Load for .357/.38Sp Marlin Carbine?

[Dalua]

I've acquired an old, but little-used Marlin carbine, which shoots very well at 100yds with S&B 158gr lead factory loads, which I've chrono'd at 950-1000fps.

I have on hand:
Unique powder
lots of .38Sp and .357 Mag cases
158gr flat-pointed lead bullets.

Although I've reloaded a fair bit for target and stalking rifles, this will be my first go with a pistol round. The various permutations of 38Sp, 38Sp+P and .357 data seem to offer more combinations than seems managable, and obviously I just need to find a decent load and stick with it.

Therefore, I'm wondering whether anyone has loaded for such a rifle, and is so, what you've found to be a good recipe to work up to.

All advice gratefully received!

[tacfoley]

I've acquired an old, but little-used Marlin carbine, which shoots very well at 100yds with S&B 158gr lead factory loads, which I've chrono'd at 950-1000fps.

I have on hand:
Unique powder
lots of .38Sp and .357 Mag cases
158gr flat-pointed lead bullets.

Although I've reloaded a fair bit for target and stalking rifles, this will be my first go with a pistol round. The various permutations of 38Sp, 38Sp+P and .357 data seem to offer more combinations than seems managable, and obviously I just need to find a decent load and stick with it.

Therefore, I'm wondering whether anyone has loaded for such a rifle, and is so, what you've found to be a good recipe to work up to.

All advice gratefully received!

I'll go first - 6.5gr of Unique, and stick to using the .357Mag cases. Shooting the 1/10th inch shorter .38Spec cases will eventually cut a gas-eroded ring in the chamber made for the .357Mag - good advice for a LBR, too, for anybody with one of those. Start at 6gr and work up, or not, depending on the results.

tac

[Bloke]

I have slowly reduced my load of unique to 5.0 grains . However very pleased with using trail boss powder, softer recoil and still good groups at 25 metres- can't get to my data sheets for the trail boss loads at present though.

[DesG]

It would all depend on what you want to do with the loads. For target/gallery shooting I use 3.4gn of Bullseye behind a 158gn round nose flat point cast lead from a Lee mold. I'm just going back to GM3 with a 4.6gn load as I find the Bullseye a little fast burning and too small a load in a magnum case but perfectly accurate at 25 and 50yd. These both chrono at about 1000fps and are very pleasant to shoot. Also I do find a lot more barrel leading when using Bullseye.

If you are planning on pest control (foxes or whatever) then you would want to change to a slower powder and up your velocity to 1500 or so. This is where you start to need harder lead and/or gas checks.

[Dalua]

Thanks for the advice - its a shame I have so much more .38Sp brass than .357, but it sounds as though the longer case is the one to use.

The rilfe will be used for target-shooting out to 100yds, and the accuracy with the S&B factory .38Sp is very good - so 158gr at about 1000fps seems to be a good thing to try to replicate.

On the advice so far, it looks as though I'll load .357 brass and start with 5.3gr Unique, heading up to 6gr or so depending on MV and accuracy.

Further thoughts gratefully received!

[DesG]

Thanks for the advice - its a shame I have so much more .38Sp brass than .357, but it sounds as though the longer case is the one to use.

The rilfe will be used for target-shooting out to 100yds, and the accuracy with the S&B factory .38Sp is very good - so 158gr at about 1000fps seems to be a good thing to try to replicate.

On the advice so far, it looks as though I'll load .357 brass and start with 5.3gr Unique, heading up to 6gr or so depending on MV and accuracy.

Further thoughts gratefully received!

Yes so do I, unfortunatly my Marlin 1894 tends to jam on the 38 cases so I was rather forced into the 357 cases which made using fast dense powders like Bullseye a bit iffy. (Too little powder in a big case = flashover risk)

[DaveC]

I have only ever used 357 cases in my Marlin after reading on lots of forums about 38spl cases not feeding well and also leaving a small ring of lead in the breach due to the round being a little shorter.

I have been using 4.4g of Bullseye with a 158g GM hard cast bullet with really good results at 50 yards, not tried of a longer distance.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find Bullseye any more and have switched to Accurate #2 (now badged as Lovex D032), still working on getting the load right, but so far getting some very nice results.

Dave

[dodgyrog]

I'll go first - 6.5gr of Unique, and stick to using the .357Mag cases. Shooting the 1/10th inch shorter .38Spec cases will eventually cut a gas-eroded ring in the chamber made for the .357Mag - good advice for a LBR, too, for anybody with one of those. Start at 6gr and work up, or not, depending on the results.

tac

I can't comment on the load for Unique quoted above but the idea of gas cutting in the chamber is an old wives tale!
I use 38 Spl cases almost exclusively and shoot a LOT of them with 3.2gr of fast pistol powder (Zero in my case) behind a cast boolit of around 150gr.
38 Spl brass is plentiful and usually free, unlike .357 Magnum brass.
After several thousand rounds of 38 Spl the chamber is fine.

[dodgyrog]

I have only ever used 357 cases in my Marlin after reading on lots of forums about 38spl cases not feeding well and also leaving a small ring of lead in the breach due to the round being a little shorter.

I have been using 4.4g of Bullseye with a 158g GM hard cast bullet with really good results at 50 yards, not tried of a longer distance.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find Bullseye any more and have switched to Accurate #2 (now badged as Lovex D032), still working on getting the load right, but so far getting some very nice results.

Dave

Hard cast boolits are quite unnecessary and require a bit more Oomph to obturate them into the rifling. I use a fairly soft alloy Brinelling around 12 (softer than the Lyman No 2 alloy).
Lead rings in the chamber - the lube is no good - get some decent stuff! Most commercial lube is too hard and is designed to stay put in the lube ring whilst the boolits are being chucked about in transit.

[dodgyrog]

Yes so do I, unfortunatly my Marlin 1894 tends to jam on the 38 cases so I was rather forced into the 357 cases which made using fast dense powders like Bullseye a bit iffy. (Too little powder in a big case = flashover risk)

Flashover risk - what ARE you talking about??????

[dodgyrog]

It would all depend on what you want to do with the loads. For target/gallery shooting I use 3.4gn of Bullseye behind a 158gn round nose flat point cast lead from a Lee mold. I'm just going back to GM3 with a 4.6gn load as I find the Bullseye a little fast burning and too small a load in a magnum case but perfectly accurate at 25 and 50yd. These both chrono at about 1000fps and are very pleasant to shoot. Also I do find a lot more barrel leading when using Bullseye.

If you are planning on pest control (foxes or whatever) then you would want to change to a slower powder and up your velocity to 1500 or so. This is where you start to need harder lead and/or gas checks.

+1 Some common sense here

[Turnup]

Flashover risk - what ARE you talking about??????

+1 This is pure nonsense - an oft quoted internet myth.

I use 2.9 gn of D032 in a .38 spl case. It is well less that a quarter full.

Research by a powder manufacturer (I forget which) has shown that peak pressures in partially filled cases are highest when the powder is all at the base of the case, lower when the powder is all at the front of the case, and in between the two when the powder is laying along the full length of the case. So if you are using light target loads, better consistency is achieved either by deliberately orienting the firearm so as to settle the powder to a repeatable position, or if that is not practical (speed shooting for e.g.) by use of a filler.

There is a risk with low charges: If the charge fails to eject the bullet from the barrel, and you fire another one........and it is this which has led to the myth of detonation AKA flashover.

Single, double and triple base powders do not detonate.

[airgunnut]

a load that's commonly used in our club is 4.1 of unique and a 158 grn truncated cone cast head, gives around 300 foot pounds (we only shoot at 20m on an indoor range and we found that the truncated cone gives better accuracy,) any thing lower than 4.1 out of my marlin (with 158 grn tc) and the grouping opens up, but you might find it different with your gun

do your self a favour go to your gun shop and ask if they have any load data books (the powder manufacturers give them out free) and stay between the minimum and maximum they state for the given powder/case/head

[cookoff013]

ba10 is good for .38spl. i dont reload or shoot .38spl. but i have used it in 12gage target load applications, 12gauge subsonic applications where it really excels. i researched the powder before buying and developing stuff. i wanted a powder faster than bullseye. titewad is as fast a burning powder as bullseye. i`ve seen lots of loads that crossover and virtually mirror load for load (in shotgun).

my first comparison was researching what these powders can do in a common case. that ended up being a .38spl. titewad is not marketed as a .38 powder, but bullseye isnt marketed as a shotgun powder anymore. just due to other powders being made.