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06-18-2022, 11:03 PM
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.357 Magnum rounds with jacketed bullets in Registered Magnum revolvers
The Registered Magnum came out in 1935. Original loads were with cast bullets and heavy leading was experienced. Later rounds containing jacketed bullets enabled the .357 Magnum to reach its full potential. Given the Registered Magnum was originally designed to fire rounds loaded with cast bullets and Registered Magnum revolvers are the first revolvers designed to fire the .357 Magnum round, are there ANY concerns or special considerations if loading rounds containing jacketed bullets specifically for a Registered Magnum revolver?
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06-18-2022, 11:41 PM
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No problem unless you are planning on shooting a ton of them. Modest use won’t damage the bore. During WWII S&W switched to a more wear resistant steel alloy for barrels.
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06-19-2022, 06:43 PM
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Lead bullets on the 1930's were hampered by poor lube and hardness. 1 part tin in 20 parts leas was a common alloy as was 1 in 30 or 40. 1 in 20 gives you 10 BHN, Pure lead is 8 BHN. A modern lead bullet of 16 BHN will neither lead your barrel nor give you appreciable wear. Lube has moved a long way past beef fat and mixed waxes.
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06-19-2022, 07:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mtgianni
Lead bullets on the 1930's were hampered by poor lube and hardness. 1 part tin in 20 parts leas was a common alloy as was 1 in 30 or 40. 1 in 20 gives you 10 BHN, Pure lead is 8 BHN. A modern lead bullet of 16 BHN will neither lead your barrel nor give you appreciable wear. Lube has moved a long way past beef fat and mixed waxes.
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mtgianni has summarized it very well.
During the days following introduction of the new .357 Magnum bullets for revolvers were almost exclusively lead. Production was facilitated by using the swaging process, requiring nearly pure lead. Bullet lubrication was minimal. Gas checks (a copper cup on the bullet base to protect against high flame temperatures, and provide some scraping action in the bore) were a new innovation.
More emphasis was placed on bullet penetration ability than any other factor. Bullets with metal caps over the forward portion, and bullets having hardened cores were developed to facilitate penetration long before any serious consideration was given to producing bullets that would tolerate high flame temperatures, high velocities, and extreme chamber pressures.
The era resulting in the .357 Magnum cartridge was one in which roving gangs were terrorizing much of the country, travelling in automobile convoys, striking entire communities with overwhelming force and weaponry. The .357 Magnum was conceptualized as a handgun cartridge that could penetrate the body of an automobile and retain sufficient energy to deal with the occupants, and do so at considerable distances.
Wear and tear on the revolver itself, and cleaning requirements to deal with heavy leading, were not the primary considerations. Much was made of the use of modern steels and heat-treatment processes to achieve such strength as was needed to withstand extremely high pressures, but little attention was given to the user's daily routines for cleaning and maintenance.
It was not until the latter 1950s that serious attention and development work went into the composition of bullets that would stand up to the demands of such high pressures with less negative consequences for the user. Jacketed bullets, bullets cast of harder lead alloys, and lubricants that would alleviate some of these difficulties became the norm.
Still, factory ammunition in .357 continued to be offered with soft-swaged lead bullets for decades (and probably still is). The .357 magnum has a strong reputation as being a cartridge that produces bore leading and fouling more than just about anything else.
One of the principal advantages of being a reloader is the ability to develop ammo for specific purposes, and for individual firearms, that allows maximum performance while eliminating many of the negative factors found in factory ammunition.
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06-19-2022, 08:28 PM
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Originally, I heard they had a hard time finding a suitable powder for the 357 Magnum with jacketed bullets. I always wondered when they made the metal capped bullet loads. It didnt make any sense.
As above, good handloads can be made with alloy bullets properly sized. The gas checks also help. I used to have a 6.5 inch older M27 with a beautiful bore. After 2 cylinder fulls of the old factory 158 gr 357 lead swc you could not see the rifling. A 1200 fps hand load with a harder 158 gr swcgc the bore would stay clean.
You can use different lead bullets for anything you might want to use a 357 Magnum.
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06-20-2022, 02:18 AM
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If you are still worried about leading you can always use coated bullets with a quality coating like made by Missouri Bullets.
Their 158gr coated SWC bullet will make a great choice for your registered magnum.
Are you sure you want to shoot that revolver? It is fairly rare and worth a lot of money.
If you can find a nice M27 you are getting a revolver very similar to the registered magnum and it the registered magnum's successor.
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06-20-2022, 04:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchAngelCD
Are you sure you want to shoot that revolver? It is fairly rare and worth a lot of money.
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Mine has a turn line and is probably better than 90% condition. But not pristine. I was going to shoot maybe 25 light rounds through it. I have a large number of .357 cal 148 gr wadcutters.
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06-20-2022, 05:03 AM
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Given the value of most examples of registered Magnums, I'd personally keep the ammo shot through it to mostly 38 specials in the RNL or FNL configuration. An ocassional Magnum maybe - but surely not a heavy version and I'd load my own RNL cast bullets as well - just keep velocities modest. While the Revolver was built extremely well and strong for its day, I don't know how time has effected the metallurgy. Not being a metallurgist or a revolver designer I don't know how advanced the integrity was and remains now. These are collectible / vintage Revolvers and I couldn't care less about trying to achieve magnum velocities with modern ammo. This is certainly not a gun I'd use for daily shooting.
Anyone lucky enough to own one of these coveted Revolvers would be taking a chance sending stiff magnum loads down the barrel of an 85+ year old revolver. More than likely a small amount would not hurt the 85+ year old Revolver - but why even take the chance? Again, if it were mine, I'd stick to hard cast RNL 38 Spl's. 99.9% of the time and keep the velocities very modest on the rare occasion I shot a magnum load through it.
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06-20-2022, 06:24 AM
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I’m sticking to light loads. I don’t need to set the world on fire.
Even with other loads, I never load to more than 50% or so of published maximum loads, meaning 50% of the RANGE between starting loads and maximum loads, and these are usually conservative to begin with.
Here’s a photograph of that which I intend to hand load for.
Last edited by mrcvs; 06-20-2022 at 09:25 PM.
Reason: To clarify
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06-20-2022, 06:21 PM
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"...I never load to more than 50% or so of PUBLISHED maximum loads..."?
Sounds like an invitation for a squib (or worse,!) regardless of the age or value of the firearm.
Probably a reloading policy that needs a careful review?
Good luck!
P.S. Stay away from H110 or WIN 296!
Last edited by STORMINORMAN; 06-20-2022 at 06:24 PM.
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06-20-2022, 08:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrcvs
I’m sticking to light loads. I don’t need to set the world on fire.
Even with other loads, I never load to more than 50% or so of published maximum loads, and these are usually conservative to begin with.
Here’s a photograph of that which I intend to hand load for.
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That gun has been dancin' in the past and deserves, nay, desires to go dancin'. You're not going to abuse it so ou won't hurt it.
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06-20-2022, 09:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by STORMINORMAN
"...I never load to more than 50% or so of PUBLISHED maximum loads..."?
Sounds like an invitation for a squib (or worse,!) regardless of the age or value of the firearm.
Probably a reloading policy that needs a careful review?
Good luck!
P.S. Stay away from H110 or WIN 296!
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I should clarify…I meant that if the starting load is X grains and the maximum load is Y grains, I rarely approach the maximum load and usually don’t exceed (X + Y)/2. Yes, what I wrote would result in a squib, for sure!
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06-20-2022, 09:53 PM
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That is a really nice revolver and I doubt I would be able to not shoot it either.
I knew what you meant with the 50% load post, not to worry...
Have fun with that historical revolver and please don't forget the range report and maybe a picture of your best target!
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06-20-2022, 09:59 PM
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I bought this revolver over 3 years ago so it’s time to finally shoot it some. Not much…but some.
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06-21-2022, 05:44 PM
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I had this one breathing fire the weekend after I brought it home.
RM1.jpg
RM2.jpg
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06-22-2022, 09:52 AM
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Lobo makes a great point in post #4 about the quality of the lead bullets. I bought a .357 in the mid/late 1960's and Winchester was still loading their Lubaloy bullets in full power .357 loads. For those who've never seen them, it's a lead SWC bullet washed in copper like a .22 lr bullet of the era. 6 rounds of those and your rifling disappeared under a coat of lead. BTW, they did do a metal capped version of this load with a cone shaped nose for auto body penetration.
Given the loads the OP is planning, a good quality plated bullet would work just fine. I've run the Berry 125 gr bullet at a tad over 1250 f/s (the velocity I was hoping for) with no issues. The plating is softer than a jacket, so should be little/no excessive wear.
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06-22-2022, 01:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrcvs
Mine has a turn line and is probably better than 90% condition. But not pristine. I was going to shoot maybe 25 light rounds through it. I have a large number of .357 cal 148 gr wadcutters.
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I now realize this thread may be confusing. I created the thread about jacketed bullets and then posted this. While checking my stock to see if I had any jacketed bullets (which I did not), I realized I had the aforementioned, and will utilize these wadcutters.
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06-22-2022, 02:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrcvs
I bought this revolver over 3 years ago so it’s time to finally shoot it some. Not much…but some.
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I have a few guns in similar condition and age. I use light to moderate reloads in mine also. To be honest I’m more concerned about wear and tear or bumps and bruises from bringing the gun to and from the range or doing something stupid at the range that will cause damage over a little shooting.
I think your more likely to damage the gun from sweaty palms vs a box of moderate reloads. I have gotten in the habit of using a light weight silicone treated pistol rug along with a heavier duty pistol carrier for protection during transport. On nice condition older guns I also make sure to wipe down the blueing real well once I get home. I might wait a few hours or days to clean the bore but I don’t want freckling to start on the blueing.
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06-22-2022, 09:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrcvs
I now realize this thread may be confusing. I created the thread about jacketed bullets and then posted this. While checking my stock to see if I had any jacketed bullets (which I did not), I realized I had the aforementioned, and will utilize these wadcutters.
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Like I mentioned above, you might want to look into coated lead bullets instead of plated bullets. Missouri Bullets makes very good coated bullets with a good quality coating, not just a wash. There are others but I can recommend Missouri Bullets from experience. Of course there is nothing wrong with Wadcutter bullets either.
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