Load suggestions ?

[IWAC]

I'm looking for a load for my 4" 357 Magnum revolver.

I have the 150-160gr. loads covered, but I also have a supply of Remington 125gr. Golden Saber and Speer 135 gr Gold Dot bullets.

Ialso have some Speer short barrel 135gr 38 +P loads put by, and want to find a load using my store of 125gr. Berry's non-expanding hollow point bullets for practice, that will closely approximate the fps and recoil of the Speer Gold Dot cartridges or slightly better...maybe 950-1,000fps.

I will be using 357 brass, standard primers, and either Unique or 2400...but, I do have a can of Universal left from somewhere, which should also do for practice.

Any recommendations?
Thanx.

 

[Crashbox]

For a 125 JHP, Lyman's 49th gives a starting load of 7.0 grains of Unique for 990 FPS from a 4" barrel. No data given for 135-grainers but a 140 JHP shows a starting load of 7.0 grains of Unique for 949 FPS and 12.5 grains of 2400 for 1047 FPS.

OF course, your mileage may vary.

All for .357 Magnum.

 

[ljnowell]

I used to load a Montana Gold 125gr JHP over 16.5gr of 2400 with standard primer. Plenty of thump, very accurate, burned clean.

 

[gamestalker]

My go to has always been H110 / 296 for JHP .357.. With 38 special I use Longshot. So I guess I'm not much help considering the powders your using.

GS

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I did some extensive work replicating both Speer Short Barrel loads and I got very close I think.

I used a 140gr Hornady XTP bullet because the Speer 135gr bullets were just to expensive to work with. I consulted with one of the reps at Speer and I came up with this:

Using Speer .38 Special +P brass, those 140gr XTP bullets and CCI-500 primers I used a charge of 6.8gr AA#5 and that load delivered an AV of 835 fps from a 2" barrel.

Using Winchester .357 Magnum brass, that 140gr XTP bullet and a CCI-500 primer I used a charge of 8.8gr Power Pistol and that load delivered an AV of 1187 fps from a 4" barrel. At the time I didn't have a short barrel .357 Magnum revolver so I only have 4" barrel data but I'm sure you will get that 1000 fps you're looking for from a 2" barrel.

IMO more important than the velocities is the recoil in a replica load. You want the felt recoil and the type of recoil to be similar so it's real practice for the original. Both loads with those powders feel very similar to the originals... I feel it's the powders I used that deliver similar felt recoil.

 

[USSR]

IMO more important than the velocities is the recoil in a replica load. You want the felt recoil and the type of recoil to be similar so it's real practice for the original.

Agree with AACD on this. I save the chrony work for rifles.

Don

 

[James2]

From Hornady 7th edition: 125 gr jacketed bullet, powder 2400 start 13.9 max 16.9. Start low, work up.

That source did not list Unique with that weight bullet.

Same source: 140 gr cast FP bullet, Unique powder 3.7 to 5.2 max.
I am thinking something along these lines would be OK for your bullet with Unique. Start low, work up.

I loaded some 158 Gr Berry's bullets with 4.5 gr Unique. Just a suggestion.

 

[87hurricane]

My go to 125g JHP load is 15g 2400 with a magnum primer. Developed the load in a 4" Ruger, found it shot very well from my 4" S&W Mod 66 and my brothers 6" Trooper as well.

 

[Steve C]

....but I also have a supply of Remington 125gr. Golden Saber and Speer 135 gr Gold Dot bullets.

In the .38 spl a load of 6.0 grs of Unique behind a 125gr Golden saber, Fiocchi case and WSP primer chrono'd at 1,053 fps from my 4" S&W 66. A little faster than factory loads. You can reduce a few 1/10ths to mach factory with any 125gr jacketed bullet.

If you will duplicate factory ammo velocities you should have a good effective round without over speeding the bullet that can cause poorer results than using the velocities the bullet was designed for. Both the Remington Golden Saber for .38 and the Speer Short Barrel 135gr bullets are designed to operate at relatively low velocities for the respective cartridge with their large HP mouth. The Speer data for the 135gr in .357 mag is attached.

Note that their are 2 different Golden Saber 125 gr bullets, one is for the .38 spl and the other is for the .357 mag. If you have the .38 spl bullets with the larger hollow in the nose stick to lower velocities close to .38 spl in the .357 mag. With .357 GS 125's the goal should be to get a close match to the factory 1,220 fps muzzle velocity. 7.6grs of Unique should do the trick.

I would stick with Unique or Universal for a load using either of the two bullets in both .38 and .357 mag. 2400 will give you higher velocities than the bullets need with more muzzle flash and blast when shooting.