Lyman 358156 357 mag loads?

[brewer12345]

I have some beautiful boolits made up with this mold (the Johnson SWC) and gas checked and lubed they come in at 161 grains. I am trying to come up with a mid range magnum load with these using powders I have on hand. I started with Unique and tried 6, 6.5 and 7 grains today without much success. The hits on target began to approach a group as the powder charge went up, but even the 7 grain load was less than impressive. I would be willing to go higher, but it seems like every load manual I can find with unique and a lead bullet tells me that 6 grains is the max. Alliant lists a 158 grain jacketed bullet as maxing out at 7.7 grains, but not sure how well that would translate to a gas checked lead boolit.

So I would appreciate any wisdom that people might wish to contribute on this one. How much higher can I go with Unique? I can switch to another powder that I have on hand (HP38, Longshot, Universal seem like candidates).

Incidentally, I tested a few lil gun loads in the 357 carbine with Sierra 158 grain JSPs. At 16.5 grains of powder it was very accurate. Given what I have seen for published velocities out of shorter barrels (mine is 24"), this load was probably screaming out of the barrel at close to 2000 FPS. Should be the bees' knees for hogs inside 100 yards.

[brewer12345]

Check out the Hodgdon data site for loads using the other powders you mentioned.
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

Eh, they include my pet peeve of reloading data: jacketed loads they list a max based on SAAMI; cast they make up an imaginary low ceiling supposedly to avoid leading issues.

[tazman]

OK. You are on your own.

[brewer12345]

You asked for a mid range load. I would consider those to be mid range loads.
What velocities are you looking for?

Touche. I guess I got on the Unique bandwagon and was really just wondering how much more I could safely bump the charge in the quest for accuracy. I guess my beef is easily illustrated by the Hodgdon data for HP38 with a 158 grain bullet. Max for a jacketed bullet is 6.9 grains at 40,000 CUP, Max for cast is 5 grains at 23,900 CUP. Clearly the cast load is not at the limits for the cartridge, while the jacketed data is. If I knew the limit for cast I would at least have an idea of how far I could go.

I guess I will try HP38 and see where it leads. Velocity north of 1000 FPS with high accuracy is the idea.

[robg]

13.5gr of 2400 will give good accuracy with that boolit 8.5gr true blue is good too

[Gewehr-Guy]

Lil Gun powder at 15grs. in my Rossi carbine is crazy accurate at 100 yards with the 358156 HP bullet. After I shot that load I quit experimenting and just loaded it in all my brass.

[Ed_Shot]

13.5gr of 2400 will give good accuracy with that boolit 8.5gr true blue is good too

+1 for 2400 13.5 gr.

[brewer12345]

Looking at the lyman manual.I was coming to the conclusion that 2400 was probably the answer last night. Will have to pick up a pound and play with it.

[44MAG#1]

I thought the 358156 was a Ray Thompson design. Am I laboring under a misguided thought?

[Guesser]

Ahyup.....that 13.5/2400 works for all mine.

[scattershot]

Skeeter Skelton used that load almost exclusively in his .357s and heavy .38 Specials. He used .38 Special brass, and crimped the bullet in the lower groove. Claimed good accuracy, and about 1100 fps, if I remember correctly.

[Ben]

I thought the 358156 was a Ray Thompson design. Am I laboring under a misguided thought?


No , you're exactly correct. Ray Thompson created that one.

[brewer12345]

Yes, brain fart. Definitely the Thompson design. I cast them with a bunch of exrr tin added to.the coww alloy to.approximate lyman 2 and they are very pretty and shiny. Need to get them shooting well.

[Hick]

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook ed 3 has lots of data for 358156 in 357 Magnum

[sixshot]

That is a Ray Thompson design & Skeeter was very fond of it in 38 special brass with 13.5 grs of 2400. I load the same load in the bottom crimp groove or 14 grs in 357 magnum brass for fine accuracy. Use a good lube like LBT blue, or Carnuba Red or powder coat them like I do.
These loads are for 357 magnum guns only, don't use in a 38 special.

Dick

[Rainier]

Give the HP38 a wave. W231 - 6 to 7 grains works like a dream for midrange loads.

[Bazoo]

http://www.darkcanyon.net/MyFriend_The357.htm

[Jack Stanley]

For me Unique doesn't seem to do very well in mid-range loads for the .357 magnum . Much better results with 2400 .

Jack

[dubber123]

I've shot a lot of that boolit with 14 grains of 2400. Its not hot, but maybe hotter than you want. I never cared for 2400 in reduced loads, it doesn't burn well.

[Adk Mike]

I use that bullet a lot. I really like it. 7 grains of Herco is what I use.

[robg]

Spent a fair bit of time to get to that 13.5 gr 2400 load, then I read it was Elmer's and Skelton's load ,could have saved a lot of time but it wouldn't have been half the fun.

[Echo]

13.5gr of 2400 will give good accuracy with that boolit 8.5gr true blue is good too

Plus One - I recommend 14 grs 2400, and I have used 15 grs - in the old days...

[Thin Man]

Brewer, for a midrange load in your magnum - try this. Go to your handloading manual and locate data for 38 Special with jacketed bullets. Locate the chart with your bullet weight, find your powder of choice and use the maximum powder charge for the 38 Special in your 357 Magnum. The longer case length of the 357, along with the greater strength of the firearm, will readily accept this load level. The bullet velocity will be lower than what the chart shows for the 38 Special caliber due to the longer case length of the magnum brass. This approach should get you very close to your goal of a safe reduced load in the 357 Magnum.

[Char-Gar]

That bullet has been around for a very long time and was the "go to" bullet for the 357 Magnum round for several generations.

Powder charges of 13.5 to 14.5 of 2400 is what will do it these days. In earlier times up to 15.5 grains for the solid point and 16.0 grains for the HP version were used. Don't do that today.

If you are going to shoot the 357 or 44 Magnum rounds, 2400 or AA9 are the powders of choice.

[Cherokee]

Herco worked for me @ 1100+ fps for that bullet but preference was for 2400. 231 or HP38 will give good mid-range performance.