357 loads in .38 cases? why not?

[Papa smurf]

Just recieved an e-mail from Alliant Powder ----------there has been NO CHANGE with 2400 since I started using it in 1960.
Good shooting --------------------Papa Smurf

[jdgabbard]

Realistically, if you make sure you label everything you load, and put all the important information in the box with the loaded rounds you shouldn't have a problem. That said, I've got about 300pc of .357mag brass I have really used in a while. I've been loading most of my boolits in 38spl brass and if at all possible loading to over OAL for the 38spl. That way it won't chamber in anything but my .357s.

[vanilla_gorilla]

Just recieved an e-mail from Alliant Powder ----------there has been NO CHANGE with 2400 since I started using it in 1960.
Good shooting --------------------Papa Smurf

This fits in with the experience of my shooting partner. Because of this thread, we re-chronoed his Keith load .44 Magnum the other day. Sure enough, 22 grains and a 429421 provided a shade under 1400 fps from a 5 inch 629, about on par with what old Elmer was getting.

[tadeus]

I´ve been using the 158 gr LSWC with 9 grs of bluedot in 38 special cases (used once); with excellent results.

158 gr LSWC 8.5 grs of Bluedot 1120 fps avg
158 gr LSWC 9.0 grs of Bluedot 1230 fps avg
158 gr LSWC 9.5 grs of Bluedot 1330 fps avg

Guns involved:

S&W heavyduty 4" barrel
S&W Highway Patrolman (28-2) 4" barrel

[uscra112]

Still shooting up about half an ammo can full of random .38 Spl. handloads I got at an estate auction last month. In my L-frame .357 S&W. Judging by the report and the recoil, some of these are dangerously hot for a normal .38 Spl. When you load beyond what is safe in the weakest gun that takes that cartridge, make sure you live long enough to prevent them from falling into inexperienced hands, or make sure the buyer at your liquidation sale is savvy enough not to trust you.

BTW I wouldn't have bid on that lot, but there were three full boxes of .32 S&W dating from the 1930's in that same can, along with four unopened boxes of Zero remanufactured wadcutters. Got the whole lot for what one of the .32 S&W boxes would go for on G.B.

[NHlever]

Since it made sense to me, I did run some loads through Quick Load to see what the difference might be. As suspected loads with bullets seated to the same OAL produce very similar pressures in both .38, and .357 cases. Longer OAL's lower pressures, and shorter OAL's increase pressures regardless of which case is used of course. Just seating boolits to the crimp groove in both cases can get you in trouble quickly with the shorter case when using magnum loads. I have found very little velocity difference when using .38 Special loads in the .357 case which I often do.

Having shot deer with standard .38 Special loads using the Speer 146 grain HJHP I see no reason to go beyond what manuals list for loads for both the .38 Special, and the .357 Magnum. I shoot more full house magnum loads in my .357 Mag rifles than I do in my handguns anyway. The .38 Special is such a wonderful cartridge for small game, and general use that I see no need to go trying to make it into something else. i just avoid round nose boolits in both calibers since I don't care for them for hunting at all.

[Rocky Raab]

By the way, I just noticed that it appears as though I started this thread. I did not. I was replying to a question posed by somebody else, who apparently has since deleted his post - leaving me as the first poster in the thread.

It's NOT a question I would ever ask.

[zxcvbob]

I thought I posted this before, but maybe it was in a different thread or a different forum.

I have buckets of .38 Special brass and not-so-much .357 brass. I also like that .38's eject better, and I can fit more of them in the magazine of my Marlin. But I don't like having overloads laying around (even if they are marked) that someone my find someday after I'm dead...

So I've been loading 148 grain DEWC's in 38 brass to an overall length of about 1.36" with a moderate roll crimp. They work just fine in guns chambered for .357 but will not fit in any .38 that I've tried. 7.0 grains of WSF is a good low-end "magnum" load. The pressure is probably just under 30000 psi. (It would be a good plinking load in .357 Magnum brass too if you didn't want to deal with the carbon buildup at the ends of the chambers. )

[Char-Gar]

This thing has run along long enough without me chiming in, time to do so.

There is nothing wrong with shooting 38/44 Special loads in a heavy frame 38 or a .357 Mag of any size. Shoot these in a light 38 and it will rattle it pretty good in short order.

Keep true .357 Magnum pressure loads in 357 Magnum cases in 357 Magnum revolvers.

Skeeters use of 38 Special cases loaded with 358196 over 12.5/2400 crimped in the bottom groove is just a 38/44 load. Skeeter was a shooter, lawman and writer who handloaded. He was not a handloading guru. I don't think any of his loads were original, but in common use at the time. He also shot them in N frame Smiths and good single actions to boot. It is a good load and I have used it often myself. Not a problem!.