358477 357 mag loads?

[GrizzLeeBear]

I was able to snag an Ideal 358477 4-banger on ebay (for a reasonable price even)! I have a 358156 for heavy loads, but I wanted a non-gas checked SWC mold so I could shoot bullseye and IHMSA field pistol with the same load (hopefully) out of my GP-100. I know most people shoot WC for bullseye, but they don't shoot past 50 yds. My GP will keep WC in the 10 ring at 50, but field pistol goes out to 100m.
What are some of your favorite loads with this bullet in a 357?

[lawboy]

I don't think you will find one load that will do well for you at both games. Any load that will topple 100-yard rams will be uncontrollable in timed and rapid fire on the bullseye line. You could use your 358477 bullet for both games as it is a good one -- I have the same 4-banger you've got -- but you will need to develop two separate loads. I use 3.5 of Red dot in 38 special cases, and 7.0 of Unique in 357 cases. I also use 12.0 of 2400 in 357 cases. Regards.

[Scrounger]

I don't think you will find one load that will do well for you at both games. Any load that will topple 100-yard rams will be uncontrollable in timed and rapid fire on the bullseye line. You could use your 358477 bullet for both games as it is a good one -- I have the same 4-banger you've got -- but you will need to develop two separate loads. I use 3.5 of Red dot in 38 special cases, and 7.0 of Unique in 357 cases. I also use 12.0 of 2400 in 357 cases. Regards.

I don't think the 100 yard rams are that hard to knock over. I've seen guys shoot them with .22LR and about 70% go down; .22 Magnum will do 100% and that's only 40 or 50 grain bullet at 1800 FPS.

[Larry Gibson]

I've been using 358477 bullets in numerous .357s (Colt, Ruger, S&W and TC) for years. In .357 cases I use 4 gr Bullseye for 900 fps in 6" revolver and it is quite accurate. For a heavier medium load with this PB bullet cast of WWs I use 7 gr of Unique which runs 1250 fps from the 6" barreled revolvers. Those are my basic low end and medium loads for the .357. They have shot quite well in every .357 revolver I've used them in over the years. For my full bore magnum loads I use 358156 bullets.

Larry Gibson

[GrizzLeeBear]

Thanks guys.

Scrounger, thats what I have seen with FP as well. The 22 mag. will ring the occasional ram, but knock most down. I figure a 150 gr. 357 boolit going 850 - 900 fps should be pretty reliable on them and be a very managable in rapid fire in bullseye. Also, getting most of the closer animals is key to getting good scores, the occasional rung ram isn't as important. Just shooting for fun anyway.

Larry, those are exaclty the kinds of loads I'm looking for thanks! I've been using clays with my wadcutter loads. Looked to me like 3.5 - 4.0 grains would be about right. Haven't tried any Bullseye powder yet. I've heard it burns a little dirty but Its a standard for accurate light loads, so I may pick some up to try. I do have some Unique and was thinking 6 - 7 gr. would bee a good medium load as well with this boolit. Sounds like you've had good luck with it.

[Cherokee]

Been using 358477 for 40 years. I like 3 to 3.5 of 231 for plinking and 13 of 2400 for serious range. Properly fitted to gun, no leading problems. 7.5 Herco is also a good load. I have the 358156GC and its good, but I don't ususally need the gas checks if the bullet fits the gun properly.
:castmine:

[GrizzLeeBear]

Well I got the mold on thursday (before last) and cast some up. This mold is not in the greatest shape and needs some TLC. It doesn't quite close all the way, leaving a parting line or small amount of flashing on a lot of the bullets. One of the cavities has been dinged on the corner, causing the bullet to catch on it and not want to drop out. The holes for the alignment pins are pretty worn and I can feel a little up and down movement between the halves. I will be looking this mold over with a magnifying glass for any burrs that need removed and resetting the aligment pins. But I did manage to get about 150 descent bullets out of it (lots of rejects).
I loaded them with 3.5 gr. of Clays and shot some FP last weekend. Seems to be an accurate bullet. I Didn't do that great on most of the animals but I did knock down 8 out of 10 pigs at 50m. All of the misses were very close, didn't notice any that seemed like real "flyers", so I'm sure the bullet is accurate, the misses are just me. I only hit 2 or 3 rams, but they went down just fine.
Yesterday I got some Trail Boss powder and loaded some up. I like how this powder fills more of the case with these real light loads. A max load fills about half the case, so I can see it while loading on my Lee Turret press. Once the bullet is seated it looks like it will be about 80% full. A double charge will fit, but it fills the case just below the top of the case, so it would be very difficult miss a double charge while loading. Heading to the range today to see how they shoot.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Just got back from the range with my 6" GP100. The 358477 bullet SHOOTS with the Trail Boss! The IMR book shows a max. of 4.2 grains with a 158 gr. bullet for 865 fps. I found that my Lee auto-disk .95 cavity throws 4.1 gr. of TB, perfect! I figure the slightly lighter 150 gr. boolit is running right around 900 fps. Off a rest at 50 yds. it will shoot 5 rounds into a group that will stay in the X ring on a 50 yd. Bullseye pistol target! This load also shoots about a 5 inch group at 100 yds about 8 inches low.
I had some of the loads with the 3.5 gr. of clays left and shot those for comparison. Group is the same size with a slightly differerent point of aim (still inside the 10 ring. Fouling is about the same with both of these. I think both these powders burn fairly clean at these levels. It appears that most of the fouling is from the lube (Javelina). This bullet carries a lot of it. Looks like I will be shooting the TB for Bullseye and IMHSA Field Pistol.
I also found that the same .95 disk throws an even 10 grains of Blue Dot. So I loaded some of the 358156 with this load (slightly under max). This load is somewhere between 1200 and 1400 fps depending on which loading manual you look at. Without moving the setting on my red dot, it shoots about 3" higher than the 358477 TB load at 50 (no suprise). Group is about 1 1/2 inches. Heres the cool part, at 100 this load shoots dead on with the same sight setting with a group about 2 - 3 inches! Should make a good deer hunting load. I also may switch to this load for the rams on FP since it shoots a little better at 100 and will allow me to hold right on them. Man I love this gun!