Starline .357 Magnum cases

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Good to hear. If I start shooting .357 mag regularly again - which seems likely right now - I'll be needing more shortly.

The one big detractor I find with reloading magnum revolver cartridges, is how quickly I seem to end up with cases beginning to split at the mouth.
 
The Glockodile said:
Curious about this.

Is this to be expected with roll crimps vs. taper crimps?

The only pistol round I loaded for required no crimping at all...
Click to expand...

Pretty much. The case gets resized, then the mouth is flared, then roll crimped, then straighten out when fired. So the mouth gets worked out pretty hard.

I suppose if the cracks are caught early enough, the cases could be trimmed and used for Specials. I just don't.
 
Speaking of Starline... they rock!

I had gotten my 1k case of 357 mag a little over a week ago, counted and bagged.. came up 4 short. Sent them an email, just yesterday got a padded envelope with 5 cases.


WrongHanded said:
Pretty much. The case gets resized, then the mouth is flared, then roll crimped, then straighten out when fired. So the mouth gets worked out pretty hard.
Click to expand...

I shoot a lot of 357 mag out of my Henry and roll crimp each round, these days I try to anneal every 2nd loading to keep them going. I have 50 ea that are on their 7th, 6th and 5th loadings respectively. Primers still seat good on all of them, I'm curious to see when they'll actually die on me. But when they do, I have 1500 in the wing waiting for duty. If I were to say 7 loadings is the max (I honestly think I can get more out of these but let's say), 1500 cases would be...at least 10,500 rounds? Thats pretty nice.
 
Bearded Phil said:
Speaking of Starline... they rock!

I had gotten my 1k case of 357 mag a little over a week ago, counted and bagged.. came up 4 short. Sent them an email, just yesterday got a padded envelope with 5 cases.




I shoot a lot of 357 mag out of my Henry and roll crimp each round, these days I try to anneal every 2nd loading to keep them going. I have 50 ea that are on their 7th, 6th and 5th loadings respectively. Primers still seat good on all of them, I'm curious to see when they'll actually die on me. But when they do, I have 1500 in the wing waiting for duty. If I were to say 7 loadings is the max (I honestly think I can get more out of these but let's say), 1500 cases would be...at least 10,500 rounds? Thats pretty nice.
Click to expand...
Mine last a long time, too. If I don’t get 8 -10 loadings from them (.38 through .45 Colt) I have been crimping and belling too much.

I bet if i annealed they could go another 3-4-5 loadings on top of the ones I get. I think that will be a retirement project (like learning how to powdercoat bullets). :)

Stay safe.
 
I guess I load my 357’s hot because the primer pockets usually go before the necks split. 357 magnum is one of the very few I use the seating die to (roll) crimp. Most others I crimp after seating.
 
I withdraw my mini-rant of a couple weeks ago regarding Starline not having available brass. Heartened by some of the replies, I ordered 500 .357 about a week and a half ago...they will be here tomorrow!
 
WrongHanded said:
Good to hear. If I start shooting .357 mag regularly again - which seems likely right now - I'll be needing more shortly.

The one big detractor I find with reloading magnum revolver cartridges, is how quickly I seem to end up with cases beginning to split at the mouth.
Click to expand...

Typical with hot loads and an aggressive crimp combined with well used brass. If you are experiencing this with relatively new brass and light loads with a moderate crimp, you've got something else going on that might be worth investigating.

For a reference, I have brass I've saved since the 80's that is still in rotation with probably dozens of loads on them, that's how long 357 can last.
 
The Glockodile said:
Curious about this.

Is this to be expected with roll crimps vs. taper crimps?

The only pistol round I loaded for required no crimping at all...
Click to expand...

For my money, flaring the case mouth is what gets most of us. I use the absolute smallest flare I can get away with. I also back down my loads just a bit - they're still Magnums, just not barn-burners - and I generally use a powder known for easy ignition and complete burn, so that I don't have to crimp the daylights out of the case.

If I use a generous flare, a case full of H110, and a maximum crimp, I expect three to five loadings before mouth splits become common. With a minimum flare, a grain less than maximum with 2400 (God rest its soul), and a decent crimp, six to nine loadings is the norm. (For comparison, I've shot a whole bunch of .38 Special loaded with a few grains of Bullseye, nearly no flare, and just enough taper crimp to hold everything together, and most of those cases went dozens of loadings without obvious damage. The less you work the case, the longer it will go. C'est la vie.)
 
Minimal flare and light to medium crimp with my Starline .44 Special brass. Mid-range loads as well, never pushing near max grains. I’m on my 6th or 7th round of loading the same brass and still looks new. Primers seat tight and no signs of cracking.
 
EricBu said:
Typical with hot loads and an aggressive crimp combined with well used brass. If you are experiencing this with relatively new brass and light loads with a moderate crimp, you've got something else going on that might be worth investigating.

For a reference, I have brass I've saved since the 80's that is still in rotation with probably dozens of loads on them, that's how long 357 can last.
Click to expand...

Just with hotter loads and a firm crimp. And generally not on .357 so much as .44 and .41 mag. Though some of those bullets do have deep crimp grooves.
 
.45Coltguy said:
.38 Special wrote, 2400[God rests its soul]. Sure hear ya there. Glad I have enough for a spell. That and Universal are a mite hard to find.
Click to expand...

Just noticed half a dozen pounds of it at the LGS - for $60 each. I'm actually thinking about it...
 
.38 Special said:
Just noticed half a dozen pounds of it at the LGS - for $60 each. I'm actually thinking about it...
Click to expand...

I got lucky about 5-6 months ago and found a 4# jug of 2400 for $122.

Not the greatest price but considering the times I snagged it (already had 2lbs in my cabinet)

I'm going to be using the majority of this for cast bullet rifle loads; .308, 30-30, 7.62x39...
 
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