I recieved a box of Bayou coated wadcutters and of course I can't find much on loads for .357 and .38. I have Alliant #7 and 2400 powder plus Bullseye for the .38. Anybody use any of this? Around here you get what powder is available (usually for a few hours only if it's pistol).

I've used those with bullseye and the regular loads of 2.8 grains.

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Jim

Especially for solid base wadcutter bullets the specific bullet has very little to do with anything. It can be coated, dry lubed (Hornady/Speer) or wax-base lubricant and there is very little difference in loading data. Load variation will be something like .2-.3 grains! Just load 148 gr. WC data and forget trying to find anything for these specific bullets!

Of the three propellants you list only Bullseye is appropriate, the others are too slow for this application.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Lymans 49th manual has data for both jacketed and lead bullets.

Other suitable target powders:

Red Dot, Accurate #2, Titegroup, 231/HP 38

These are other fast powders that are good for target loads.
Look at Hodgdon's burn rate chart for more similar powders.

If you look on the powder manufacturers product page on the internet, they will often give a description of what they are best used for. They also have load tables, some of which include lead bullets.

If you can't find these, you can use medium burning powders like Unique and Hodgdon's Universal, or Acc #5. Vihtavuori has a great range of powders, but they also have 'great' prices to match, $5-10 more than most other powders.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

As stated above, that is just a light weight version of the standard 148 gr lead target bullet that has been the go to bullet for years for 38 and 358 target work.

A fast powder will work just find but a medium burn will work but at almost twice the amount of powder, that will also add to the cost of your loads.

You have Bullseye, which has been rated as one of the top powders for this bullet weight for all target work. Look up some data and enjoy.

There's a couple of different ways to go about what you want to know. I swage my own bullets (lead and jacketed) and there's no data for them. The 1st thing I look at is the seating depth of the bullet. That's where the $$$ at!!!

Example:
That lite wc you bought seats .350" in the case and a lyman 150gr swc seats .355" in the case. You can use the lyman data for your bullet, just start with the recommended starting load and work up.

FWIW:
The old lyman 3rd addition for casts bullets list the 358495 141gr wc in the 357 section. The 358495 is a typical button nosed wc and lyman lists the oal @ 1.435"
Starting load ='s 10.5gr of 2400/18,200cup/1015fps from a 4"bbl
Max load ='s 14.6gr of 2400/39,700cup/1376fps from a 4"bbl

Second edition ? Wow, I only have the 49th. Does that have musket balls? lol