Lube for .357 Mag

[schraubermani]

Hello,

i am an experienced caster.
Since a few days i started casting .357 185grs. for my S&W 568
I have a selfmade Lube that works fine from .45 ACP up to 45-70
Because i also sell and ship bullets, the lube is middle hard.
The bullets fly well out of my 568, no barrel leading at all.
But when the revolver is freshly cleaned and i begin shooting after about 100 shots it looses accuracy.
The barrel is very very dirty and i even have problems loading the cartridges, because the chambers are dirty too.
The load (7,2grs. VV 3N37) has enough power, brass can be taken out of the chambers with a little force after shooting. Just like it has to be.
But i am wondering about the dirt in the barrel, too. Is this normal shooting revolvers with lubed lead?
The boolits have two lube grooves, very small and thin. So there isn't really much grease on them. With the same grease mixture i am shooting my .45 1911 without any problems 100's of shots without cleaning and it still keeps its accuracy.
Also my Sharps, if shot with Nitro, has no dirt in the barrel.

So, can you give me advice? Although my weird English? :lol::target_smiley:

Thanks a lot,

Manuel

[9.3X62AL]

Manuel--

Your English is just fine, sir! It is in fact better than some of the writings of full-time English speakers.

The possibility is that your powder fouling may be harder in nature than that seen in your 45 ACP for a number of variables--

1) Amount/lack of lube, relative to that used on 45 ACP boolits

2) Volume of powder residue

3) Pressure of the loads caking the residue more firmly in place

Others may have more reasons--these are what come to mind for me right at present. Counter-measures to resolve the fouling issue could i
nclude--

1) A boolit design using more lube or a softer lube. An example would be Lyman #358429, the Keith semi-wadcutter that features a large lube groove. I run these to 1200 FPS in my S&W 686 x 4"/98 mm, and I don't see a fall-off of accuracy after hundreds of shots. The throats and chambers stay usable also, but still get dirty. Sooner or later, a flake of grit or unburned powder will make its way under the extractor star, so a brush-down with solvent is inevitable. Might as well just clean the revolver when accuracy falls off, since some other issue will rear its head even if accuracy stays good.

2) A gas-check boolit design like Lyman #358156 will help keep bore deposits from accumulating a little better than a plain-based design. The throats and chambers stay a little cleaner for a little longer, too.

If you've ever fired a 22 LR revolver, you know that after 6-8 cylinders-full the chambers get pretty gritty, though the barrel remains accurate. My solution is to brush out and clean the chambers after each box of 50 rounds. It is from this regimen that I took this same process to the centerfire revolvers to keep them running.

[randyrat]

Your on the low end of VV3N37 for a 357 mag.That is a hotter load for a 38 special. Hop up the load and the dirt will go away. Double check the book data. You getting blow by.
That's my quess

[schraubermani]

Hello,

thanks a lot for your useful advices.
I think i will increase the load to 7,5grs.
Today i shot and after coming home and cleaning the gun there was even a little grease in the chambers!

Besdt regards,

Manuel

[randyrat]

Don't go by my data.............In general a slower powders will give you grief loaded down. If you want lighter loads in a pistol use a faster powder, much cleaner burning.

On the other hand, if you try to use fast pistol powders and max them out, you will have more grief.

There could be more going on there than I see. I would go up a little at a time until either leading starts, you exceed the limits of your lube or the limits from the data on that powder.

[GP100man]

Sell em some carnauba RandyRat !!!!

& agreed on the powder , very few are "clean" at 16,000 psi.