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Originally Posted by LadySmithShooter
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What exactly is a cowboy load? I recently bought some .357 Mag 158 Grain to shoot cuz I really dont like the cleaning....and speaking of cleaning....what do you have to use to get your gun clean after those +P rounds. I tried the traditional stuff. Gun store gave me some stuff that smells like WD-40....it helped but man.....what a pain.....I spent 4 hours trying to get it clean and it still has rings.....they're lighter....but they're still there. 
Brenda |
Like P&R Fan said, Cowboy Loads are loaded with less powder, so they have less recoil. They aren't much good for distance shooting, but neither is a snub nosed revolver and under 25 yards they have about the same accuracy as full power rounds.
If you cannot find any locally, this is what my wife used before I figured out how to reload them for her.
.357 Magnum 158gr Rd. Nose Flat Pt. 1000pk
(They come in quantities 50 and 100 also.)
As for cleaning, I'll probably get yelled at by other forum members, but I finish a range session by running a few FMJs through the guns I've been shooting lead through, give them a squirt of Kroil, CLP, or something similar and then I run a Bore-Snake though them while they're still warm followed by a wipe down with an oiled rag. At home I'll give them more thorough cleaning if they need it, but only if they need it.
Both lead and jacketed bullets can leave residue behind, but there are solvent for both and the clean up is fairly easy if you don't let the build-up to get too bad. A quick cleaning after each range session usually takes care of it. The Chore Boy trick mentioned by m1gunner will take care of a heavier build up, but let me add that running a bore mop soaked in solvent and letting it set for several minutes before running the strands of a Chore Boy pad wrapped around a bore mop helps. Also make sure it is copper, some of the scrub pads are copper coated steel, which could scratch your bore.
As for the rings of powder residue that form right before the cylinder diameter reduces down to the throat diameter when you shoot .38spl in a .357mag, they aren't a problem unless they are thick enough to hamper loading and extracting .357mag ammo. I use oversized bore mops and brushes to keep the rings in my .357mag revolvers to a mild roar, but I never use steel bore brushes.
John