bowling pins

[pahuff1]

Anyone with bowling pin shooting experience using a 230 grain lead bullet in a 38/357??? Wondering what kinds of powder/loads to use. 230 grs is a pretty heavy chunk of lead for this caliber of revolver.

Michael

 

[deadeyedog270]

wish i could use my 357 for them pins i miss, lol

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

A bullet that heavy in that caliber would necessarily have to be very long. If you seat it deeply enough to even fit in the cylinder, you would have little room left for your powder, I would think.

 

[ACP230]

Jerry Miculek used to shoot loads like that in a long-barreled Model 27 at the Second Chance Bowling Pin Shoot.
I believe he loaded them in .38 Special cases so he'd have room for the long bullet.

I have no info on the load/powder he used.

 

[Manco]

A bullet that heavy in that caliber would necessarily have to be very long. If you seat it deeply enough to even fit in the cylinder, you would have little room left for your powder, I would think.

Roughly speaking, a 230 grain bullet would take up about half the overall length (OAL) of the cartridge, leaving room for enough powder to make for a reasonable load, although probably not one with any more momentum or higher power factor than, say, a 200 grain bullet would have. It should perform somewhat better than a .45 ACP round at knocking down bowling pins, for comparison, but not by a large margin unless the barrel is at least 6" long.

Jerry Miculek used to shoot loads like that in a long-barreled Model 27 at the Second Chance Bowling Pin Shoot.
I believe he loaded them in .38 Special cases so he'd have room for the long bullet.

Uh...aren't .357 Magnum cases longer than .38 Special cases?