Reloading 158 gr for 38 special

[HappyChappy]

My Son turned me on to this forum, his handle is "Prophet" from Oceanside. I grew up shooting but around 24 life got to busy but i am back at 58. Anyway, I picked up a Lee 1000 progressive 3 die reloader for 38 and 357 mag. I have 158 grain PRN Berry' bullets; CCI small pistol primers; IMR Hi-Skor 700-X powder. I was going to start off at 3.6 grains of powder, may i get some input? The brass is once fired, by me, my brother who has been loading for 45 years says i do not have to clean them, input please? I am shooting a S&W snub nose revolver. I appreciate any wise info, thank you.

[stilly]

My Son turned me on to this forum, his handle is "Prophet" from Oceanside. I grew up shooting but around 24 life got to busy but i am back at 58. Anyway, I picked up a Lee 1000 progressive 3 die reloader for 38 and 357 mag. I have 158 grain PRN Berry' bullets; CCI small pistol primers; IMR Hi-Skor 700-X powder. I was going to start off at 3.6 grains of powder, may i get some input? The brass is once fired, by me, my brother who has been loading for 45 years says i do not have to clean them, input please? I am shooting a S&W snub nose revolver. I appreciate any wise info, thank you.

WHOA! You got a Lee Pro 1000 to work? and you are using it for .38/.357??

Lemme look somethin up...
For .357 the BoLee shows 5.5gr nothing LESS and nothing MORE. GOOD LUCK ON THAT. And 1.580 = COAL minimum.
For .38 spl the BoLee shows 3.0-3.6 gr so that could work better for you, BUT again, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. COAL = minimum of 1.520.
I would start at 3.0gr or 3.1gr and work my way up.

I am using LEAD data from BoLee and it is on pages 557 and 567 for .357 and .38 spl respectively.

If 700x is ANYTHING like 800x then you best weigh each charge.

One thing I am noticing though is that 700x (in my book is guilty of being a crappy powder if it is close to 800x) is near the VERY bottom of the list of powders to use for this caliber.

I am guessing that you should also be careful of double charges and if you have ANY other powder you can use, I suggest you use it instead. Provided it is pistol powder. WST is even better...

I would double check that revolver, snubbies tend to be .38SPL only SOMETIMES but if you are making plinking rounds, then .38 is what you want to load anyways. Cleaning your rounds- meh, I clean mine, but I am OCD like that. MANY folks clean theirs and SOME folks do not bother unless they need it. It is up to you, but make sure the spiders are out of the shells before you dump powder in them, mosquitos are okay to drop into a shell, but spiders not so good...

Have you ever reloaded before? If not, then you REALLY do need to pick up a reloading book and READ IT. Just the part about reloading though, the rest of it is recipes and data for different calibers.

As for presses, I would have been using a single stage for a .38/.357. Progressive is a bit overkill unless you are shooting a lot of rounds, like more than a couple hundred a week or so.

Anyways, Just my opinion since you asked for it. Good luck and be safe and for SURE weigh each of those loads for .357.

[deac777]

I've used 700-X for target .38 spl loads for over 30 years. I've had excellent accuracy using a 158 gr SWCL bullet with 3.2 grains for 700-X.

[HappyChappy]

I thank you both, yes about 35 years ago i loaded much but as i said life got busy, i will take your advice in reading. My Son gave me the powder so I will use it and see. the snub is a 357 mag b ut i am loading 38 and yes i am shooting as much as i can.

[rm1911]

since it is a 357 and you're shooting 38's, don't shoot lead. plated is ok though. lead bullets from 38 brass in a 357 revolver will leave a nice lead ring inside the cylinder, about 1/8" inside the forcing cone or whatever it's called. and it makes loading 357's impossible without some serious lead removal. and it's not a fun task.

I do shoot plenty of lead but out of 357 brass, which doesn't cause the problem. as for powder, I'm not familiar with 700-x, however, revolver loads are easier in that a nice light load will still shoot fine since there's no slide to cycle. the only problem could be too light a load and a stuck bullet, but that's usually not an issue. the real concern is the double charge, so always make sure you don't.

you'll want to shoot lighter loads out of a snubby anyways as hotter rounds are not so much fun.

[maxx03]

I checked the Hodgdon reloading site and found that your 3.6 grains are towards the high end of the load data. 3.2 Min - 3.7 Max. You might want to back down to 3.2 and work up.
357 Magnum 4.5 Min - 5.7 Max. http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

[RandyD]

since it is a 357 and you're shooting 38's, don't shoot lead. plated is ok though. lead bullets from 38 brass in a 357 revolver will leave a nice lead ring inside the cylinder, about 1/8" inside the forcing cone or whatever it's called. and it makes loading 357's impossible without some serious lead removal. and it's not a fun task.

I do shoot plenty of lead but out of 357 brass, which doesn't cause the problem. as for powder, I'm not familiar with 700-x, however, revolver loads are easier in that a nice light load will still shoot fine since there's no slide to cycle. the only problem could be too light a load and a stuck bullet, but that's usually not an issue. the real concern is the double charge, so always make sure you don't.

you'll want to shoot lighter loads out of a snubby anyways as hotter rounds are not so much fun.

I partially agree with you. Shooting .38 Special lead bullets in a .357 Magnum chamber does leave a ring of lead that needs to be removed to shoot a .357 Magnum. However, a Lewis Lead Remover that can be purchased at Brownells, makes removing lead from the cylinder and barrel an easy task. http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleanin...prod21587.aspx

[rsrocket1]

Yes, shooting 38's out of a 357 leaves a ring which makes shooting 357's right after the 38's a pain.

BUT, a second or so with a couple of strands of Chore Boy wrapped around a bore mop will take that ring off in about 10 seconds. Less if it is attached to a drill.

I shoot 158g cast lead bullets (Lee 358-158-RF) in my Ruger Service Six 357 magnum all the time and only use 357 cases for really big loads. 5 grains Unique in the 38 special case is a nice stout load (low to mid 900 fps). 3 grains Red Dot for really light load (more in line with factory 38 special loads @ 700 fps).

Just make sure you weigh a bunch of drops to ensure you are really metering the proper amount of powder from your progressive press.

Good luck and welcome back. I also got back to shooting after 20+ years of life, kids, work.

[HappyChappy]

I want to thank you all very much for the info. My eldest Son is the one that has got me back in again, he shoots a lot. He is "Phophet" from Oceanside, a good man and is about ready to turn 34, time goes by fast. I blinked and he was taller, stronger and better than me. He is diffinitely Someone i am proud of as in my Daughter and my other Son. Thanks again and i will let you know the matters of the loading.

[John Joseph]

Just to comment, .357 charges in .38 Special cases are a big no-no.

[roc_my_tims]

Tag for great info

[50BMGBOB]

I'll chime in with another question. I am about to start loading 38sp for my wife, she wants a light than factory load. I picked up some plated 158gr bullets but having problem finding loading data for them. Lot's of data for jacketed and for cast lead. Where should I start with plated bullets though? with the lead or jacketed or some where in the middle?

Also, I have some Titegroup powder I planed on using with small pistol primers.

[maxx03]

Bob check out the link I posted a few posts above. There is some good info there. You can use either load data. Just work up. You can't shoot 38 fast enough for the plating to peel.

I'll chime in with another question. I am about to start loading 38sp for my wife, she wants a light than factory load. I picked up some plated 158gr bullets but having problem finding loading data for them. Lot's of data for jacketed and for cast lead. Where should I start with plated bullets though? with the lead or jacketed or some where in the middle?

Also, I have some Titegroup powder I planed on using with small pistol primers.

[M1NM]

Reloaded 20+ years without cleaning brass. Bought a tumbler last year because I had a lot of dirty range pickup 223.

[50BMGBOB]

I do use HodgensReloading Data. But like I said, they list cast and jacketed. I have heard some say plated load with lead charges, others say to use jacket charges. Looking for a safe light load for the wife. Even with my reloads, I don't think I ever get to max loads, just fast enough and accurate.