38spl / 357mag loads

[Daryll]

Back in the pistol days, BullsEye was THE powder for .38... 2.7 gn of BE behind a Bingley 148gn HBWC was probably the most commonly used handload, maybe up to 3.0 gns in .357 cases.

However, nowadays barrels are at least twice the length they were back then, so slightly slower powders are used...things like Red Dot or Unique, Vit 320 or 340 or Accurate #2.

I was always a firm fan of Red Dot, but like most of the Hercules powders (sorry, showing my age... now Alliant powders) its a bit dirty, which is why i now use Vit 320.

Obviously this is for gallery rifle type ranges.... 25 & 50 yards max.

Once you start looking at longer ranges you need to bump up the power and use slower magnum powders... like Blue Dot and Unique

HTH

[DesG]

I use 3.4gn GM3 shotgun powder with a 158gn SWC for gallery rifle stuff. It shoots within an inch at 25yds but we had a play at 163yds last week while we were out zeroing the 222 and 223. It was comical to watch the big lumps of lead going in like mortar shells. 15.4gn of H110 with a 158gn JSP was a diffrent matter though. Very useful out to 200yards. (the targets were set at 163yds cos the inconsiderate farmer hadn't cut his bean plants down to let us see the targets any further.

Bullseye is a very fast powder designed for hot loads in revolvers and pistols. The pressure peaks too quickly to be very good in long barrels. 8gn loads and upwards can destroy an underlever but work fine in a 4" revolver.

[severnsider]

Mag44uk, Daryll, DesG; thank you all very much for your helpful comments. I think I may have been a little short-sighted in thinking that Bullseye (£43 incidentally) would be a good starting powder for pistol calibre rounds in a rifle. I'll try a few different loads of BE and see whether accuracy can be improved to factory levels; after that I think I'll go for the Viht N320. I'm more interested in 50m with iron sights...... and if I can find a load that is fairly tight at 50m then I'll be happy enough to use it out to 100 yards.

[DedIdick]

6 grains of unique behind a 158gn LSWC & in a magnum case, works fine in both my LBR & 24" rifle.

[Daryll]

Mag44uk, Daryll, DesG; thank you all very much for your helpful comments. I think I may have been a little short-sighted in thinking that Bullseye (£43 incidentally) would be a good starting powder for pistol calibre rounds in a rifle. I'll try a few different loads of BE and see whether accuracy can be improved to factory levels; after that I think I'll go for the Viht N320. I'm more interested in 50m with iron sights...... and if I can find a load that is fairly tight at 50m then I'll be happy enough to use it out to 100 yards.

Try 4.4 gns of N320.... i found that the most accurate load through my Marlin, but a bit "pokey" for comfortable use through the LBR, so i went for the next most accurate, (but more comfortable to shoot), load of 3.8 gn.

[Simon_S]

My rossi love the 125gr was getting good groups about 1" at 50m

[severnsider]

Dick, Daryll - thanks for those suggestions. I'll try these too as I can find Unique and VV locally.
Simon, that's interesting - I was wondering whether the lighter/shorter bullet might have done better in the slow twist of the Rossi. Something else to try. Fortunately there are a couple of nearby ranges where I can try out various combinations.

[Simon_S]

I use 4gr Tightgroup in a 357mag case. not heavy load very light

[DesG]

When you've settled on a powder, load five of each up with .2gn increments from say 2.6 to 6 gn and try them. You'll soon find your rifles sweet spot. You should easily exceed factory accuracy.

[severnsider]

My rossi love the 125gr was getting good groups about 1" at 50m

Mine too, I have now discovered. 4.2gr Bullseye or 4.6gr N320 in a .38spl case works a treat at 20, 50 and (with a bit of holdover) over 200 yards. I think the slow twist of the Rossi might prefer the lighter projectiles...…….

[Simon_S]

Got new Ruger 77/357 it like the 180Gr TC with 3gr tightgroup

[malcolmk]

I currently use 3.4g of Vectan AS behind a 158g bullet in a 357 case in my Marlin and this works great at least out to 50 yards. I've also looked at using CSB5 as suggested by mag44 as AS has become expensive. Being a careful Yorkshiremen I don't like to spend money on expensive powders when a cheaper shotgun powder will do the job. The last I heard AS was £60+ per kg and CSB5 less than £35 per kg (see mag44's posting). I dread to think how much N320 is these days. It is good stuff though.

For interest I've found the following:

3.4g AS gives 875fps

3.0g CSB5 748fps
3.2g 760fps
3.4g 838fps
3.6g 886fps

So 3.5/3.6g looks about right for me and confirms AS and CSB5 are not that different.
CSB5 is slightly denser than AS.
My powder measure is set to drop 3.4g of AS and without altering it it drops 4.2g CSB5. For comparison it drops 4.4g of Viht 320.
These loads worked OK in my Marlin but you'll need to check them out in your own gun to make sure they're OK for you if you go in this direction.

[TR1KER]

I use a number of different loads with different weights of bullets, but for the fastest round, I am using 110gr FMJ with 16gr of Blue Dot powder, I am getting just over 2000 Feet Per Second.

Its a great load to shoot.