Choosing a powder for use in rifle with pistol caliber

A slower powder, one that is still suitable for your cartridge, but on the slower end, will be able to take advantage of the longer barrel of the rifle to provide higher velocities.

That being said, any load that is safe and suitable for your revolver will be fine in the rifle. You can expect somewhat higher velocity from the rifle, regardless of powder used, in normal circumstances.

If I own a pistol in the caliber, I load for it so ammo will interchange. If I don't then I load specific for the rifle. For me .357, 9 MM, 45 Colt.

Don't need to do it, but you may get more velocity out of a rifle with a slower powder. If you research some you may find rifle specific data for .357 which should get you a bit better performance.

Some manufacturers publish rifle and pistol specific loading tables, along with T/C Contender specific loading tables but, for the most part those are for segregating by strength of the action, not burn time or bullet weight. Mostly. Some T/C loads are specifically designed for the 10” barrels common to the platform and the tighter - in some cases undersized - bore/groove of the T/C. For most applications the loads may be interchangeable but maybe not optimal in both. The .357Magnum loads for Marlin microgroove carbines, for example. Start with the best pistol accuracy load you have and see how it goes. Work with rifle data and try it in the handguns.

Stefan A said:

Not sure if I am over thinking this. But, I can see what the load data says for 38 special or 357 mag. I have some choices of powder. Do I need to choose a certain powder for revolver use vs. lever gun use? My understanding is that rifles require a slower powder. But my data seems to be specific for pistol.

Thanks

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No. The biggest issue is not shooting such low velocity ammo that you stick one in the rifle barrel. I haven't done this with 3 grains of 700x with 158s. So It takes a pretty slow load to stick it.

What is your goal?

If it’s just to make things more complicated, sure you can even have different loads for each firearm you have in that caliber, you have to keep all of them sorted from one another.

If you pick a load that is the most powerful in your rifle, there is a decent chance it’s probably going to be the most powerful in your revolver too, just with more flash.

I would keep things simple if there is no real goal. No reason to complicate things, if they don’t need to be.

Hornady’s 4th edition has both “rifle” data.



and their handgun data is right there with it.

There are loads that I have run and tested in a 4" pistol and a 16". You can use these to test around and reduce your consumption of components. All loads with cast 150-160 class bullet.
38 3.8 grains TG
38 5.0 grains unique
357 7.0 grains unique
357 8.8 grains true blue.
357 13.7 grains #9
All of those loads are great in both platforms. I'm still testing and have a bunch of powders that work well in one not the other. I also test a 180 grain bullet and 38+p that goes well on both.

I load .41MAG for both my revolvers, and my 20" Marlin 1894, and .45 Colt for a 18" (?) H&R. The benefit of the rifle with a pistol cartridge is to either pick up velocity, or just have fun. To that end, my usual .41 revolver loads... 8grn Unique, work well in the pistols... without beating me up when I shoot a couple of boxes... and work well enough in the rifle if I'm just having fun. If I need the velocity, I switch to IMR4227... which gives me a LOT more velocity in the rifle, and some more in the pistols. If I'm shooting steel at 500yds, I have to have that velocity out of both to make it. Both work well enough in either firearm... it just depends on my end game.

One other aspect... loading my fun rounds... I use 8grn of Unique. Loading my velocity rounds... I use 22grn IMR4227, or nearly 3 times the amount, by weight, of Unique. That is also something to consider in these days of slim pickings.

I would not go slower than a mid-range powder like Unique/Universal/AA#5/Silhouette, etc for moderate velocity rifle rounds... too much risk of sticking a bullet, and particularly so the lighter the bullet.

Stefan A said:

My goal is to know which powder to choose among the choices. If there is data for 6 different powders, how do I know which one to choose? I figured that a cartridge used in a rifle vs. a pistol would play into the decision.

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There are a lot more than 6 that will work but “how to choose a powder?” Could be an entire thread itself.

If you just wanted something that goes “bang”, hits a target and saves you the most money, small charges of a fast (burn rate) powder will save you the most money. Like those bullseye loads in #7. You don’t need a PHD in mathematics to get that using a 6 grain charge, you get twice as many rounds per pound than if you used a powder that requires a 12 grain charge. 1166 rounds per pound vs 583 per pound.

That said, if you were wanting to get the most performance out of the 357 you can, that powder isn’t a very good choice. You would want something slower burning and more of it. At that point cost isn’t the driver though.

Why goals have to be defined as they directly impact the answer. Kind of like in general “what powder?” If your going to give an educated guess, the first question is always “for what?” Right now we have the ‘357 for rifle and handgun’, now we just need the other blanks filled in.

What are your intended uses and expectations?

Do you want quiet or more power?

That would be a good question. Others might be.

Are we using the ammunition for hunting, plinking, competition (if so what game), casual paper punching or squeezing the absolute greatest accuracy from the firearms?

What powders can you get your hands on? No reason to choose something you can’t get. What’s available for us to choose from? HS-7 is pretty good but hasn’t been made since the 90’s, for example.

The idea than there is one best is silly. I am testing them all and provided the best loads across several need categories. With best a need must be first established. The best for paper at 25 yds is not the best for hunting where sacrificing a little accuracy for velocity is considered for terminal performance. I keep boxes of different loads for exactly that reason. My trial or red dot says it's fun for plinking but wholly inadequate for anything else.

Stefan A, first, what powders do you have in hand? If you have Unique, you can load for your .38 spl and .357, both handgun and rifle. If you have any Universal, you can load both also.
Alliant 2400 can also be used in both handgun and rifle, both .38 spl and .357. So, what do you have?

We load 44mag and 357 mag for the handguns, and use those rounds in the rifles.
That way there are no mistakes.

@Stefan A
What powders do you have on hand? If we know that I know folks will throw out their suggestions on what they would use and you can kind of gauge what you want to do from there.

Personally I only load 38/38 +P for use in my 357 mag revolver and load actual 357 mag for my Henry only. I've been using I4227 but also have a new 8lb jug of 2400 to try when I'm off hiatus.

Stefan A said:

But again, my question is not really which powder I should choose, but what factors go into deciding?

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For me in loads that will specifically be shot in my pistol caliber rifle I look to the slower burning powders.

The way I would see it of the powders you have that I'm familiar with is:
AA#5- light plinkers that won't get the max velocity with 158gr and up projectiles
I4227- Slower powder with higher velocity and a wider range of load range to play with and find which is most accurate.
W296- For max velocity as it works best at near max loads and has a tighter min-max load range than other powders.

Plinking is generally efficacy focused. Low cost accurate loads with fast powders. For 357 that's unique and faster. If you have target shooting midrange is normally good faster than unique to about blue dot. If your hunting blue dot to 300mp or 4227. If your plinking with 38/357 zip. N340 or #5 will all be good choices. You have to test to see which one shoots best.

Longer barrel handgun & rifle - choose one of the slower powders
Medium barrel handgun & rifle - choose one of the slower powders
Snubby handgun & rifle - choose a faster powder

The first combo listed is likely optimal, 2nd and 3rd combos diminish optimal"ness" (is that a word?).

Stefan A said:

What I'm asking is - how do I pick a powder among all the choices within a set of load data. For example - in my lyman manual, for the type of bullet I have, and for 38 special, there is a choice of 9 powders. Pretending that I had all of them (which I don't, but that's not the point), how do I decide which one to use?

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Fair enough... and I think we all have had that question at one time or another.

A simple answer would be... what you have on hand, or what you can lay hands on, sometimes that's a job in and of itself.

If you look at the data, it goes back to my basic premise... mid-range loads, or go fast loads? You can use 2400, for example, as a plinking powder... but it won't be very fun unless you just love recoil and blast. You can use W231, for example... it would make great plinking loads, but I wouldn't recommend it if you are planning on going hunting. Your defined purpose MAKES a DIFFERENCE. Looking at the data, and I don't have a Lyman manual any longer, but most manuals will arrange the powders in descending order of velocity at max load. Using that as a guideline, 2400 would be at the top, Unique in the middle, and W231 at the bottom (or thereabouts, nothing is absolute.)

Some experience on how a powder burns is handy. Knowledge of how a powder measures can affect your decision. For me, in my early days... it was simply a matter of brand preference... I always picked Hercules powders (now Alliant) for pistol, and usually IMR powders for rifle. For some people, it's cost. Some powders are less expensive than others (think VihtaVouri vs something like Accurate or Shooters world.) If you are trying to be thrifty, picking a faster powder will usually save you some money... in my example I noted that I had to use almost 3x more IMR4227 than Unique.

Your final answer picking a powder is a culmination of answers to questions you have to ask yourself, first.

I thought I answered these questions with my first post. Let me rephrase.

Stefan A said:

So, if I decide I want to hunt, what is it about a powder that makes it a good hunting powder?

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Usually, accuracy and velocity is what makes a good hunting powder. The velocity you can pretty much make a judgement call on: the slower powders combines with longer barrels equals more velocity.
Accuracy is found by testing. Testing different powders at different charge levels with different bullets.
Only time and testing - by you, in your rifle, with your powder and your bullets - will find the best.

Stefan A said:

If I want to plink, what makes a powder good for that?

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Generally, economy and accuracy.

For economy, choose faster powders. Faster powders equal smaller charge levels. Smaller charges equals cheaper shooting.

As for accuracy, see above.

Stefan A said:

If I want quiet or more power, what parameters do I look for - etc...

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Same as above. You will have to study the front half of the manual (you do have a manual, don't you?). Understand the difference in fast, medium and slow powders, and why they are classified as such.

No one can give you the hard and fast answer. You need to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Hooda Thunkit, you did answer in your first post. Very clearly and simply.

Stefan A said:

What I'm asking is - how do I pick a powder among all the choices within a set of load data.

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I start by seeing what I can get my hands on. Scratch all others off the list, no reason to move on with consideration if I can’t get any. For me it’s generally going to be something I already have. I keep a burn rate chart that notes what I have on hand and keep it up to date, makes it simple. I can wish I had more 8208 all I want, until I do it makes it easy to see what I have that will work, in that burn rate area.



Next, I decide what I want out of the load, considerations already mentioned. I kind of like clean powders, so that is also a consideration. For example VV N320 is very close to Titegroup in charge weights and burn rate but simply isn’t as clean. So I have to decide if cleanliness or price is more important to me. If I am running it in competition, it might be if I’m just going to hose bullets with an SMG, dirty is fine.

Then I might look at what other calibers I have that might be something I would load for. Another example is powders like unique, 231, bullseye, where you might find load data for just about everything. Makes it easy to try a load, if you already have a powder that will work on hand and data to go with it.

If using a progressive, I try my best to not use powders that don’t meter well in volume measures. So, I avoid things like extruded powders or big flakes, that don’t do as well as fine flake or ball powders. If that’s not a consideration then I have more choices.

Might consult multiple sources of information, so it helps deciding if all or most of them have similar data for a given combination vs picking one that only one source has data available.

If you are still stuck, flip a coin to see what one you are going to try first and start there.

Testing is the only way to know if one is going to work better for sure. To that end, you will need to try them all at some point or just be happy if your goals are met.