38 special and 357 magnum powder

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Not trying to hijack the thread - just hoping to expand on it.

I'm a little surprised that no-one mentioned IMR-4227. I have seen the manuals recommend this as an accurate load but I never had any real success with it. By not seeing any other posts about it, was that everyone else's findings?

I have been using 2400 in .357 and .44mag for several years. I like its performance but I do have problems with unburned powder clogging up the extractors on my S&Ws. I use standard Winchester Small Pistol primers and am considering trying something like CCI 550 magnum pistol primers to see if that helps. Do any of the other powders mentioned here (like H-110) burn better than 2400?
 
38 Special & 357 Mag powder

Grump, I have always used 158 grain bullets, jacketed or lead. Jacketed bullets have produced very good 25 yard groups . I use Herco in 40 and 32 H&R Mag. I worked up my own data. I have a Ruger Single Six in 32 and from a rest at 25 yards, I had 5 in one hole and the 6th just out side using Hornady 85 gr XTP. Herco is my all around powder.
 
Powders for .38 and .357 magnum

Folks, as I mentioned earlier, I have ~1000 primed and readied .357 Magnum cases ready to load with 158 grain lead SWC bullets, and have a good quantity of Unique powder, but my problem is that Unique meters so poorly, and I don't look forward to weighing each charge! It may be worth my time to bite the bullet and buy a pound of a powder that meters better rather than spend a month of Sundays measuring out each charge of Unique.
So, what powders have you found that meter well and would be suitable for the .357 Magnum? I'm not looking for flaming meteors, but rather, a medium to soft load, perhaps something ~11-1200 FPS, something suitable for the 158 grain Lead SWC bullets, or perhaps for some 125 grain round nose bullets. These would be for target or plinking. I have some barn burners that I have loaded using H110 and Hornady XTP bullets for hunting. I'm looking for something to plink and shoot at paper with.

Thanks in advance for all your help!:confused:
 
Once you hit the 3gr mark and above, Bullseye has metered well for me. I've also had little problem with 2400. The only times I've used Unique through a powder measure, it worked fine for me.

When I used Bulleye for 357mag loads and a 158gr bullet, I used somewhere around 6grs. It's not a barn burner, but it's hotter than a 38+P. I used about 13-14gr of 2400 for the same bullet. Either worked well as a range plinker.

Chris
 
Tite Group burned fairly dirty and blackened the cases quite a bit.
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Navajo...

I use Titegroup a lot - a lot. One thing I've learned about it and you can see this if you check the Hodgon site is that in general (there are exceptions) a TG load runs at a lower pressure than any of the other suggested Hodgon powders. This is especially true for 45LC and at least 2 of the 38 spl and 357 Mag loads.

Lower pressures can mean that the brass case doesn't expand enough to fully seal a cylinder chamber. IMO this is probably what is causing the case blackening you are experiencing.
 
Just to be a little different, my favorite 38sp load is a 148gr WC powered with IMR 800-X. More accurate in my snubbies than it has a right to be. Not quite as accurate with a 158grSWC, but still very useable.

For the 357, I have a load of H110 that will shoot right at an inch at 100yrds with my contender, but I've also worked up a few loads with 2400 that were pretty close.
 
After testing several brand name drum type powder measures, I found the Dillion bar type powder measure to be much more consistent with Unique, Bullseye, Bluedot, Greendot and Titegroup than any of the others. I tested charges in the 3gr to 8gr range.
 
I'm new to reloading, and I only load .38 / .357's, and the only powder I've used so far is Bullseye. I loaded my .38's with 3.6Grs. with a 158Gr. LSWC, and the .357's with 6.5Grs. with the same bullet.
I've found that the Bullseye burns a lot cleaner than any of the factory ammo I was using, and the .38 loads are far more accurate. I'm extremely happy with this combination.
The .357's were somewhat of a surprise, using Bullseye I thought they would be whimpy, but they had plenty of power & velocity. The accuracy wasn't as good as with the .38's as they tended to go just a little high and right, but overall it's not a bad combination.
I use the Lee powder measure, and all of my powder dumps have been very consistent with Bullseye.

I do plan to get a bottle of 2400 to try in my .357 loads as I understand this slower burning powder with offer better accuray behind the 158Gr. SWC's I'm casting and using, but for now I couldn't be happier with the Bullseye.
 
I just picked up some Rainier 125gr copper plated flat points to try with my Ruger GP100. Like others, I'm having some difficulty with Unique metering consistently. I'm using 5.7gr from the Rainier load data sheet but checking about half the metered loads, they seem to run anywhere from 5.6 to 5.9. These amounts are probably workable but not what I would think to be consistent for target use.

I have some W231 but I haven't been able to find a load for the Rainier 125gr plated bullets in .357 mag. Anyone have a suggestion?? I'm using CCI500 primers for the .357/Unique load.

Would also like to find a .38 special load to try for these same bullets. I usually buy .38 spl 148gr TMJ reloads from Miwall for $58 for a can of 500 so it may not be worth the time and effort to re-set my dies and load those again.
 
I am in the same boat. I purchased some ranier bullets and all they have on there load data is for 357 mag not 38 special. I have a one book one caliber book but it doesn't list Ranier.
 
Jacketed bullets do produce more pressure than lead bullets.

But a copper plated bullet (electro wash plating) is not the same as a jacketed bullet. The plating isn't nearly as thick or as hard as a standard jacket.

Any jump in pressure caused by the plating is going to be minimal.
 
Jacketed bullets do produce more pressure than lead bullets.
Click to expand...

NOT always so, according to Winchester. They are one of the few to print pressure data with their reloading charts. Lead bullets listed in their reloader's guide frequently call for less powder than the same weight in jacketed, at roughly the same top velocity, and the same or more pressure than for jacketed.

This is not *always* the case. Check your data. Theories about powder makers posting lower charge weights for lead bullets, in the interest of avoiding excessive leading, are sometimes not worth the paper they are printed on.
 
Grump,

You're right, sometimes lead loads produce more pressure, sometimes the same pressure, sometimes less pressure than jacketed loads.

Lyman also prints some pressure data with their lead loads, and all three are true, but what seems to be most true is that lead loads produce less pressure.

Lots of theories as to why, most revolve around the fact that lead obturates to the bore more completely and faster.

What I would be interested in seeing, though, and which no one to the best of my knowledge really offers, are pressure over time curves for lead vs. jacketed.

I'm still going to work with the rule of thumb that lead produces less pressure than jacketed bullets.
 
Pretty much on your page there Mike ... only exception might be with very oversize lead bullets ... in autos ... where no benefit of being ''sized'' by a revo chamber throat. Then pressures could possibly go high in excess of jackets.
 
Stans,

I think Unique is indeed the master of the mid-range load, in .357 mag, .45 ACP and AR, .44 spec. and .44 mag.

Matt Dillon,

Re metering problems with Unique. Do you have the small or large rotor installed? You should be using the small rotor.

Are you running the rotor arm "smartly" up and down through a full stroke so that you get a distinct "clack" at the end of each stroke? This serves to settle the powder and make for a much more uniform throw. Hope this helps.
 
I only have one rotor for this old Redding powder measure. It is so old, that the box in which I received it had an address on it without a zip code. I do "rap" the handle at the top and bottom of each stroke consistently so that the consistent vibration hopefully leads to the hopper emptying fully. Thanks for your reply, and we're open for any suggestions.
By the way, do you have any load recommendations using Unique in a .357 mag with 158 grain lead semi wad cutter bullets? I have ~1000 cases primed with Magnum primers and with your encouragement, I may try again this weekend to load 50 or so rounds, then weigh ~20 of them to see how consistent the load is.
Thanks again, Richard
 
My outdated Speer # 11 shows 5.5-6.0 grs. Unique for 970-1034 fps with the 158 SWC. Start with the lowest load and you should be fine. I don't think the magnum primers will make much difference. The Speer #11 shows both normal and magnum primers being used.
 
Does anyone here consider =/- 0.2 grains with Unique in pistol charges to be excessive? My chono tests have shown that much variation (0.4 gr total spread) is not a problem--the fastest loads are not always the heaviest charges, and vice-versa.

Like I said, if it shoots good, who cares about 0.05-gr charge weight repeatability? I get just as much velocity range with ball powders as I do with Unique.
 
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