Getting into .357mag & .38

[CMV]

Don't have any wheel guns & never loaded for them. Ready to get a .357 Magnum revolver & will need to feed it.

I have lots of .357 & .38 brass people have given me over the years. Otherwise I'd like to use as much stuff as I already have.

1. Will need dies. Same set for both or are they separate?

2. I have the Lee carbide sets that come with the FCD for all my other pistol calibers (9mm, .380, .357SIG, .40, .45ACP). Any reason to not get the same for this?

3. I use Win231 for all my pistol loading now. Same for .357 & .38? I also use H335, H110, & A1680 for .223 & .300BLK if any of those would be better choices. I'd like to avoid another flavor of powder if possible unless there's a tremendous difference with something else.

4. Do I need magnum pistol primers or will regular work ok? I use & stock CCI #41, #300, & #500

5. Currently I don't trim any pistol brass. Same for these or is there a need?

6. Can I use my current 9mm or .357SIG bullets or do I need something different? Montana Gold 115gr CMJ for 9mm & MG 125gr FMJ for .357SIG. Both mic .3555. I'd guess my RMR pull 95gr FMJ I use for .380 (also .3555) are way too small.

7. Anything unusual or different I should be aware of loading for a revolver vs autoloader or rifle? I think most people shoot lead in these calibers. Is there a reason to go with lead vs jacketed?

8. Is there a reason to load .38 at all? Should I mess with both? I think most people shoot .38 in their .357's because factory ammo is cheaper. I doubt there's be a whole lot of difference in price per round loading the two. Would just loading a mild .357 in effect be the same thing as using .38?

I'll be loading for general range use/plinking. I'd like something fairly inexpensive but accurate. Not hunting or using it for CCW/HD so I don't care about penetration, expansion, etc. Won't be trying to wring every last possible FPS out of it. Haven't bought the gun yet but will probably end up with something like a GP100 or 686 with at least a 4" barrel - not a single action cowboy gun.

 

[cfullgraf]

Generally, the same die set will resize and load both 357 Magnum and 38 Special. The neck expander and seating dies will require re-setting when going between the two cartridges. The dies that will do both will be labeled as such. RCBS dies come with a spacer ring so that the dies do not have to be adjusted. I am not sure if anyone else's 38 Spl/357Mag dies do.

A carbide sizer die is what you want. Except for used, I doubt anyone makes steel 38Spl/357 Mag dies any more.

It is best to use bullets designed for 357 Magnum or 38 Special. Depending how your barrel slugs, bullets designed for 9mm may provide good results.

W231 will work for mild to mid range loads. W296, H110, Aliant 2400, IMR 4227, or Lil Gun would be good powders for max 357 Magnum loads. Check your reloading data manuals. Other powders work well as well.

Lots of folks with 357 Magnum revolvers shoot only 357 Magnum cases. Others shoot both but be aware that a carbon ring can build up ahead of the 38 Special cases that may make clambering a 357 Magnum case difficult. Just clean the ring out of the chambers and all will be well again.

Hope this helps.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Yes you can use the same Lee 38/357 dies as long as you don't buy the dedicated .357 Magnum dies they sell. I use the Lee 4 die 38/357 set and they produce good accurate ammo for me.

I also use W231 for most of my .38 Sopecial ammo and light .357 Magnum ammo. I see you have H110, that is the powder for full power .357 Magnum loads but be sure not to download H110 and it works best with a magnum primer. W296 is the same powder as H110.

I don't trim 38/357 brass. (or any other handgun brass either)

No to using the same bullets. The ones you have are probably .355", the .38 Special uses a .357" jacketed bullet and a .358" lead bullet. Same for the .357 Magnum.

As for differences between revolver ammo and semi-auto ammo the main difference is you use a taper crimp for semi-auto ammo and a roll crimp for revolver ammo. Most die sets will provide the correct crimp for the two. I know for sure the Lee FCD is a roll crimp for the 38/357.

I shoot both 38's and 357's in my S&W M686 because after a while shooting only .357's get a little hard on the hand and the ears. sometimes it's fun to just shoot lighter loads the .38 Special wadcutters instead of full house loads all the time. I seem to shoot a lot more .38 Specials than .357 Magnums these days.

 

[788Ham]

^^^^ Arch is right on here! A good plinking load for the .38 Spl. is 4 gr. of Win. 231 and a 158 gr SWC bullet, about 775 fps. Accurate as ever! Good luck with your reloading, it gets contagious after a very few rounds !

 

[ArchAngelCD]

^^^^ Arch is right on here! A good plinking load for the .38 Spl. is 4 gr. of Win. 231 and a 158 gr SWC bullet, about 775 fps. Accurate as ever! Good luck with your reloading, it gets contagious after a very few rounds !

That is my favorite .38 Special load, a 158gr LSWC over 4.0gr W231...

 

[4895]

Since you don't have a pistol yet, I would invest in the dies and get a case trimmer ready. I would spend some time resizing your mag brass and trim to length so they are all consistently seated and crimped when the time comes. Load data posted is good and you will be happy with W231 in 38 special and H110 for magnum. Powder availability is a problem these days but almost anything will work. Good luck.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Buy a die set with a roll crimp. No need for a separate crimp die.

The only powders that I use magnum primers for are 800-X and 4227. And you can use standard primers for those.

I don't trim handgun brass, but do sort brass to be roll crimped by length. When roll crimping the brass length affects the crimp depth.

Lead is cheaper than jackets. Plated make a good compromise. I load both 38 & 357, have guns in both.

Okay to shoot 38 in a 357, just clean the chambers when swapping. Use a 44 cal SS brush for cleaning chambers if you do. Currently 357 brass is hard to find, but getting better. I was able to backorder Starline the other day after a few month wait.

An older 686 makes a good gun. Trigger job is easy, and will be far better than what can be done on the GP. My single action pull is 3-4 lb and smooth as glass.

 

[7mmb]

1. You can use the same set for both. Most come with a washer so you can switch between 38 and 357 with out having to readjust the dies.

2. I use the FCD but my dies are RCBS. If you like Lee dies no reason not to get them for 38/357.

3. W231 will work great for 38 and light 357 loads. H110 will give top velocity in full power 357 Magnum. Any pistol powder will work though.

4. Most pistol powders do not need magnum primers. H110 is not one of those though. It requires magnum priming for reliable ignition. Some powders, like 2400, work best with standard primers.

5. You don't absolutely need to trim but you will get more consistent roll crimps, and more consistent ammo, if you do.

6. You cannot use .355" pistol bullets. You will need .357" revolver bullets.

7. Lead works ok but I prefer plated or jacketed. If you do use lead keep velocities low unless they are hard cast. Same with plated. Jacketed works best for the full magnum stuff with your H110.

8. I don't see a reason to load 38, I haven't shot any since I started reloading. If I want 38 Special loads I just load light loads in 357 cases. No need to fiddle with the dies and no fouling issues in the cylinders. W231 in 357 cases make for some easy shooting 357 loads.

If you're only using it for range/plinking a six inch barrel is the way to go. My GP100 is a four inch but it was my first gun and I bought it as an all-around gun so the shorter barrel made more sense. I eventual got a 6.5 inch Blackhawk though. With the longer sight radius you will usually be more accurate. Something to consider. If you want something fairly inexpensive but accurate get the GP100. A couple hundred bucks less than the 686 and just as accurate.

 

[TfflHndn]

Lead is definitely cheaper, especially for range and plinking, but is smoky. Take a look into Bayou Bullets, they are not expensive and are coated to reduce the smoke.

I have loaded both .38 and .357 with and without crimping and seating in the same step. I now seat in one step and use the FCD for crimping and I think I get much better results. For me, that's the only way to go.

If you have enough .357 brass, loading just those to your liking is going to be easier than loading both .38 and .357, for reasons discussed in above posts, both in standardizing your loading process and in cleaning. I load both because I have both. If you are going to shoot a lot, you may find that .38 are much easier on you and the gun.

 

[cfullgraf]

And, you can load 38 Special level loads in 357 Magnum cases wityh the appropriate powder charges.

 

[gonoles_1980]

I load both 38's and 357's with my Lee Die set, went ahead and ordered the 357 washer for it. I have the four set die. I prefer to use the 357 cases in my 357, I load both light. I load 158gr Speer LSWCHP with 3.7gr W231 for my 38's and 158gr Lead with 4.5gr W231 for my 357. After getting a squib in one of my factory rounds a RUAG, I'm going to try 5.0 W231 with the 158gr bullet just to get the power rounds I was looking for in the factory bullets.

 

[buck460XVR]

Your questions have been answered for the most part quite well by others, but I will add my two cents on a coupla things.

For .357 the only powder I use SPM primers is with H110/W296. In .357 mag at legitimate mag loadings, in my firearms, H110/W296 gives me the best velocities, accuracy and consistency of any magnum powder(and I have tried them all). Because of excessive forcing cone erosion concerns, I do not use Lil' Gun in my revolvers. OAL is determined by the cannelure in revolver bullets when there is one, and generally not a factor on performance like with pistol rounds. Legitimate magnum loadings will require a bullet with a cannelure in order to accept the firm roll crimp needed to keep the bullet from jumping outta the case under recoil. In order for a consistent firm roll crimp, cases need to be all the same length. Thus they need to be trimmed or sorted by length. For plinking loads that are not as finicky about crimp, or plated bullets with no cannelure, this is not necessary. Some of the slower powders used for true magnum loads need a firm roll crimp for consistent ignition and burn, not just to prevent bullet jump. If one does not have a .38 only firearm, there is no need for the reloader to load .38 cases for his .357. The same ballistics can be achieved by downloading .357 cases. Never saw the need for a FCD when loading for revolver as a roll crimp is easy to achieve and the cartridge headspaces on the rim, not the case mouth. Over expanding and over crimping will shorten the life of your brass considerably. I found my best results come from using powders that use the most space in the long narrow case.

 

[leefan]

Once-fired cases are readily available, like from these guys:

http://www.americanspecialtyammo.com/handgun-brass.html

 

[gonoles_1980]

I was looking at the 357 brass, it's just over half the price of for 500 (2-250 orders) that I can get new brass from Starline. So what's the downside of ordering once used brass?

 

[Jlr2267]

I was looking at the 357 brass, it's just over half the price of for 500 (2-250 orders) that I can get new brass from Starline. So what's the downside of ordering once used brass?

Was it really used only once?

 

[gonoles_1980]

Excellent question Jlr2267, that would be my concern, how can you be sure it was just fired once. Because for nearly half price, it seems like a deal.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Unless the cartridge has a crimped primer and it's still in place there really isn't a way to tell if brass is truly once fired or not. Usually though, if you're buying from a reliable source it's probably once fired if that's what they tell you. (of course not always) I have very rarely bought new brass because it's so expensive. most of my brass came from shooting factory ammo and saving the brass before i was reloading. I have also bought "once fired" brass and in those cases I'm fairly sure it was only fired once. Even if it was fired more than once the price at the time was so low it was still worth it. (38/357 brass and some 45 Colt)

 

[Vol46]

Pretty simple calibers to reload for - I use two sets of dies ( Lee 3 die sets - inexpensive and they work fine) to avoid re setting the crimp & seater when switching calibers. 357/38 Special seater dies will put a roll crimp on the round when adjusted properly. To me, roll crimps are easier to check by " eyeballing" than taper crimps, since they go into a cannelure, & it is pretty easy to see the right amount of crimp once you have done a few. I use a FCD for my auto cartridges, but I just crimp with the seater for 38/357.
I shoot a GP 100 - W 231 for 38 & target 357, H110 for full house 357 - a very accurate powder in my gun with 158 grain Gold Dots or Hornady JHP. I generally shoot jacketed bullets to avoid cleaning lead from the forcing cone & barrel, but many others do just fine with lead. I use regular small pistol primers. I know you are supposed to use magnum primers with H 110, but CCI 500, WSP, & Rem 1 1/2 have always gone bang for me & accuracy is good. Never trim my brass if it is within spec to start with.
I load & shoot both 38 & 357, usually 38 for plinking & the majority of my target shooting, & 357 for hunting, HD, & just to shoot a stout load now & then. The GP 100 seems to really like full house 357 loads, & gets more accurate at higher charges of H 110.

 

[stavman11]

I started out just doing .357 loading..... Then when i got my Henry Rifle in .357 I started loading .38s also since I had a lot more .38s brass than .357..... and now I shoot about 3x more with the Rifle... i use the .357 Brass for Magnum Loads and .38s for Plinking Loads..

W231 is my go to .38s and light .357 powder.... works great and at 4.3gr to 6.1gr has some good pop if Needed..

H110 is my Magnum .357 Powder... that and Mag Primers i can get some real nice BANG rounds for sure.

I am also of the 2 die sets.... That way no adjusting is needed.. I just pull out a turret.. add the Other and Change the Powder disk accordingly...

Now i have Trimmed some .357 1x fired Brass... Made the Crimp More Consistent... but have yet to trim any .38s brass.... and ALL my Brass is my own purchased factory rounds that I have shot...

Really a Fun Cartridge ta load.... from Mouse Fart loads upto Full Magnum BOOMERS.......

I am also a big fan of the 158gr LWSC rounds as well as some Plated RN bullets..

Fun Fun Times for sure

 

[hartcreek]

If you want to cast there are a few bullets that work in either a 9mm or 38/357. Lee 105 grain conical semi wadcuters sized to .355 will work. I have used this bullet for twenty years for 9mm corto, 9mm parabelum, 38 special, .357 magnum and 38 SW. For drilling paper at fifty feet it works great.

I also use Horandy 115 EXPs in 9mm for 38 Special, 38 S&W and .357 magnum.

Some bullets can be interchanged some cant.

 

[gamestalker]

It best to trim revolver brass so you can obtain a consistent roll crimp, especially so if you get into any of the full house loads for .357.

The difference between revolver crimp and AL crimp is best described by not associating them with each other. Your AL 9mm, .380, .40, and 45 acp brass utilizes a taper crimp, which is only intended to remove the belling of the mouth utilized as a means to eliminate shaving bullets during seating, and does not provide neck tension at all. Not so with revolver brass, the roll crimp is indeed intended to provide neck tension, actually better described as bullet hold, to prevent bullet jump.

GS

 

[788Ham]

Arch,
I just did that this past Sat. , took 2 50 rd. boxes of 38 Spl, 158 TFMJ to the range, hadn't been there since all this last snow left. Now I've got once fired cases to load { I know these are once fired! }. I now need to get them deprimed and loaded with "our" favorite recipe of Win. powder.

 

[VrockTDSaz]

I made the mistake once of not crimping my .38 rounds enough and they wouldn't seat fully in the cylinder. The lesson is to check them in the pistol you'll be using.