More than I expected

I have loaded thousands of rounds of my favorite 357 load over the years. I only make one load for it, I only have one 357, a 6” stainless GP-100. The load is 5.0 grains of bullseye under a Lee 158SWC wheel weight bullet tumble lubed with a light crimp. No chronograph available to me so I’m not sure of the numbers, but I had it out and for some testing to show some kids what it would do and why it should be respected, I shot a 2x4 screwed to a 4x4 and the 4x4 itself also.

At 10’ the bullet blew through the 2x4 easily and split the 4x4 but didn’t fully penetrate. Shooting just the 4x4 i has 2 of the 4 bullets poking out the back, the other 2 were within a 1/4” from going through. What was really interesting was there was almost no deformities to the bullet except the rifling, and I’m going to load them again and see how they compare to the first time.

What I’m thinking of is mixing the remaining wheel weights 50/50 with pure to stretch my stock and the dilemma is they shoot great as is, don’t lead the barrel(haven’t cleaned the barrel in almost 8k rounds), and do I need something this hard for punching paper?

Any thoughts, especially the bullet not deforming doing through 3.5” of treated lumber?

Misplacedtexan said:

Have you checked the diameter of the bullets in question? I would think there would be some compression that would enlarge the diameter some. Oh, and the length shorten.

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It gained .0015” and I didn’t think to check the length.

mdi said:

Personally, I believe many are mislead by the "Harder is Better" thinking. I would think a 158 gr 357 bullet that went through a 4x4, fairly undamaged is pretty hard! I have cast for all my revolvers 4 of my semi-autos and 3, 30 cal. rifles and most using my "Mystery Metal", a mix of scrap, wheel weights and range lead that runs around 10-12 BHN. The only time I used a harder alloy I was casting Lyman #2 for my 9mms. Mixing your alloy with pure/WW should give you a descent alloy a little on the soft side (around 8-9 BHN) for most handgun shooting...

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I haven’t checked the hardness and was just happy when I found this load as it was pretty much self cleaning(the barrel) and didn’t lead and I’m hesitant to change it. Guess I should at least try 100 rounds of 50/50 and see if anything changes.

GeoDudeFlorida said:

Best reason for "hard" is to punch through bone and gristle and keep enough speed up to put holes in vitals. Second best reason is, tin and antimony don't corrode like lead does. Lead goes powdery and loses shape but add some tin and it resists corrosion better. Add some antimony and it resists corrosion even if exposed to light acids - like on skin and tanned leather. Third best reason is tin raises the melt temp of lead so it won't flame cut as quickly; antimony with tin raises it even more. That's where the half-truth/half-myth about hard alloys not leading comes from. They resist flame cutting better than pure lead but sealing the base against the bore and groove doesn't allow flame-cutting to start with. Which is better? Up to your needs. "Hard" isn't good for everything but it's great if you got a use for it - like close-up hole-punching ornery critters with tusks, fangs and claws and such.

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If I hunted that would be a valid concern and one I’d definitely stick with. I have self defense loads worked up for it and set aside, these are just target rounds and I’m just amazed they went through a 4x4 mostly undamaged and am wondering if changing my alloy to stretch my ww supply will cause any issues. The only way to know will be to do it and see.

.38 Special said:

That's a pretty light load and probably is getting you about 900 fps - not much more than a .38 Special. The most likely outcome of changing from WW to 50/50 WW and lead is that you won't notice the change at all. I routinely drive 158 cast SWCs to 1300 fps in the .357, using softer alloys than that.

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That’s what I’m figuring, probably won’t even notice a difference. This is a load I have used for close to 20 years from when wheel weights were free and I had a ton and a half. I’m below my comfort level on ww lead and wanted to stretch it, and I didn’t realize it was that hard. There is no need for a load that hard just to punch paper, so long as I don’t get any leading to deal with.

My Lee mold drops at .3585-.359 depending on the casting temp and I size them .358 and tumble lube. Once I mix some lead up and cast 100 I’ll get them loaded and see if anything changes. I just have to find my alox, it’s been a few years since I casted any that got lubed, and I still have about 3 gallons of lubed bullets from the last cast. It would be a stinky mess to have to melt those down and recast them, but well worth it if it works.