A new-to-me adventure coming soon - Reloading for a revolver.

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Skgreen

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My 'bells recently got jingled', and it appears I will soon be in possession of a shiny new 6" stainless GP-100 in .357,,, =)

I've reloaded for rifle and S/A pistols for a ~couple years~ now, but never for a revolver.

Where to start,,,,

I kinda felt this 'revolver thing' coming on for a while, and I've scavenged about (150) 38 Special cases (of dubious distinction) from the local range thus far,,, (I think I'm up to 5, maybe 6 .357 cases!! LOL!!).

While 150 cases may seen like 'plenty enough for now' to some folks, current 'cases on hand' for my other calibers are sitting right around 3k-6k per caliber. (And growing!)

After a brief amount of exposure to a ~similar~ 357 recently, "full-house" 357 loads do not have a strong attraction. "Something resembling 38 Special loads' would be more to my liking, as I'm just punching paper for fun.

With all that being said,,,,, I'm contemplating getting more brass for the GP, so:

Buy 500 - 1000 'factory loaded, but not uber expensive' 357 rounds, fire away, reuse the brass,,, (Perhaps Priv Partisan, or ????)
Buy 500 - 1000 '357 range brass',,,
Buy 500 - 1000 new Starline in 357,
or, perhaps one of the above, but in 38 Special.

Not really sure there is any 'universally accepted', or even a 'wrong' answer to the above, and the budget is pretty much 'able to accommodate', but, I still gotta start somewhere I reckon,,,.

(I have some powders that could work / get me going. Plenty of SP standard primers. NO BULLETS or dies yet.)

Thoughts???
 
I would consider buying some factory loaded ammo and once fired brass.

  • I have dealt with Ammoman - good people.
  • Once fire - Diamond is just an example - there are others....
  • Starline is very good new brass
  • I like BetterBullets / PC Bullets for lead. The people who work there and the product are great. Make sure you buy in “if it fits” quantities to minimize your freight costs

https://www.ammoman.com/38-special

http://www.diamondkbrass.com/Once-Fired-Pistol-Brass-DKB.html?page=5

https://www.starlinebrass.com/brass-cases/38-Special-Brass/

http://www.kingshooters.com/bullets-pc-bullets/8-357-3014
 
I shoot a Rossi snub nose in .357. I just reload plain ol' .38 Special cases with plated bullets and a mid-range charge of HP-38. When it's in my carry rotation it gets fed store bought hollow points in 38+P, not reloads.

I keep on the shelf a few hundred loaded rounds of .38 Special which is enough for a couple range trips. I typically shoot a few of my handguns during a range session. I don't recall ever buying any .38 new brass, just a few boxes of factory practice ammo and some judicious range scrounging takes care of my meager needs.

At 70, over the many decades I've been shooting handguns (5 and counting) I've accepted that for ME shooting more than about 100 rounds per gun at one session is counter-productive to improving my skill with it and more just burning up ammo. I have no interest in competition shooting and the serious time/money/ammo commitment that demands.
 
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.357 Mag is my favorite caliber to reload.
It's the most expensive of your choices, but I would get the Starline Brass. It's usually around $17 per 100. Starline .357 brass is just awesome. I'm on my 6th or 7th reload and it's still in awesome shape, I think it will go 15 reloads.

I sometimes go the "Full-house" route with my .357 using 300-MP, but most often medium or medium heavy loads with either Unique or Herco are very accurate.
I loaded a lot of 125 grain bullets in the past, but I got some good advice on this board and now I load only 158 grain jacketed or lead SWC. The .358 lead bullets are my most accurate load. I load them to what I'd estimate is a bit heavier than 38 +P, but the recoil isn't bad. Your new GP100 6" with, I'm assuming a full lug barrel, would handle the recoil even better.

My biggest problem with my .357 is that I like to load so many different loads and they all have a slightly different vertical point-of-impact, I have to shoot a couple to remind myself where they hit. Maybe I should write it down.:)
I would love to get another .357 revolver, and your new gun is without a doubt the one I'd get. Fun times ahead for you!!
 
lets see-----If you want to avoid the carbon rings in the cylinders use 357 brass and load down to 38 SPL loads. Or you could load some full house loads if you wanted as well. If you get regular brass not plated it will last a long long long time. I have some that the headstamp is peened off of that is IIRC around 25 years old. One of the easiest rounds to load for that will give good results using most handgun propellants listed for it. There are many bullets to choose from in the jacketed/plated/lead/coated lead types that will work in that ammo. I recommend starting off with jacketed bullets as those are the easiest to get to shoot well at first. Oh yeah have fun!:thumbup:
 
I download .357 brass but many people just use .38 Spl brass loaded to .38 Spl pressures. No wrong way here. Some say they get carbon rings and need to clean them out once in a while, which makes sense that there would be some buildup after many rounds. A bore brush in a drill and chambers are clean in a jiffy either way.

I trim all my revolver brass because I want consistent crimps, not that I can shoot the difference, I just like consistent crimps.

If you load a plated bullet at .38 pressures, light to full, you can use a taper crimp and the case length won't be critical. Same for coated or lead, but they have a crimp groove so I would use a light roll crimp with them, but then I trim. No reason you cannot taper crimp them as well.

I like the Berrys 148 Gr HBWC or the X-Treme 158 Gr SWC for .38 Spl or downloaded .357 Mag. With a light taper crimp of course.

The coated bullets are also a good choice though, and cheaper.
 
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Once in a while there are deals or rebates that make it worth buying loaded 357 ammo instead of brass.
I like to have nickel plated for 357 and plain brass 38's.
 
I had only loaded 9mm before getting my .357 this year. I used to always comment in the "is it worth loading 9mm?" threads that yes it is because I could load for 1/2 the cost of factory. But I'm finding that I enjoy loading .357 so much more that I'm thinking of just buying factory 9mm in bulk so I can spend more time loading .357
 
I have a bag of random 38 special range brass I bought online years ago that I have reloaded through a few times, probably 5 or 6. My 357 brass is all starline. I have a few hundred of them and I've loaded them about the same number of times. If all your loading is 38 special level loads the brass will last almost forever, and you'll soon find the beautiful thing about reloading for a revolver is that the brass falls out into your palm so you hardly ever loose any of it. A 1000 rounds of 38 special brass ought to last the average guy a good long while. I load my 38's in 38's and my 357's in 357's, but that's just me, either way works.
 
FROGO207 said:
lets see-----If you want to avoid the carbon rings in the cylinders use 357 brass and load down to 38 SPL loads.
Click to expand...
^^^^
This is a big deal! (At least to me)
You can load it to whatever power you want and avoid the extra cleaning issues.
 
I am in the same boat as the OP, and am starting to ramp up to load .38 spl, no real desire to load to .357 levels.

I have been collecting .38 spl brass, but sound like it might be better to use .357 brass loaded to .38 levels. Ugh.

And then there is the brass trimming comment from @Walkalong . Gee thanks... just what I need, more work! :(
 
I have the same GP100 - great revolver.

Getting older I only shoot bunny fart loads in 38 - I bought 500 Starline and use coated lead bullets (Bayou 158 SWC). Haven't bought any more cases in over 5 years now.
 
tightgroup tiger said:
The cheapest way would be to buy 500 .357mag brass and load them down to .38 spl level if you feel you want something lighter.
Click to expand...
Yes, and there is also some middle ground, where you will find the same powder referenced for 38 +p as well as 357 Magnum minimum, same bullet. You can extrapolate to load to somewhere in the gap between using .357 Magnum brass. This is especially useful for smaller guns shooting above 38 Special performance but not so punishing for lack of mass to absorb recoil.
 
Skgreen said:
My 'bells recently got jingled', and it appears I will soon be in possession of a shiny new 6" stainless GP-100 in .357,,, =)

I've reloaded for rifle and S/A pistols for a ~couple years~ now, but never for a revolver.

Where to start,,,,

I kinda felt this 'revolver thing' coming on for a while, and I've scavenged about (150) 38 Special cases (of dubious distinction) from the local range thus far,,, (I think I'm up to 5, maybe 6 .357 cases!! LOL!!).

While 150 cases may seen like 'plenty enough for now' to some folks, current 'cases on hand' for my other calibers are sitting right around 3k-6k per caliber. (And growing!)

After a brief amount of exposure to a ~similar~ 357 recently, "full-house" 357 loads do not have a strong attraction. "Something resembling 38 Special loads' would be more to my liking, as I'm just punching paper for fun.

With all that being said,,,,, I'm contemplating getting more brass for the GP, so:

Buy 500 - 1000 'factory loaded, but not uber expensive' 357 rounds, fire away, reuse the brass,,, (Perhaps Priv Partisan, or ????)
Buy 500 - 1000 '357 range brass',,,
Buy 500 - 1000 new Starline in 357,
or, perhaps one of the above, but in 38 Special.

Not really sure there is any 'universally accepted', or even a 'wrong' answer to the above, and the budget is pretty much 'able to accommodate', but, I still gotta start somewhere I reckon,,,.

(I have some powders that could work / get me going. Plenty of SP standard primers. NO BULLETS or dies yet.)

Thoughts???
Click to expand...
One thing you will learn loading for revolvers is that COL data doesn't mean much, since you will be seating to a crimp groove, maybe tweaking within that narrow range for bullets that are a bit long and not fully chambering otherwise. You might also be trimming brass to make the length work with a fixed crimp location.
 
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someguy2800 said:
I've never found that to be a problem <ring caused by.38sp in .357 cylinder>. I switch back and forth all the time and never scrub the cylinders. Perhaps a bigger deal with cast bullets?
Click to expand...

I'm the same. Fire lots of .38spl (all plated rounds) and never have had a problem when I wanted to go to .357.
 
I load all .38spl level loads in .38spl brass and only use the .357mag brass for full power .357mag loads.

When I pick up a .357mag round I know, without looking at the label, it's a beast. And I also know when I pickup one of my .38spl rounds it's going to be, well just that, safe for .38spl.
 
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For 357mag, but not full magnum velocities, I like BE86 powder. Several of the non-magnum powders I tried had bad powder-forward results, some as much as 300fps difference. BE86 was one of the most consistent. While it does not give magnum velocity, at max charge it is about 150fps less which is still a good load. In the heavy GP100 it does not feel harsh at all.
 
When I had my Model19 I was loading 357 with both LSWC and LWC with basically starting loads of old Hercules Bullseye. The Speer and Hornady lead was cheap back then.
 
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