I do not have any .38 special cases. I do not really want to shoot lead or coated .38 Specials in my .357 mag chamber. So, I was thinking when crimping some loads today. What if I loaded the .38 Special loads in the .357 case and then seated the bullet 0.10 inches deeper? In other words to the .38 special OAL. I taper crimp these loads and the crimp would be on the little band in front of the crimp channel. HiTek coated semi wadcutters from Acme. Would these loads not both duplicate the .38 data and keep the chamber from fouling? I do not see a flaw to this approach. If anyone does I would love to hear it.
.38 Special load in .357 Mag case..
- Thread starter Bill M.
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GeoDudeFlorida
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Are you saying use .357Mag brass in a .38Spl revolver? I'm not sure how that will work...
C/L .357Mag = 1.29" vs. C/L .38Spl = 1.155"
If you're saying use .38Spl loading data with .357Mag brass for a .357Mag revolver, you don't need to change the seating depth. Seat to the crimp and use .357Mag data of equal pressure/velocity to .38Spl data.
I guess I'm not understanding the problem you're trying to solve?
C/L .357Mag = 1.29" vs. C/L .38Spl = 1.155"
If you're saying use .38Spl loading data with .357Mag brass for a .357Mag revolver, you don't need to change the seating depth. Seat to the crimp and use .357Mag data of equal pressure/velocity to .38Spl data.
I guess I'm not understanding the problem you're trying to solve?
westernrover
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If you use a powder charge suitable/listed/published for 38 Special, you can be pretty sure you won't get a squib load even if you load it in a 357 case. Using a slightly longer COAL by seating to the crimp groove will lower the pressure a little bit but not much. You can use Quickload to calculate the difference in pressure. Unless you're using data for really low pressure minimum 38 loads, it's going to work fine. I would not seat the bullets deeper in the case simply because the crimp groove is useful.
If you have Quickload, you can work out how many tenths of a grain of the powder you're using you need to reduce or increase to maintain the same pressure when seating the bullet so many 100th's of an inch deeper or farther out. The calculation is a theoretical estimate. If you don't have a pressure testing chamber, stay within published limits and use common sense. If I'm at a tenth of a grain under a max load, I'm not going to seat the bullet a quarter inch deeper than the spec. If I'm two or three tenths under max, nobody is going to die if I move the bullet a few hundredths one way or another from the published OAL.
If you have Quickload, you can work out how many tenths of a grain of the powder you're using you need to reduce or increase to maintain the same pressure when seating the bullet so many 100th's of an inch deeper or farther out. The calculation is a theoretical estimate. If you don't have a pressure testing chamber, stay within published limits and use common sense. If I'm at a tenth of a grain under a max load, I'm not going to seat the bullet a quarter inch deeper than the spec. If I'm two or three tenths under max, nobody is going to die if I move the bullet a few hundredths one way or another from the published OAL.
Zendude
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So, the idea is to use 38 load data (including 38 OAL data) with 357 mag brass? Also you are going to use a taper crimp rather than a roll crimp because it’s a coated bullet?
Basically you want to shoot 38 power level loads, but use 357 brass to avoid a crud ring. Makes sense. The only thing I can think of is to make sure you are not seating the bullet to where the bullet ogive is below the case mouth.
Basically you want to shoot 38 power level loads, but use 357 brass to avoid a crud ring. Makes sense. The only thing I can think of is to make sure you are not seating the bullet to where the bullet ogive is below the case mouth.
GeoDudeFlorida
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This! ^^^^^ Exactly!
Load in the 357 mag brass to normal length. Crimp where you would if it was a 357 load. Load at least midrange of the 38 load. I always load max 38 loads in 357 cases. There is no 357 that will have an issue handling any published 38 special load. If you want to get fancy chronograph the load and match it to the velocity you want. Don’t over think this!
Targa
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I like using .357 brass exclusively to eliminate any cylinder fouling that .38 brass might bring to the table but as mentioned a couple of times already I just use an appropriate charge from the .357 loading table of (in my case Universal) with my cast 148 grain wad cutters.
fxvr5
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Your plan would work fine.
.308 Norma
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I literally can't remember the last time I loaded a full-house .357 Magnum load, much less fired one. I almost always load .38 Special or .38 Special +P loads in .357 Magnum cases for my .357 Magnum revolvers, and I roll crimp into the crimp grooves or the cannalures on the bullets.
Like you, Bill M., I don't like dealing with the "crud rings" left in the .357 Magnum cylinder chamber when firing .38 Specials in it. And before anyone chimes in with a smart remark about cleaning your gun - yeah, yeah, I know. But those crud rings are a PITA to deal with when you're in the field, or at the range, and you want to switch from shooting .38 Special to .357 Magnums in your revolver.
I even built a tool for that. I epoxied a belled .357 case on the end of a dowel, and used it to scrape the crud rings out of my .357 Magnum cylinder holes when I wasn't at home. But then I decided that was just silly. I'm a handloader - I can easily put mild, .38 Special powder charges in .357 Magnum cases for my .357 Magnum revolvers. I'm just careful about going too mild.
Like you, Bill M., I don't like dealing with the "crud rings" left in the .357 Magnum cylinder chamber when firing .38 Specials in it. And before anyone chimes in with a smart remark about cleaning your gun - yeah, yeah, I know. But those crud rings are a PITA to deal with when you're in the field, or at the range, and you want to switch from shooting .38 Special to .357 Magnums in your revolver.
I even built a tool for that. I epoxied a belled .357 case on the end of a dowel, and used it to scrape the crud rings out of my .357 Magnum cylinder holes when I wasn't at home. But then I decided that was just silly. I'm a handloader - I can easily put mild, .38 Special powder charges in .357 Magnum cases for my .357 Magnum revolvers. I'm just careful about going too mild.
RealGun
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That is one of the hacks that never sounds like good reloading to me. What I have done quite successfully is find a common powder/bullet combination between 38 Special +p and 357 Magnum minimum and then split the difference, ending somewhat below the usual range for 357 Magnum. You can play with it a little up or down from there. This method is especially useful in small frame 357s that otherwise beg to be loaded with 38 Special.
Mr_Flintstone
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I’d just load your bullets as normal and use 38 special data. They might be about 50 FPS or so slower, but you probably won’t notice it. If you do, bump the data up .1 gr at a time until you like them. I call them .357 Specials.
Varminterror
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Add 10% to 38spcl load data, abracadabra, you have similar pressure charges for 357mag brass as the original 38spcl load data.
This is pretty much what I do too and it has worked greatly almost all instances
For a deeper seated billet like a full wadcutter i might add 12-14 percent because the relative Increase in volume (38 vs 357) is a little greater. This really only matters if you are playing down on the low low load range.
ArchAngelCD
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There are many reloaders who shoot .38 Special pressure ammo in a .357 Magnum case. It's done a lot.
A family member asked me cor that exact thing. They wanted a 158gr coated LSWC bullet in the magnum case at .38 Special pressures. In a Special.case I usually use 4.0gr W231 with that bullet. I charged The same 4.0gr W231 up to 4.5gr W231 if necessary for accuracy. Crimp the case into the supplied crimp groove. I don't know what powder you use but that's what I did.
A family member asked me cor that exact thing. They wanted a 158gr coated LSWC bullet in the magnum case at .38 Special pressures. In a Special.case I usually use 4.0gr W231 with that bullet. I charged The same 4.0gr W231 up to 4.5gr W231 if necessary for accuracy. Crimp the case into the supplied crimp groove. I don't know what powder you use but that's what I did.
I couldn't agree more. Works well with both my Vaquero and 73 carbine.
AJC1
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I do the same thing with TG for my neighbor. A minimum charge of a fast powder like ramshot competion, TG, or bullseye works fine. I've seen people work 38s down to 2.0 grains of unique. I would not do this in a carbine.
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