Kid friendly .38/.357 and .30-.30 loads??

[jdhenry]

I was wondering if any of you might know of a super light load for the .38/.357 and .30-.30.

I want to get my daughter into shooting the bigger guns.

I am looking for lighter recoil and less of a boom.


The powders that I have on-hand are:

Unique

HS-6

IMR3031

IMR4351



I rember when I was a kid my dads friend had some loads for his .357 that sounded more like a cap gun. All I rember of that load is that he was using rifle powder. What he ment by that I have no clue.


Thanks for the help

[Frank V]

jdhenry, a light load of Unique in either gun with a cast lead boolit will work nicely. Frank

[carpetman]

ditto to Frank V---Unique will work and make you some light loads.

[Old Ironsights]

I like 1.5-2gr Titegroup over a 158 in .357.

But if you've got Unique...

[jballs918]

hey i use 4 grns of unique right now in my plinker, i bet that 3.5 would be just about perfect. my 4 grains load i can shoot until i get tried. just some food for thought

[NVcurmudgeon]

How old is your daughter? I started my two shooting a cut down .22 rifle at age six. At about age ten I let the boy try my rifles with moderate cast loads and he did very well. The girl quit shooting at about that age because she was worried about powder smoke and broken nails. At about age 12 I was satisfied that the boy's hands were big enough to handle a pistol safely. My method was always pointed toward not forcing the kids to do anything they didn't want to do, and letting their growth dictate when it was time for the advanced lessons. I never let them do anything that I thought they could be not be successful at. The boy grew up to be an enthusiastic and decent shot. The girl became a Barbie doll.

[jdhenry]

My daughter is 11. She can't get enough shooting. I bought her a Henry youth .22 last year, Now she wants to shoot the big guns.............Oh, darn...... I just don't want to scare her away from the big guns like my dad did with me. So I figure I can load her some light loads and as she gets older, I can build her up slowly. Instead of "Here if you want to hunt, You have to shoot this".

Also I don't want her dropping my pistols.


I just got done trying a few out here is the run down......

.357 mag 2.0g Unique.......... nice and slow and hardly any recoil in my Marlin 1894. DON"T go any lower... Don't ask how I know


.30-.30 3.0g Unique....... no more recoil than a standard .38sp in my marlin 1894. Still moving fast enough to go through a 2x4.

I sure wish my dad had reloaded. If he had reloaded some light loads for me when I was 10, I think I wouldn't have had to break my self of a flinch

Again thanks for the help

[cbrick]

Powder puff loads in the 357 is where I really learned to like Trail Boss. This was tested in my Marlin 94CS 18" at 100 meters. The bullet is SAECO #382 150 gr SWCPB & LBT Blue. It is very similiar to shooting a 22 rimfire rifle.

This first group is 5 shots with 5.0 gr TB and 6 BHN stick-on WW+ tin, CCI 500 standard small pistol primer. 971 fps.



This is a 20 shot group with 5.0 gr TB and 11 BHN clip-on WW+ tin, CCI 500 standard small pistol primer. 1012 fps.



Trail boss did not like being reduced and when tried groups went south in a hurry.

The only difference between the two loads is the alloy's of 6 and 11 BHN. Notice the SOFTER alloys average velocity was 42 fps SLOWER but they both shot great with no leading from either.

Rick

[Newtire]

Hi jd,

Your notice brings back many fond memories of my daughter & then my son target shooting with me.

My son loved the .444 Marlin with 12 gr. Unique or 14 gr. BlueDot and a 200 gr. Lee.

My daughter shot many many 110 gr. carbine bullets over a load of 16 gr. Unique in my .30-06.

I have been shooting a great load out of a .30-30 using the 30 cal group buy 120 gr. RF and the #322 Saeco with the same load. I use 8.5 gr. Unique. Work around 7.5-9.0 grains until you find the spot.

I would be more than happy to send you a supply of the .30 cal slugs for the sake of getting a youngster started.

I am shooting these out of a Winchester '94 & they really kick butt! on the target but not on the shoulder.

Let me know & I'll get some off to you if you want.

[jdhenry]

Newtire,

Thanks for the offer. I am just going to buy a mould that casts a lighter bullet. I don't want to subject myself to trying out bullets, that I can't get a mould for

Plus my daughter likes casting. So I'll get the lighter mould for her. I figure that way she can learn to cast her own bullets. Then I get a chance to spend more time making memories with her before she becomes a full blown TEEN........................

[Newtire]

I agree about the mould not being available & not wanting to make up loads for a thing like that.

The Lee Soup-can is cheap in the 2-holer variety even & that bullet is a real shooter. Same charges as my other loads.

The Saeco #322 is still available but costs a pretty penny. Only reason I mentioned it is the fact that you don't need a gas check.

My daughter came over with her beau last fall & she showed him a thing or 2 about shooting. He is hooked now. He went out & bought a Rem 870 when they got home.

I started her off at an early age (I forget now) by putting up a pie plate with a big bullseye on it at 25 yds. She filled it with holes & we brought it home to show her Mom. Wan't too long later that she was shooting cans at the 40 yd range and then targets at 50 with reduced loads in the 30-06.

You will never regret taking your kids out shooting-ever ever...You lucky guy. Have a ball!