Missouri Bullets and 340 PD

[thomis]

I have some 158 grain SWC cast bullets on hand and some:

Clays
Blue Dot
AA#5
True Blue
HP38

Want to load some good .357 mag and .38 spcl bullets that match up well with the short bbl of my snub nose 340 PD. What are your favorite combinations?

I have the AA#5 and True Blue data from their website but for some reason they don't list data for the Missouri Bullets. They need to get on board.

Thomis

 

[MissouriBullet]

I have the AA#5 and True Blue data from their website but for some reason they don't list data for the Missouri Bullets. They need to get on board.

Yes they do. This won't be tolerated! I will fire off a memo immediately!

We're just little guys and way under their radar, I believe. It'd be great if they would cover our products in their load data, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Brad

 

[Presto]

Brad,

You are great at what you do. Who cares if the big guys don't pay you any attention. You've got all of my lead bullet businsess for the forseeable future! Keep up the good work.

As far as loads are concerned, I've had good luck using the Lyman pistol manual data for lead loads. For a short barrelled gun like a 340 I would try Clays in .38. It is a fast powder that will burn more completly with less barrel length than the others. It also shoot soft and clean with lead. Your #5 and HP-38 will also do pretty well with these loads.

Blue dot and True Blue will make better .357 powders. I don't like to quote the loads that I use, because everybody's guns are different, but most of the powder manufacturers will have data that you can use. And like I said, the Lyman manual is a great resource for lead load data.

 

[thomis]

.357 for .38 specials

Just to clarify-

These .357 bullets:

http://www.missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=41&category=5&secondary=10&keywords=

with Brinnex 18 cannot be loaded in a .38 special case b/c the charge in the .38 special is not powerful enough to obturate the bullet creating a seal and the bullet will then lead the bore. Correct?
Is this true for all bbl lengths, be it a 2" bbl or 10" bbl?

I didn't realize at first that those bullets were .357 mag only. I loaded up about 10 in a .38 special case to "try" but I guess I shouldn't shoot them.

 

[MissouriBullet]

But here's what you may be missing - there is no need to panic because the 18 BHN bullets will lead your bore at .38 velocities no more or less than any other vendor's standard bullet made at that same hardness, which is almost universally the case except for Oregon Trail, which is 24 BHN.

The hardness isn't optimum for lower velocities but it won't be a problem. The world got along fine with 18 BHN bullets in .38's until we came along with the hardness optimization concept, after all.

 

[Quoheleth]

thomis - it won't hurt your gun at all. You *may* get a little lead schmeer; you may not. Clean it up and get after it again.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, "A Magnum-intended bullet doth not a magnum pistol make."

Q