Reloading for a short barrel revolver...

[Beentown]

I have been reloading for a good bit now but have never reloaded for a short barrel revolver. Any tips/hints?

The pistol is a Ruger SP 101 with the 2.25" barrel in .357Mag. My current powders I use for pistol are Titegroup and Universal Clays.

Any powder recommendations?

 

[Rule3]

You want defense loads or range type loads.??

For SD, slower powders generally give more velocity. Any powder that gives good velocity in a long barrel will do the same in short, Then there is flash and all that other stuff.

Projectiles are another matter, how much recoil do you want to put up with?

 

[Beentown]

I am not recoil sensitive. Defensive rounds will be factory but I enjoy shooting full house loads. Basically, I would want to load some pussycat 38's for my wife and some full house loads for some fun.

I assumed a fast burning powder would be advantageous for a short barrel as there is not time to burn the powder in such a short barrel.

Thanks all.

 

[Schwing]

My experience has been that barrel length doesn't matter much in handguns. I see maybe a 20-30 fps difference between my LCR with a 2" barrel vs my GP100 with a 5 " barrel with the same loads.

For .357, I am very partial to 800x (I am in the minority here however.) I like it for stout but not full powerhouse loads. For full powerhouse loads, I like Alliant's new MP300 powder. Unique also does quite well for low to medium plinking rounds.

 

[UziLand]

I've used the universal clays for light 9mm loads. This should work fine for a 38 spcl, 125gr FP. Right now I am using PB for light 38 sp loads with a 550 primer.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I am not recoil sensitive. Defensive rounds will be factory but I enjoy shooting full house loads. Basically, I would want to load some pussycat 38's for my wife and some full house loads for some fun.

I assumed a fast burning powder would be advantageous for a short barrel as there is not time to burn the powder in such a short barrel.

Thanks all.

The powder that will deliver the highest velocities in a 4" barrel will also deliver the highest velocities in a 2" barrel. There is no reason to change how you load because of a short barrel handgun.

The 2 powder you have are not considered "magnum class" powders and will not give you the "fun" you're looking for. lol

I know powders are extremely difficult to find but Alliant 2400, Alliant Power Pro 300-MP, Accurate #9, Accurate 4100, IMR4227, Ramshot Enforcer and W296/H110 are the powders you are looking for if you want full house fun loads. The 2 powders you own are VERY fast powders and are much more suited for loading the .38 Special or 45 Auto than the .357 Magnum.

 

[Beentown]

Thanks all. Pistol powder is harder to find than .22 bulk packs.

 

[mavracer]

231 or bullseye for light loads and 296 for heavys and use heavy bullets (158-180) for heavy loads the 110-125s are hard on forcing cones with heavy loads.

 

[Rule3]

I am not recoil sensitive. Defensive rounds will be factory but I enjoy shooting full house loads. Basically, I would want to load some pussycat 38's for my wife and some full house loads for some fun.

I assumed a fast burning powder would be advantageous for a short barrel as there is not time to burn the powder in such a short barrel.

Thanks all.

No, slower powders will give higher velocities as they will in longer length barrels. But times being what they are if the only powders you have are the ones you listed then they will have to do for now.

Even a mid range like Unique or HP38 would add a little more "fun"

 

[gamestalker]

I've never done anything any different than when I load for my long barreled revolvers. And considering I use full tilt magnum powder, H110 / 296, I'd say load them the same as you would for any wheel gun.

Now there are some bullets, Speer Gold Dots, that are specifically described as intended for SB (short barrel) handguns. But Speer is referring to the velocity they can be pushed at, so as to avoid bullet deformation. BTW, I have pushed those SB Gold Dots well beyond Speer's velocity limits with no indication of deformation when I tested then for expansion characteristics and accuracy.

GS

 

[shooter1]

Love H110 in .357 mag!
str1