357 mag.

[bushwack]

The next gun that I want to buy will be a 357 mag. six shooter or a lever action in a 357 mag. Tonight I bought some nickel plated 357 mag shells (2$ a box) Can these be reloaded as many times as the brass shells? I have an old set of pacific chrome plated for 38 special. Its the three die set. Can I use this to reload for the 357 mag? Thanks for all your help, Bushwack.

[exile]

My understanding is that you can load .357's with a .38 special die, but not the other way around. I have a Lee four die set in .38 special and the instructions say to screw the die out one more turn for .357 magnum. Same with loading .44 magnums with a .44 special die set or .327 Federals with a .32 H & R die set. I should add I probably have less experience than most here, but like I said that is my understanding. Hope that helps.

exile

[DLCTEX]

I thought it was the other way around as the 38 die will not fully size the 357 case. If you are shooting loads that do not expand the case too much you may be able to do it.

[pmeisel]

You might want to invest in a new set of carbide dies in a 357/38 combination. Eliminates the need to lube.

As for the nickel plating.... some who reload a lot say that the nickel will split sooner than brass. My nickel plated cases have been reloaded several times, however. They should last a good while. Just inspect when you deprime and resize, and throw out anything with splits. I have been reloading for years and haven't thrown away all that many.

[RayinNH]

I have an old set of pacific chrome plated for 38 special. Its the three die set. Can I use this to reload for the 357 mag?

Yes you can. You will however need to back out the expanding die and the boolit seater die. The easiest way if you keep alternating between .38 and .357 is to get a spacer ring to take up the difference between the two cartridges. Redding for one makes the spacers probably RCBS as well. If the sizer die is the steel as opposed to the carbide die, you will need to lube the cases before sizing...Ray

[dragonrider]

I never had good luck for longevity with nickol cases. When I aquire them I just clean them and put them aside, usually give them away to someone that wants them.

[BCB]

I believe what Dale said is so...

You will not be able to full-lenght size the 357 Magnum case but you will be able to expand the case mouth and seat and crimp the boolit...

Might as well look for a set of 357 Magnum dies and use the spacer provided, at least it is provided with the RCBS or at least it used to be!

Set the 357 Magnum dies up for the 38 Special and then use the spacer to reload the 357 Magnum cases. Only will need the spacer in the expanding and seating die...

Good-luck...BCB

[Echo]

Hmmm... Back in the day I had my Dad make me a spacer that was .110 thick, and used it with my 38 Special expander/beller and seater dies. No need to use it on the sizer. Worked fine.

And I have heard that nickle plated brass is more likely to split, but you can't prove it by me. I have reloaded thousands of nickle-plated 45ACP's. Maybe not too many times each, probably no more than 5 or 6 times, so really not too conclusive.

And +1 on the carbide sizer die. Makes things MUCH easier. Bushwhack, If you want one, I have a spare RCBS that is yours for $10 delivered (US). PM me...

[bushwack]

pm sent to Echo

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Dies for the 38 special in carbide will also load 357. The carbide ring in the sizer die doesn't know the difference, but the decapping rod might have to be backed off a bit, But in the expanding die the expander must be backed out a bit to account for the longer 357 case. And the seater/seating die and plug have to similarly be adjusted for the same reason. As mentioned a spacer ring or rings if inserted between the lock ring and the press makes the conversion exact and quick; all as previously pointed out by others using fewer words than I did. The 110 spacer is makeable or it can be bought(as part of a set) in the Midsouth or Midway catalogs. I have found nickel plated cases to look good, but the plating starts to flake/peel after a while. Haven't had any split yet. You can use the old Pacific dies, but they may be what was called then "Durachrome" which was a form of plating. They'll work ok, but if they are not carbide then you'll have to lube the cases. And as oulined above the same adjustments would apply. I don't know about Durochrome, but early chrome plated dies did tend to flake and peel. An old opinion also was that nickeled cases were harder on the/any dies than brass.LLS

[lylejb]

When i was first starting to load for 357, win white box USA ammo was the commonly available cheeper ammo, and was almost allways nickel. As i was a member of a gun club, range brass was free to whomever wanted to raid the cans / sweep the line. I aquired lots of nickel 357's that way. I was told, and i don't remember by whom, that nickel was harder than brass, and i "had to" use carbide dies. Well, i bought my first carbide die set for those 357's and man am i glad i did. It's so much nicer not needing to mess with case lube. I'm not really sure if the "had to" part is true, but i'm sure i don't WANT TO go back to plain steel dies. Shortly after i replaced my 45 acp dies with carbide.

as far as the spacer, my RCBS set is marked 38/357 and comes with a spacer ring. it's a convienence, not a need. You could simply adjust the dies as needed to switch between 38 and 357. I think it would work fine to load 357's in a 38 die set, it might be a pain to repeatedly switch back and forth, re-adjusting the dies every time.

i've gone to using 357 cases for everything, even the lightest plinker loads. It's just a convienence for me.

I haven't noticed much differance in case life between brass and nickel cases. What i have noticed is nickel cases stay clean, no need to tumble like brass. :-D

LB

[EDK]

The next gun that I want to buy will be a 357 mag. six shooter or a lever action in a 357 mag. Tonight I bought some nickel plated 357 mag shells (2$ a box) Can these be reloaded as many times as the brass shells? I have an old set of pacific chrome plated for 38 special. Its the three die set. Can I use this to reload for the 357 mag? Thanks for all your help, Bushwack.

John Taffin made the statement that "After a 22 Long Rifle handgun and lever action rifle, a 357 lever action is the most useful firearm you can own." I own and prefer 44s, but JT is right. (Lots of luck finding a rifle...everyone else wants one also!)

Nickle plated brass is my choice. I don't load very hot and brass lasts forever. Gunbroker has the best prices on brass that I've seen...runs about a dime a casing for 357 and sometimes 44. I tumble mine before each reloading.

Carbide dies are the only way to go for pistol reloading. A four die set with separate seating ands crimping dies is another good idea. Better ammo and less screwed up brass. A combined seater/crimper is a concept way past its time!



:Fire::cbpour::redneck:

[HeavyMetal]

When I shot a lot of IPSC I lost nickel case, to neck splits, at a rate of three to one against Brass.

I have Nickel and brass case's for pretty much every pistol caliber I shoot and know that the nickel one's will fail first if everything else in the loading cycle remains the same.

This doesn't mean I won't use them and it does not reflect on the loads you can put in them it just means the case itself is thinner to compensate for the thickness of the nickel coating added to the case wall.

[Treeman]

They may exist but I have never encountered a .38 special die that would not fully resize a .357 case-remember these are straight walled cases and there is no benefit for the machinist in changing the die dimensions right at the level the case mouth would reach so it is very natural that there be room for an additional .10 inch of case. Supplied spacer rings are cool but you can go to the hardware store and sort through the washer bins foran appropriate dimension spacer-that is where mine came from.

I like nickled cases but they definitely do have a shorter average life than unplated brass. You can size nickel in stell dies-just lube them well.

[10mmShooter]

I've lost many of my 10mm Nickel cases to splitting and very of the brass cases. Nickel is great for rounds that are loaded for long term storage since nickel is more resitant to corrison than brass....beyond that I prefer brass to Nickel as well.

Nickel plating just doesnt wear well.

[Bowhunter57]

The next gun that I want to buy will be a 357 mag. six shooter or a lever action in a 357 mag.

bushwack,
I recommend ordering a lever action as soon as possible, as you might be waiting 2 months or more. I recently ordered a Henry Big Boy in .357 Mag. and had to wait 2 1/2 months...BUT it was well worth it.

This rifle shoots as good as it looks. :-D So far, I've tested 4 different loads with 2 different bullets and each one of the 3 shot groups can be completely covered with a nickel @ 25 yards. :cool:

Marlin makes a good rifle, so does Rossi/Puma, but the Henry Big Boy rifles are definately top of the line for fit, finish and accuracy. Still made in America!

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[TonyT]

The next gun that I want to buy will be a 357 mag. six shooter or a lever action in a 357 mag. Tonight I bought some nickel plated 357 mag shells (2$ a box) Can these be reloaded as many times as the brass shells? I have an old set of pacific chrome plated for 38 special. Its the three die set. Can I use this to reload for the 357 mag? Thanks for all your help, Bushwack.

I use the same die set to reload both 38 Special and 357 Magnum. The only minus to nickel plated cases is that they will withstand fewer reloads than the all brass version.