shaky]

Sorry. That's measured from a 250 grainer.

At 1:18.5, you'll want to stay below 200 grains (and 200 would really be pushing it). As helotaxi suggests, I'd stay 180 or below to keep the length below about .76".