38-357 accuracy

[Claude Clay]

i have to play with a Colt Trooper MK lll target model 6" barrel. 3 lb SA trigger & cleaned up nicely after 2 decades of storage.
i desire to work up an accurate load for 25 yards with 158 gr LSWC and various measures of Bullseye powder. i also will play with 130gr LRFP.
my question is--will accuracy suffer with the longer bullet jump from the 38 SPC case? would use of the longer 357 cases be beneficial? subtle differences between barrels will make for preferences but anyone care to share formulas that works for them? thank you.

 

[BP44]

I am in no way an expert but.......

In my experience the accuracy is the same although it may be due to lack of recoil in the powder puff loads .38 compaired to a snap of a .357 . anyway I shoot them both about the same off the bags. Now out past 25yds I have no clue because i havent really shot that far that often

 

[bja5006]

you may get better advice in the reloading forum.

 

[CU74]

you may get better advice in the reloading forum.

Since you are working up loads and asking for formulas that work, that may be good advice.

With factory ammo, I have seen no discernable difference in accuracy between the .38 Special and the .357 Mag from a variety of Colts, Smiths and Rugers. I HAVE seen a difference in point of impact, but that would be expected.

Full disclosure - I am NOT an expert shooter.

 

[RyanM]

Accuracy's the same, but you will lose a few fps of velocity (10-20, I think) firing .38s in a .357 chamber. You also get crud rings in the chambers if you shoot a lot of .38s. Using .357 cases solves both problems, but you need to increase powder charge by a tenth of a grain or two to get the same velocity.

 

[loneviking]

At 25 yards you're not going to notice a difference in accuracy. Beyond that point, yes the bullets from the 38's will drop quicker than those out of the .357 because of the smaller powder charge. Even then, I've had good accuracy out to 100 yards with 158 gr. jacketed wadcutters out of a 6" Colt Peacekeeper using the .38 spcl. cases.

Remember, if you're using soft lead, you gotta load light to keep leading to a minimum. Those light loads are not going to shoot as far as you could with, say, a jacketed round nose or semi-jacketed wadcutter. But at 25 yards with Bullseye as a powder, the soft wadcutters will show good accuracy with Bullseye and have mild recoil. Have fun and I think you're going to enjoy shooting that Trooper!

 

[chriske]

Accuracy-wise you should'nt be able to notice any difference, in my experience at least.
Point of aim/point of impact relation may vary due to velocity variation, though.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I have read that the longer jump using the spl case in a mag revolver well effect accuracy, but have not seen it in actual use. My target shooting is hardly a controlled scientific experiment. The only draw back I have encountered is a build up of lead and crud on the lip of the cylinder when use spl cases in a mag revolver making it difficult to chamber mag cases after a hundred or so rounds of spl.

 

[williamthedog]

to remove any carbon ring you may have from shooting .38 spl through it.
chuck an old shotgun brush in a drill
put some cleaning fluid on it and run it through the cylinders for maybe 20 seconds.
you dont need high RPM's

 

[Lovesbeer99]

I shoot 38spl 148 BBWC with unique and 231 with great success. I also like 110gr sjhp with unique loaded to .357 mag, but nothing with bulleseye.

Keep trying, and shoot safe.

 

[C-grunt]

Why not use the 357 cases and just load to 38 specs?

 

[tipoc]

There is no discernible loss in accuracy. If you fire .38 and then .357 just run a brush through the cylinder a few times before switching over to the longer round. Folks have been doing this for 7 decades with no problems.

tipoc

 

[Orange_Magnum]

My .357s land an inch up and an inch to the left, compared to .38s, at 15 yards.

 

[.38 Special]

The true answer is "It depends". Most guns don't care. A few do. The only way to know for sure is to try it in yours.

 

[CSA 357]

In your gun, i cant say,you will get good to poor results from gun to gun, try it and see , also let us know how it turns out

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Been there, tried that. Had two guns that didn't care. One that seemed to care a little. I actually did some ransom rest testing. The one that cared the most, also had the most cylinder/forcing cone gap. I worked up magnum and special loads to find the most accurate. That's what I suggest to you. For good target rounds, my target LSWC bullets were very hard.

-Steve

 

[tipoc]

My .357s land an inch up and an inch to the left, compared to .38s, at 15 yards.

Shooting different weight loads and different types ammo in the gun will make more of a difference than if the ammo is .38 or .357. For example a gun may be very accurate with one load of .38 Spl. and only so-so with another. The same with .357. You'll find it varies more from one gun to another than from .38 to .357. This is one reason they make adjustable sights.

tipoc

 

[easyrider604]

My 686s and GP100 are accurate with both .38spl and .357 magnums, meaning they shoot both 38 and 357 into 3" to 4" 6-shot groups at 25 yds, with my 158 grain LSWC reloads. That's me shooting on sandbag rests.

Now some guys may say that they can do 1.5 or 2 inches at the same distance, which I believe too.

The difference between .38 and .357 is in the Point of Impact, which in my case is about 2 inches higher at 25 yds. with .357s.