How many full power .357 mag loads do you shoot in your .357?

[Peter M. Eick]

For every 1 round of 38 special I put down the 357 Mags, I put a box of 50 mags down them.

If I wanted to shoot 38 special, I have several 38/44 Outdoorsman's to shoot or a herd of 38/44 Heavy Duties.

Why would I waste a perfectly good primer, bullet and 357 casing on a 38 load unless it was for a test.

Some of my 357 Mags have never been shot with a 38 special. Sorry, I just don't see the point of it.

 

[Jeff F]

My 4in gp100 has never fired a .38 other then the fired case that came in the little brown envelope when I bought it. It has had around 20 K of all types of factory and hot handloaded .357 thru it. Trigger has smoothed up real nice and is very accurate. My favorite factory load by far is B-B 180gr hard cast gas check, big boom and always dose its part if I do mine.

 

[Socrates]

Well, I fired one round of 357 in my 360PD. :banghead:

As you can see, I've replaced the stock grips, that caught my clothes, and were too small for my hands, with Hogue's plastic grips. I'm going to give the 357's another try, but, with the new grips.

First time I loaded this gun, I had just got done shooting the 475 FA Model 83 above it, with 400 grain HPS, at 1350 fps. That's 37 ft-lbs of recoil, at 27 fps, or, twice the average 44 magnum. I LOVE shooting that gun, and that load. Seems like easy to me, and, it's VERY accurate.

Next up, the snubbie, with the stock grips, and Corbons 125 grain, at 1450 fps.
I took ONE shot, put the gun back on the bench, unloaded and went back to 38 special. Recoil is 23 ftlbs, a bit more then most 44 magnums, but, it rips back at 44fps, and, after I bandaged my cut trigger finger, I did NOT want to do that again. The gun is manageable with Plus P loads. With the longer grip, my big hands maybe able to get a better grip. We'll see.

S
S

 

[Sam]

I shoot a lot of "full power 357's". Full power as in 1935 full power, 158s at 1500 full power, not the 38-44 High Speeds that the factories turn out nowdays. I only own big SAs and N Frame Smiths so all is OK. If I was a K frame shooter I'd shoot them shorts too. at least 200 per month.

Sam

 

[SWMAN]

I shoot factory and reloaded .357s in my .357s. .38s im my .38s. I hate having to clean out .38 residue from the .357 cylinders so I can extract the .357 casings after I shoot .357s.

 

[Hook686]

100% .357's ... maybe 200 per range trip (weekly).

 

[MCgunner]

Why would I waste a perfectly good primer, bullet and 357 casing on a 38 load unless it was for a test.

Don't know why YOU would, but I can tell you why I do. It's fun, it's accurate, and it's a great small game getter with .38s. I carry the gun for shooting animals, not humans, and .38 power levels are effective for small game. Stuff a .357 in it and it's a good medium game handgun. And, 2.6 grains of bullseye goes a heck of a lot farther than 14.5 grains of H2400, they're economical to reload and don't need no stinkin' gas check.

Besides, I'm impressed more by accuracy than fireball. My .357 loads are not inaccurate, under 2" at 25 yards from both guns and 140 grains Speers run a little over an inch, but out of that Taurus will put five .38 wadcutters into a little ragged 1" cluster every time from the sandbags. Amazing. I love shooting that thing with wadcutters.

I run a wire brush with hoppes through my cylinders after every range trip. I've never had a problem with .38 residue. Clean your gun occasionally and you won't either...

 

[Peter M. Eick]

But you miss my point. If I wanted to shoot a 38 special load I have 38 special guns. I could get out a 38/44 heavy duty or a 38/44 outdoorsman. I could even drag out the Diamondback or the Detective Special.

But, if I were going to shoot a 357 Mag round, then I would get out a 357 magnum. I could start with my Registered Magnum and work all the way down to the Highway Patrolman.

Again, I say why waste a 38 in a 357 magnum. Put the 38's in the 38/44's and put Mags in the 357 Magnums.

Maybe this would help:

These are just my smiths and even this picture is out of date. Only one of those is not a pre-numbered N frame 38/44 or 357 Magnum (pre-25 in the 6 o'clock position). This does not include the colts or non-N frames.

Thus my statement now paraphrased, why waste a 38 in a 357 magnum, put it in a 38 where it belongs.

 

[revolverman357]

I only shoot .357 out of my .357's. I shoot heavy loads (14.5gr A2400, 158gr SWC) out of my Ruger Gp100 6" at 25 yards and out. I sort of baby my Smith Mod 28 with medium loads at distances of 25 yards and under. My Ruger shoots more accurately than the Smith in my hands, and If I blow one up I'd rather buy another sensibly priced Ruger.

 

[YodaVader]

One of the great attributes of the 357 is the versatility of being able to shoot two different cartridges and loads with a wide range of power levels.

At the indoor range I would much rather shoot 38 Specials. Outdoors, I almost always shoot 357 mags. One of my newer 357s has never had a 38 Special round fired through it yet!

 

[DWARREN123]

About 75% of 100 rounds per week. I have Rugers in GP-100 and SP-101 and they all eat the full house loads.