I stopped loading 9mm and have about 300 125gr. LRN bullets. My micrometer says they are .356".
Can I use these in a .38/.357?
Hornady has recipes for 125 gr jacketed bullets for these calibers but they are .357". They show the normal cast bullets as .358" for .38/.357. I'm wondering how much difference .002" would make?

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

well .... you could, but they wont be accurate and you'll be removing alot of leading with a wire brush

When I was a young lad, I made the mistake of loading several hundreds of 125 LRN 9mm bullets (0.356") in .38 Special cases. The result was many squib loads, including a number of bullet-in-bore mishaps. Most of the loads shot normally, but accuracy was only so-so.

That 0.002" inch difference in diameter may not seem like much, but believe me, it does! If you are gonna load and shoot them, SLOW fire, and watch out squibs would be my advice.

The first .38 Specials I loaded were made with 125 grain truncated cone bullets made for the 9mm. I put them over a light "target" load of Bullseye.

They shot very well in my Old Model Ruger Blackhawk .357. No squibs, and not much leading either. The dealer had just a couple of boxes so after they ran out I switched to 158 grain LSWCs. They shot fine too and I used them in NRA Hunter's Pistol Silhouette for a few years.

Depends on load and barrel. At best, it is mediocre. At worst, it will gas cut and lead.

I have a model 14 that triples the group size with .357 lead vs .358.

I did it several years ago as I wanted some light loads and had a bunch of lead bullets that I didn't want to load in my 9mm's. I loaded them over a light load of 231 and they seem to work fine.

You need to slug your barrel to determine that. .357 is a nominal dimension, not the actual dimension of your particular barrel.

You actually want your lead bullets very slightly over bore diameter.

Some years back there was a shortage of lead .38/357 bullets in my area. I tried 9mm cast bullets in light .38 target loads in two different .357 revolvers, a S$W and a Taurus. For short 7 to 8 yd indoor range shooting they worked pretty well and not enough leading to worry about. Never tried them at longer ranges. Some guns might not shoot them as well.

Jeff423,

If you have a Python or older Trooper, you might try them in those guns. The barrels of Colts were considerably tighter than Smiths.
As one writer put it, the Smiths were pretty consistently .358 barrels where the Colts (with an internal taper) started at the forcing cone at around .358 and ended at .356 or .355 at the muzzle (I'm working with memory here).

Dan

I have done it with no problems. POI was a little low in fixed sight guns but the grups were centered.

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll try some of them with light loads in a Model 28.

Jeff

Years ago, we put Python bbls on SW 19's called them Smolts and Ruger Security Six's
called them Cougars. I used 9mm bullets in both
with great results. Pythom bbls are 356 and shot
9mm bullets great--lead Good luck watch your
crimp, tight

I kind of have the same issue. I loaded up a bunch of .358 bullets for the .360 S&W rounds for the old victory shooter. They shot pretty close to the factory loads I had to pay my second born for as a comparison. I used a bit softer bullet so I think they reached out into the bore a grabbed on.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff423:
Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll try some of them with light loads in a Model 28.

Jeff

Please give us a range report when you shoot them.

I personally wouldn't shoot them. I would head over to the Classified forum and see if I could trade them for some .358" bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by max:
I did it several years ago as I wanted some light loads and had a bunch of lead bullets that I didn't want to load in my 9mm's. I loaded them over a light load of 231 and they seem to work fine.

I am currently loading the 125 gr LTC 9mm with 231 and the wife is shooting them in her model 13, 3 inch and her model 36 3 inch HB with no leading. Light recoil & accuracy is good.

IMHO and 40+ years experiences of handloading Squibs are not caused by bullet weight but by the lack of powder or bad primers.