what powder for 125 gr. lead in 357 mag

[claybird]

I 'm trying to find printed info for this bullet in 38sp and 357 cases. Every book I have list 125 gr in jacketed bullets.
I have Bullseye,Gd ,Rd, promo and Universal powders. Any help out there?

[hammerhead357]

Lee lists a load of 4.8 grs. of universal as a starting load with 125 grs. lead boolit and a top end load of 6.8 grs. I have never tried this so you are on your own. Also if you have a copy of the Lee manual check to be sure my eyes and typing match, even though I triple checked the book....Wes

[zxcvbob]

What's your goal? (I use 4 grains of Promo with 125's for a very accurate and kind of snappy .38 Special load) Bullseye will probably get you the highest velocities of those powders, with Universal a close second.

[Cherokee]

I use the Lee 125 rnfp with 3 gr of WST or 231. Fun load.

[Nora]

+1 for hammerhead's quote for Unique according to Lee's Modern Reloading, Second Edition
They also list Titegroup: 4.0-5.4, Clays: 3.5-5.3, and HP38: 4.6-5.5
The data is listed the same for both 38 spl and 357 mag.

[crabo]

What kind of a load do youwant? Plinker or hot rod? 231 and Universal work really well.

[sheepdog]

http://www.handloads.org/loaddata/de...Powder&Source=

[sniper]

[QUOTE=Nora;618815]+1 for hammerhead's quote for Unique according to Lee's Modern Reloading, Second Edition [QUOTE]

Huh? I read Hammerhead's quote as referring to Hodgdon Universal.

"Lee lists a load of 4.8 grs. of Universal as a starting load with 125 grs. lead boolit and a top end load of 6.8 grs."

I was glad to find that information, because I have not found many references to 125 gr. cast boolits for the .357. I thought maybe there are good reasons for not shooting that combination. Did I miss the Unique reference?

My can of Universal lists a 38 Spl. load of 5.2 gr. for a 125 JHP at ~1020 fps, and based on Lee's figures, that wouldn't be too shabby a load for cast or plated 125 gr. projectiles in the 357 Magnum, either.

Unique, I'm not sure of due to lack of information, but I figure my 5.0 gr. Unique plinking load for 150-158gr. cast boolits also should work with cast 125s, or the plated 125 gr. Berry's HP, which I prefer.

Does anyone have other information?

[JDFuchs]

I found an odd load with some spare TL356-124-TC I had never before been happy with that mold. But worked out quite well with about 4g of win 231

[DLCTEX]

For accuracy I load 3 gr. Bulls Eye in my 38 Spc. Not a hot rod, but it is dead acxcurate.

[AlaskaMike]

For me, I use 231 for light plinkers in .357 mag with 125 grain cast bullets. For midrange loads I use Power Pistol, and for full magnum loads I use 2400.

Mike

[claybird]

Thanks fellows for all the info.
I ended up using 4.6 grains of Universal.
Need an other trip to the range . Sunday maybe,wife willing.
Last Tuesday I fired 40 rounds of older factory +p in my BH357 on the 50 yard range. Used a B27 target. Surprising how many hits you can get on a man size target at that distance. Even by an old man wearing tri-focals.

[357mags]

I use w296, and mag primers for all my 357 mag & 38 special loads. And I load full charge loads. I shoot an N frame S&W 27, and Marlin 1894C. I load lead and copper bullets the same. No problems at all.

[sniper]

Update:
Yesterday, I went to the range, and tried a "just to see" load of 10.4 gr. 2400 under a 125gr. Berry's plated bullet. They recommend using cast boolit loads/velocities for their products.

It did very well, although there were a very few charcoal-looking nuggets left in the case.
Probably the result of the "light "load, because 2400 seems to do better with higher pressures.

Also tried my left-over Blue Dot loads of 10.4gr under the RCBS 162 gr. gas check boolit. (My last batch, loaded before the warnings of dire consequences.)

Great load! Hmmmm....maybe some more Blue Dot in my future.

[NHlever]

Sniper, I had used Blue Dot a lot when I had my SP-101 Ruger. I had backed off to 10.0 grains with both the jacketed 158's, and cast of about the same weight. I found it accurate, powerful, and with much less muzzle blast than loads with heavier charges of 2400, or H-110 / W-296.

[leadman]

Sniper, the Blue Dot warning was for 125gr JACKETED bullet in the 357 mag. and all loads for the 41 mag. only. Heavier than 125gr. are o.k. per Alliant in the 357mag.
Alliant has the warning on their website under Product Warnings.

[zxcvbob]

If you like Blue Dot, try AA#7. The charge weights are about the same, and the performance seems very similar -- without all the drama.

[Nora]

[QUOTE=sniper;619633][QUOTE=Nora;618815]+1 for hammerhead's quote for Unique according to Lee's Modern Reloading, Second Edition

Huh? I read Hammerhead's quote as referring to Hodgdon Universal.

"Lee lists a load of 4.8 grs. of Universal as a starting load with 125 grs. lead boolit and a top end load of 6.8 grs."

I was just looking over past posts that I listed on and saw this. My reference to Unique was in fact incorrect as you have pointed out. The powder charges were correct, BUT as pertains to Hodgdon's Universal as originally stated by hammerhead. I apologize for referencing the wrong powder.

Nora

[TonyT]

I 'm trying to find printed info for this bullet in 38sp and 357 cases. Every book I have list 125 gr in jacketed bullets.
I have Bullseye,Gd ,Rd, promo and Universal powders. Any help out there?

I use Trail Boss for nice light loads. The Hodgdon website has excellent data for Trail Boss with cast bullets.

[MikeG70]

TonyT has the right idea. I go with 4.0 gr of Trail Boss over the 125. Can't be double charged, accurate and very little recoil. Also this same load can be used in 38 Special.