Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

[wagonpilot]

Anybody have any thoughts about reloading an accurate .357 round? I bought a Ruger 77/357 and would like to develop a round for accuracy, and use it for practice under 250 yards. I have been reloading .38 special for revolver USPSA matches and such but the plated round nose bullets for that are not good for the velocities of the .357 at 18 inches.
The barrel is a 1:16 twist... Any thoughts on a bullet that is a good flyer and a good weight for that twist? Also, I have been using titegroup in the pistol rounds, I assume a slower burn would be better in the rifle?

I have gotten MOA results with this gun at 100 yards so far with factory 158 grn hollow points but I am sure there is something better. Also, it does NOT like to go from one factory load to another. 100 yard vertical POI shift is deep with this one for each different load. I will just develop what it likes and feed it that.

Thanks!

 

[noahmercy]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

Grab some 180 grain Hornady XTPs and some Winchester 296. Somewhere between 13 and 13.5 grains lit by a magnum primer is likely to show you some sweet groups. If you find that bullet destabilizes or tumbles once ranges get long, step back to a 158 grain XTP with 16-16.7 grains of 296 (or H110...same powder).

My experience with magnum handgun rounds has led me to believe that the XTP is the most consistently accurate handgun bullet. They also do well on game animals, although I favor the Speer Deep Curl (Gold Dot) if I'm looking for maximum weight retention coupled with good expansion. The XTPs have a very wide expansion threshold, so even at longer ranges and lower velocities you can still count on some expansion.

 

[GJgo]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I agree with what Noah said. I will add that I have a 77/44, and the accuracy greatly improved when I added shims between the two halves of the bolt to tighten it up. Somewhere around .005" should be about right based on my experience & others I've read.

I haven't done it yet, but I also plan on getting one of the aftermarket sears at Midway. If you want accuracy I recommend it.

 

[ptaylor]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

Would love to hear some more. I've been playing around with mine quite a bit.

240gr Penn's hit hard but I get some extreme flyers
200gr Penn's will do a 6" 5 shot group at 100
200gr cast performance fp/gc will keep 10 shots under 5" at 100

All three are with 5.0gr W231. The speeds were between 1020 and 1060 depending on bullet. Would love to hear some more tips on improving things.

 

[wagonpilot]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

Got some XTP's and Win 296.
I am going to experiment with a couple versions and see how this rifle likes it.

 

[wagonpilot]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I see books with max loads for 158 Grn bullets with the Win 296 ranging from 15.7 grns (Hornady) to 16.6 grns (Sierra), to 16.7 (Hodgsen's data center)...

How do you know which to work up to? For me, with no obvious data to work from I would work up to the lower number. I am just wondering why the big difference between vendors.

 

[noahmercy]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I should add the caveat that all those loads have proven safe in various Ruger 357 Magnum revolvers (from SP101s to Vaqueros) and a Puma Model 92 lever gun. Considering the amount of steel around the case in a 77/357, I just about can't believe that any <span style="font-style: italic">lightly</span> compressed load of 296 could cause problems. As long as you're not really crunching the powder hard, pressures will be right where they belong...296 doesn't like to have room to move around.

Best safety practice is to throw a charge into your chosen brand of case (sized and primed) and measure how far down from the mouth it is to the powder. Then measure the bullet from base to the top of the cannelure. Compare the two measurements and if they are the same or the bullet measurement is very slightly larger, you have a winner.

Oh, and I didn't mention it before, but make sure you give the case mouth a firm crimp (I like to use a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die)...it helps ensure more uniform start pressures and prevents the bullets in the magazine from being pulled forward out of the case under recoil and tying up the mag.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

Another vote for XTP's and H-110 or 296.
357, 44's and 45 Colt all get the XTP/110 treatment

 

[mnhntr]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

For accurate loads in my Blackhawk I use Oregon Trail 158gr hardcast SWC and tightgroup.

 

[squirrel_slayer]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

not sure what the rate of twist of that rifle is but what about .358 diameter rifle bullets? there are some in the 180gr-225gr range that may stabilize?? would probably require single feeding and powders like w296 or lil gun.

 

[wagonpilot]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

Well, after testing several powder loads...
With the 158 XTP's, I settled on 16.1 grains of W296. It was the most accurate of the different powder loads with that bullet in my gun. It shoots OK for a practice round. On a crap day it held a good horizontal group.
Next I think I will try a lighter weight bullet. See if that 1:16 twist is happier with those.

 

[shooter444002]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

i like rem 158 softpoints( a little tougher bullet, i find the hollow pts a little fragile for my liking at 2000fps) over 18.5gr of lil gun out of my 2 marlins, one shoots 1.25" 5 shot groups at 100yds and the other right at an inch. i have used this load on a train car load of deer and hogs on culling operations, as have my wife and kids. less noise and recoil than 30/30 but kills just as good.

 

[fnbrowning]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I agree with others here regarding the Hornady XTPs as an excellent projectile. I use 158gr XTPs and Alliant's 2400 powder as a load for my Marlin 1894C rifle.

Various reloading sources, including Alliant, recommend 14gr of 2400 for the 158gr. There is some disagreement over regular vs. magnum pistol primers, but when I started loading for the .357 several years ago, small pistol magnum primers were recommended by most for .357 loads, so that's where I've stayed. YMMV.

 

[95LTZ]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I had very results using Lil'Gun & 180gr XTP's. This was in a Freedom Arms 9" bbl Silhouette revolver. My experience with Lil'Gun is that the heavier the bullet the better it likes it.

 

[michael_aos]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

Would it bad to use small rifle primers in a stout load for a 77/357?
--

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I've used small rifle primers before, you should probably work up those stout loads though, don't just swap primers and keep the same charge weight.

 

[wagonpilot]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

I had wondered about the ability to use Small rifle instead of magnum. I have thousands of small pistol and thousands of small rifle match, but no pistol magnums..
Where do you look up the actual differences between the primer types?

 

[fnbrowning]

Re: Reloading a .357 Magnum Target round

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wagonpilot</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had wondered about the ability to use Small rifle instead of magnum. I have thousands of small pistol and thousands of small rifle match, but no pistol magnums..
Where do you look up the actual differences between the primer types? </div></div>

I found this on another forum for you. I cannot attribue the page.

The following was posted by COSteve on Paco Kelly's Leverguns forum:
Paco Kelly's Leverguns.com • View topic - Rifle Primers in .357?
Paco Kelly's Leverguns forum