.357 Magnum load with 6.5 grn. of Power Pistol ??

[CPLofMARINES]

I started reloading July of 2014; started with .44 Spl then .44 Magnum;
now I am starting to work up some .357 Magnum loads. My question is:
How about 6.5 grn. of Power Pistol in a .357 Mag casing with a 158 grn.
JHP ? I actually want a "Hot" .38 Spl +p load and realize its limitations
with such bullet and .38 Spl casing; that's why I would use a .357 Mag
casing. No such load is listed in any of my four loading manuals. What
do you folks think ?? Thank you in advance.

Semper Fi !

 

[Sunray]

6.5 of Power Pistol is below minimum for a jacketed 158 in .357 Mag. It's a half grain over max for a cast 158 in a .38 +P. No jacketed 158 +P data for who knows why on Alliant's site. Might be a good idea to contact 'em and ask, but I kind of suspect it'd be ok. http://www.alliantpowder.com/questions/default.aspx
Regular non +P jacketed 158's with PP run 4.3 to 6.0 on Steve's Reloading Data Pages. That data is copied from the assorted manufacturers.
There's one 160 grain(2 grains won't matter) jacketed +P load on Handloads.com that's way under 6.0. 4.4 to 4.9. Not convinced it's exactly reliable though. Anyway, it seems 6.0 is max for PP and +P loads.
The .38 Special case has nothing to do with it though. The '+P' stamp is only there so the factory doesn't mix the loads. The case itself is exactly the same as any other .38 case.

 

[CPLofMARINES]

Yes, I understand that a +p stamp doesn't matter. I know the
6.5 grn. of PP with a 158 JHP is way over max. for .38 Spl,
that's why I would use a .357 Mag casing.

 

[Reloadron]

Actually the Hornady 9th shows 38 Special load for a 158 grain FP XTP and HP XTP (Both jacketed 158 grain bullets). Power Pistol Start: 4.4 grains and Maximum: 6.0 grains with the Maximum of 6.0 grains showing as a +P load. Considering the 6.0 grains is a Maximum for the 158 grain JHP I am not sure I would load 6.5 grains of power pistol even with the slightly increased case volume of the .357 Magnum brass. Given a choice I would work up to the 38 Special +P load of 6.0 grains in a 38 Special case. There is no structural difference in strength between a 38 Special case and a 357 Magnum case, the latter just being a longer case. The Lyman 49th using Power Pistol does not even come close with a 158 grain JHP they reflect 4.3 grains to a maximum of 4.8 grains.

Alliant has .357 Magnum load data for their Power Pistol. The data includes a 158 Grain JHP with a suggested COL of 1.575" and a Maximum Load of 8.5 grains so that gives you a new maximum.

Semper Fi
Ron

 

[Haxby]

Speer #13 shows 7.5 gr power pistol with a 158 for 963 fps in a 6" 357. That would be a hot 38+P load.

 

[Dudedog]

Alliant lists 8.5gr PP (MAX) with a 158 GDHP in .357. I haven't used PP for this but when I am after a mild .357 load (but hotter than .38) I use the .38 +P load as a starting point in .357 cases.
A very big in general but in usually to get the same vel out of a .357 case vs .38 case takes about 1gr more powder, depends on the powder of course----again a very big in general.
So I don't think there would be any issues with your load but I haven't loaded it so I can't say for sure.
Lyman lists 5.3 PP MAX with a 158 jacketed as a .38 +P load. (.38 case) @ 814fps Alliant lists their load of 8.5 PP(MAX) @ 1078 fps (different bullets)