Rmr smiley 147gr .357 magnum

Big-bore-bob

Big-bore-bob

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Hi all, I'm putting in an order soon for some RMR 147gr fmj smiley bullets for my .357 mag 686+. I'm looking for some midrange starting loads for target practice ( don't want to waste my stash of h110 but ill probably sacrifice some in the name of education) i am curious about h110 load data. Any powders you all find accurate? Coal? I have power pistol, cfe, be86, hp38, bullseye, h110, I'm always down to try new powders also. I have rem 1.5, rem 5.5, win spp, and cci 550 primers. Couldn't find much info on this particular bullet. Thanks in advance!
 
Well I am certainly not going to tell you not to try it, it seems several others have done so to some success.

Getting them to stay put without a crimp groove might be an issue depending on the load. Be sure to watch for setback or lengthening that might tie up your cylinder.

I would try something listed for a 150'ish grain and go from there, the Hodgdon site has quite a few loads listed for both the Speer and Sierra 146jhp that could get you started.
 
I haven’t loaded the smileys, but am interested in what you try.
I wouldn’t download H110 to a mild target load, save it for the full power loads.
I’d probably load .38 special first and then work it up to a .357 case. Clays, Titegroup, N320 are all fine for target while something in the 231/244 range is midrange for me. Like @41 Mag said, Hodgdon online has loads for jacketed in that range for both .38 and .357.
 
H110/W296 is a powder that is designed for full power loads. It does not like to be down loaded. When it was introduced back in the 70's the Win data had warnings on not to down load it. The load data was like shotgun, it had 1 powder load and that what you did. A few years after it was introduced they said you could reduce it by no more than 3%. I think this info is lost as some of the data has it reduced 10% like a std powder. What I have found is that it only works good a FULL/Max loads, heavy crimp, Mag primer. If any of these change it's not consistent. This data is for handgun only. I think with rifle loads it tolerates reduced charges better than handgun. I use the W296/H110 only when I want mag loads for my 357 mag Python. I've used it for years in 357 mag, 30 carbine and recently 458 SOCOM. if your seeing un-burned granules your load is too light, or not enough crimp for it to get a complete burn.

If you want to reduce the charge use something like 2400. If you want mouse fart loads use a fast powder like WST. These days after having surgery on both hands/wrist I stay away from hard recoiling handguns.
 
I've loaded gobs and gobs of .357 for plinking, general shooting and hunting. H110 is used strictly for loads in my .357 Carbine. You can get some really stout revolver loads using powders such as Blue Dot and 2400. As to the bullet without a crimp groove, if you're going to load it heavy, you might want to consider using a taper crimp die.

35W
 
Big-bore-bob said:
Hi all, I'm putting in an order soon for some RMR 147gr fmj smiley bullets for my .357 mag 686+. I'm looking for some midrange starting loads for target practice ( don't want to waste my stash of h110 but ill probably sacrifice some in the name of education) i am curious about h110 load data. Any powders you all find accurate? Coal? I have power pistol, cfe, be86, hp38, bullseye, h110, I'm always down to try new powders also. I have rem 1.5, rem 5.5, win spp, and cci 550 primers. Couldn't find much info on this particular bullet. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
I didn't enjoy my foray into cfeP in my revolvers (wasn't trying these though) I have recently made longshot my go to for my "anything short of full power but more oomph than bullseye" loads. Bullseye should get you a nice mild shooting target load, I've much enjoyed it for such a long time that it's a staple. I reckon be86 MIGHT be a good one based on some of the data I've seen, but haven't personally tried it yet, my top end loads use 2400, mp3000, looking at trying 4227 one of these days too maybe, but for not so wow-pow I'm happy with my longshot loads.
 
If I were loading that bullet I'd find the oal that gave maximum engagement between bullet bearing surface and case. Run a minimum expansion to get the bullet started and see how that works out. I bet five ish grains of hp-38 gives a fun plinking load that you can run up.
 
Of course you know they weren't intended for loading in .38 Spl/.357 Mag, but they should work fine with a taper crimp, using fast to medium speed pistol powders, for light to medium plus loads. You may even have success with something like 2400 and a heavy taper crimp on them, just have to try it out.
 
Walkalong said:
Of course you know they weren't intended for loading in .38 Spl/.357 Mag,
Click to expand...
I didn't know that, I thought the weights seemed weird. Are they for 38 super/comp? I was just looking for a cheap plinking bullet and I found the smileys on rmrs website. BTW I'm not going to download h110, I was curious what a full power 147 might be like.
 
Walkalong said:
Of course you know they weren't intended for loading in .38 Spl/.357 Mag
Click to expand...
But these were:

.357 / .38 110 Grain Winchester Kinetic HE Hollow Point | RMR Bullets

These are a hollow base and hollow point bullet made by Winchester. Was told they are discontinuing this bullet so this will be all we can get. They are a pretty good price for a self defense hollow point in .357.
www.rmrbullets.com www.rmrbullets.com
😉
Highly recommended for .38Spl using data equivalent to/approx’ 950fps from a 4” barrel.
 
Big-bore-bob said:
I didn't know that, I thought the weights seemed weird. Are they for 38 super/comp?
Click to expand...
I believed they were designed for 9mm S&W revolvers which use .357 barrels from their .38Spl/.357mag revolvers. I use my regular 9mm load of 3.2grs of N310.

For your experimental purposes, I'd start with a powder with a wide operating range. Of the powders you've listed as having on hand, I'd start with BE-86 or HP-38
 
Walkalong said:
.
9MM, .38 Super, etc. most folks shoot them in 9MM
Click to expand...
Thanks…this is news to me as well. I was going to order some but had not gotten around to it.

So are they somehow only for revolvers, or can I load them for any old 9MM auto loader like a M&P or a Glock?

Sorry if this is a NOOB question, but since I’m still kinda new, I’ll admit to my lack of wisdom..
 
Walkalong said:
They are designed for 9MM etc, which is 99% chambered in semi auto pistols, such as the Glock and M&P.
Click to expand...
I don’t think this is true… they are sized at .357 like any other jacketed 38/357 round. I thought these were released with that intention, NOT for oversized 9mm rounds. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
 
Link to bullet under discussion:

.357 147 Gr. RMR FMJ (SMILEY) | RMR Bullets

Introducing the new .357 147 grain RMR Smiley face bullet! Bright your day and send some happiness at your target with our smiley face FMJ! These DO NOT have a cannelure but they have a good thick jacket that can handle a crimp.
www.rmrbullets.com www.rmrbullets.com

The 147 grain is due to Jake modifying the 9mm machine to size them to 38. It is an odd weight for the 38/357. Same deal for the 124 grain .357 bullets - a modification from the 9mm machine.
 
Be careful using older cases that were wadcutters, I didn’t get any neck tension with these bullets. I haven’t done much loading lately with these but when I did I think 4-4.5 of HP-38 in 38 special cases worked pretty well.
 
blackd24 said:
I don’t think this is true… they are sized at .357 like any other jacketed 38/357 round. I thought these were released with that intention, NOT for oversized 9mm rounds. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Click to expand...
I was talking, and thought (my bad) we were talking about 147 Gr 9MM bullets in general, and my statement is correct for them.

Maybe RMR wanted them to be versatile and used in .38/.357 as well. Dunno.

I do know that .357 is not "oversized" for SAMMI spec 9MM barrels, just not the usual .355 (sometimes .356) for 9MM.

Maybe Jake will let us know.
 
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This is what it says at the link.

DESCRIPTION​

Introducing the new .357 147 grain RMR Smiley face bullet! Bright your day and send some happiness at your target with our smiley face FMJ!
Click to expand...

As worded, the lawyer in me can't say whether this means the bullets are sized .357, or are for the .357 Mag, or both. But again, they are safe to shoot in 9MM as are other .355/.356./&.357 size bullets.

But again, maybe Jake will clear it up.

Here are a couple of good posts on barrel specs for 9MM, .38 Super, .38 Spl, .357 Mag

RIA 1911 in 38 super...pros or cons?

For some reason, I have been seriously thinking about getting a Rock Island 1911 chambered in 38 super...and I really don't know why, but the thought of a 1911 in 38 super has been intriguing to me, though. I have owned tons of guns, but I have never owned anything in 38 super, even though I...
www.thehighroad.org

Hoping these .356 bullets work in 9mm during shortage

I purchased some .356 diameter 9mm bullets from luckygunner today after reading .356 will work similar to .355 bullets in most guns. I read a few posts the last few days before ordering but was curious if anyone had any experience with these particular .356 121 gr JHP's in a auto 9mm/glock...
www.thehighroad.org
 
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