Can I shoot 358 gr. lead semi wadcutters in a 357 sig? reason I have a lot of them. can I use 357 mag data safely.
Can I shoot 358 gr. lead semi wadcutters in a 357 sig? reason I have a lot of them. can I use 357 mag data safely.
Yes, you can. I suspect you will have issues with feeding a flat/stubby projectile from a magazine in an autoloading pistol. Subsequently, bullet set-back would be a concern depending on load.
I would not use 357 magnum load data without a lot of research. Case capacity will likely be much smaller than .357 Mag due to cartridge overall length that will chamber in respective guns. .38 Special load data would probably be safer: <3 grains of Bullseye, Red Dot, WW231, etc. and working up.
There is no reason to try to use anything other than 357 SIG data for reloading 357 SIG.
I can not find data for 158 gr. can you
Last edited by penrosepete; 04-15-2021 at 09:40 AM.
Ok with your edited post this now makes no sense.
Last edited by tai95; 04-15-2021 at 09:54 AM.
I just shot some and they fed good and quite accruate. bulls eye was better than 231. I can load and shoot here at home.
Not at all, just for most applications, no need. I have loaded 165gr bullets in 9mm, I know several competition shooters that do this. I have alos loaded 280gr bullets in 45acp, just because, but published loading data is for the masses, not the guys that go a bit off the reservation.
EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol
Step away from the loading bench and find an adult.
By asking if you can use .357 Mag data for .357 Sig tells me you're not mentally capable of producing ammo.
I'll make it easy for ya. Take a .357 Mag case and stand it next to a .357 Sig case and see if you can figure out why you can't use .357 Mag data for .357 Sig.
NRA Benefactor.
Lyman 50th edition Reloading Handbook has 357 SIG data with 147 gr. TMJ j-word bullets ,
the starting minimum loads would give you an idea as to powders and charges ...
I'm not sure how to adjust a charge for a 147 gr. FMJ down for a 158 gr. lead SWC .
Anyone out there have any advice ?
You could assemble a few dummies (no powder , no primer) to test plunkability and feeding from magazine into chamber by hand cycling the action ... that would at least tell you feasibility of the boolit's working .
Load Safe,
Gary
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
Have you ever noticed that it doesn't matter what question a person asks on about any thread, there has always got to be a wisecracker make some kind of comment that adds nothing to the discussion and ends up being a lame attempt at an insult!!
I will point out that the OP first asked about using 158swc in the .357 Sig- and then in post #8 states that he used them and they worked? My advice was going to be that they are too long and sharp shouldered for the short neck Sig round. And study the loading manuals for any similarities in .357 Sig/.357 magnum load data.
But never mind.
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Since you got some to shoot, I would send some to a testing house to have the cartridge pressure measured. Pressures can be high enough to cause fatigue failures in your gun, even if you don’t see anything after a few hundred shots.
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Use a chronograph to make sure the velocity is below published 147 gr data.
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Have you checked the fired cases & primers for pressure signs?
Penrosepete, Good for you! I'm glad you've already went and discovered for yourself what some people here never will.
The rest of you naysayers are weird and supremely narrow minded. Why are you even on this discussion board if you have nothing to discuss? If you can't or won't answer the OP's question, then keep quiet. There are people here on this forum who have shot thousands of powdercoated 200gr "Sig" using necked-down .40S&SW brass for Major class in pistol competitions. I shoot cast .358 158gr RNFPBBs in my Sig and have been for more than 10 years without any issue.
If the primers aren't flat and the cases aren't sticking then there is no excess pressure. All 357 Sig pistols are built to withstand the standard 40,000psi jacketed operating pressure. You're not going to get there with <3gr of Red Dot, Bullseye or WW231 at SAAMI Spec cartridge lengths.
Per Quickload:
Hornady 158gr lead SWC (.690" bullet length) in 357Sig with 4" barrel.
1.135" cartridge OAL
3gr Alliant Bullseye (53% case fill) is 14,300psi peak pressure, 758fps
5gr Alliant Bullseye (89% case fill) is 39,800psi peak pressure, 1113fps
I shoot 160 lead round nose in my 357 sig for IPSC.
I use 5.8 grains of WSF and load to 31.3mm in resized 40 cal cases. Approx 1100fps.
Yes you may be able to work up a load for that bullet .
No you can't use 357 mag data.
No one here knows what your reloading experience is . Loading semi auto rounds with a bullet that there is no data for the shape and weight in a small high pressure cartridge can be hazardous . You have very few warning signs before things start coming apart .
With no tested data you are going on a guess .
I don't think anyone advocated him using .357 Mag data, and I have no gripe with people stating that. I do take issue with everyone else treating a new forum member like an incompetent or child. It's inappropriate and does our reloading/shooting community a disservice.
For the record:
Most cast loads for modern cartridges are "reduced" from factory maximum pressure spec. Alliant's .357 Mag data for Bullseye lists a max of 4.8gr with a 158 SWC at 939fps. They do not list a reference pressure, but it sure looks low to me. As I mentioned above Quickload says you'll be at the peak pressure for 357Sig at 5gr Bullseye with that one Hornady cast bullet. That's in excess of the "max" .357 Magnum Alliant data, but within the pressure spec of the Sig round.
Will 4.8gr of bullseye work well for 357Sig? Most likely not, but Bullseye, in this case, will probably be as safe as if you had tried to use the same handloading methods published in any reloading manual for .357 Magnum (reduced starting loads).
The CB Safety Brigade can call me out, but in reality there is a lot of overlap in cartridges/loads and there will never be published data for every single component combiniation. Dogmatically adhering to only the published cartridge/component combinations is irrational, and disrespectfully berating people who safely test unpublished data/combinations is unnecessary.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |