I have made a practice of using zero jacketed ammunition in my Ruger LCR 357 Magnum. Normally I shoot 38 Special Remington. I want to see if I can handle 357 Magnum version. What I have found so far are a bazillion forms of jacketed and lead-free ammunition, and Cowboy ammunition. Does any ammunition manufacturer make such ammunition?
357 Magnum Lead HP-SWC?
- Thread starter Naphtali
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STORMINORMAN
Member
Lead SWC-HP bullets for reloading are available from a few different sources: loaded 357 Magnum ammo...?
Not so much I could find. The lead hollow point being the hangup for the specific caliber.
Wide, flat-nosed semi-wadcutters in lead are offered by specialty suppliers.
Good luck!
P.S. Buffalo Bore's 38 Special +P OUTDOORSMAN with a Keith-style 158gr lead SWC @ 1,250fps
eek might be sufficient to make a determination as to whether this would be enough to satisfy your query...?
Not so much I could find. The lead hollow point being the hangup for the specific caliber.
Wide, flat-nosed semi-wadcutters in lead are offered by specialty suppliers.
Good luck!
P.S. Buffalo Bore's 38 Special +P OUTDOORSMAN with a Keith-style 158gr lead SWC @ 1,250fps
eek might be sufficient to make a determination as to whether this would be enough to satisfy your query...?
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Paul in Nevada
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Not that I can think of. I guess since 357 velocities will open JHP's the unjacketed HP is obsolete. I used to load my own with Unique back when you could still buy Unique.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
IMO the manufacturers don't want to produce .357 Magnum lead ammo because they can't know if the barrel fit will be correct so leading doesn't happen. They don't want the bad press, "Oh, don't use this ammo because it will lean up your barrel."
I have loaded plenty of 158gr LSWC/HP ammo in .38 Special +P but never felt the need for a magnum. I have loaded 158gr LSWC cast bullets for the magnum with no problems at all. The sharp shoulder of the SWC does all the work, no HP necessary IMO.
I have loaded plenty of 158gr LSWC/HP ammo in .38 Special +P but never felt the need for a magnum. I have loaded 158gr LSWC cast bullets for the magnum with no problems at all. The sharp shoulder of the SWC does all the work, no HP necessary IMO.
In the 1980s, the S&W ammo brand (produced by whomever) did offer factory SWC HPs in .357. Still have about 20 somewhere. Just purchased R-P .357 lead SWCs but they seem to be uncommon.
Kaaskop49
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Kaaskop49
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They really shouldn't make it. The swagged bullets lead the barrel like crazy. I shot half a box once in the 80's and regretted it. I gave the rest away. I've avoided it ever since.
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Buffalo Bore makes what you want.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
Running a production line for ammunition requires skilled operators and good equipment, constantly monitored and kept in perfect regulation for the "recipe" in production. Changing the production line over to production of another product takes time and skilled workers that might otherwise continue churning out tens of thousands per shift for delivery.
The marketplace is just beginning to return to some sense of normalcy after several years of severe shortages and empty shelves. Prices remain fairly high with customers ready and willing to purchase just about anything the store can put on the shelf, and pay stiff prices to do so.
Perhaps if the market recovery continues there will come another time in which manufacturers start looking for more ways to generate sales and claim larger market shares. Then we might see a greater variety of offerings and more competition for our business.
Personally, cast semi-wadcutter (plain and hollow-point) are all I use in .357 and .38 Special. Started casting my own about 51 years ago and found that there is nothing else I need or want. The last factory ammo I purchased was about 30 years ago.
The marketplace is just beginning to return to some sense of normalcy after several years of severe shortages and empty shelves. Prices remain fairly high with customers ready and willing to purchase just about anything the store can put on the shelf, and pay stiff prices to do so.
Perhaps if the market recovery continues there will come another time in which manufacturers start looking for more ways to generate sales and claim larger market shares. Then we might see a greater variety of offerings and more competition for our business.
Personally, cast semi-wadcutter (plain and hollow-point) are all I use in .357 and .38 Special. Started casting my own about 51 years ago and found that there is nothing else I need or want. The last factory ammo I purchased was about 30 years ago.
1sailor
Member
Back in the late 60's I remember shooting some Winchester ammo with lead bullets in .357 mag. As I recall it leaded my barrel so bad it looked like a smoothbore. I think they were trying some kind of copper "coating" in place of lube. They looked like they were coated with a thin film of copper dust.
SGT ROCK 11B
Member
I remember the blue box S&W ammo. 1970s and I am guessing into the early 1980s.
Early 1980s, the Gun Writers were saying the Federal 125 JHP 357 Magnum was a "Death Ray". So I got them.
Bill Lear
Member
Back in the day we chose to handload for just this reason - well, it was also less expensive compared to factory ammo.
I remember casting my own .358" slugs using a Lee, dual cavity mould. The bullet was a 160 grain gas-checked, SWC design and I generally cast them from wheel weights and other bullets I dug out of the shooting bank. My bullets were always a few grains heavy which told me they were softer than #20 alloy. Those were the days before the 9mm was even a consideration - the .357 magnum was king and I had a Dan Wesson (wish I'd kept it) that I picked up at Walmart for $145! I also had a Ruger Security Six, and a Ruger Blackhawk .357 magnum that cost a whopping $112! I loaded both .38 Special power and .357 magnum power loads based on the extremely generic Lee Loading insert, and later, Speer manual. I couldn't afford a sizer-lubricator at first and so my cast bullets lacked gas checks. I tumble-lubed my bullets using Lee's proprietary goo and I don't remember ever experiencing severe barrel leading - at least not any more than could be cleaned out by sending a few jacketed slugs down the barrel!
Today if I were to decide to load .357 hardcast I'd either source bullets of advertised hardness with gas-checks, or I'd set up to do it myself, but I haven't cast my own slugs in a long time. My basic goto alloy bullet supplier for the last decade has been Matt's Bullets, and these days they're offering a 165 grain hardcast with gas check that would probably be a very good choice for those who want to roll their own performance .357 loads. I source my .500 slugs from Matt's and have enjoyed great success with their 380 grain SWC-GC that I push to 1,450fps from my 4" M500. I've also used their 250 grain SOFT cast .430" HP slugs to make up a batch of .44 Special "hot loads" that clocked 800fps/355fpe from my CA Bulldog, and while it handled them well, I backed it down to 750fps/312fpe because - like, YOWZA that 800fps load was stout!
Anyway, I digress. Rim Rock Bullets makes a nice-looking 158 grain gas-check hollowpoint hardcast that is the bullet you want for 1,400fps/688fpe IF you plan to load your own and it's not hard...even in this overpriced, over-mechanized world, a simple Lee Hand press is really all you need to turn out a box of 50 while relaxing at the table. I would however suggest anyone loading pistol ammo add a Redding 10X powder measure coupled with a genuine balance beam scale such as the RCBS 505. The 10X throws charges for the 5.7x28 that are spot on using AA powders. I never run a progressive when loading performance ammo. Every step is by hand for the ultimate in reliability and quality.
I'd like to point out here that one of the major benefits of running hardcast lead slugs is they can can be pushed upwards of 100fps faster at the same chamber pressure as jacketed. Copper-alloy jacketed slugs have more bore friction and worst of all are the solid copper slugs because they can't compress to accommodate the barrel and are thus limited - you've probably already noticed that all copper projectile ammo seems inordinately slow compared to other types.
I remember casting my own .358" slugs using a Lee, dual cavity mould. The bullet was a 160 grain gas-checked, SWC design and I generally cast them from wheel weights and other bullets I dug out of the shooting bank. My bullets were always a few grains heavy which told me they were softer than #20 alloy. Those were the days before the 9mm was even a consideration - the .357 magnum was king and I had a Dan Wesson (wish I'd kept it) that I picked up at Walmart for $145! I also had a Ruger Security Six, and a Ruger Blackhawk .357 magnum that cost a whopping $112! I loaded both .38 Special power and .357 magnum power loads based on the extremely generic Lee Loading insert, and later, Speer manual. I couldn't afford a sizer-lubricator at first and so my cast bullets lacked gas checks. I tumble-lubed my bullets using Lee's proprietary goo and I don't remember ever experiencing severe barrel leading - at least not any more than could be cleaned out by sending a few jacketed slugs down the barrel!
Today if I were to decide to load .357 hardcast I'd either source bullets of advertised hardness with gas-checks, or I'd set up to do it myself, but I haven't cast my own slugs in a long time. My basic goto alloy bullet supplier for the last decade has been Matt's Bullets, and these days they're offering a 165 grain hardcast with gas check that would probably be a very good choice for those who want to roll their own performance .357 loads. I source my .500 slugs from Matt's and have enjoyed great success with their 380 grain SWC-GC that I push to 1,450fps from my 4" M500. I've also used their 250 grain SOFT cast .430" HP slugs to make up a batch of .44 Special "hot loads" that clocked 800fps/355fpe from my CA Bulldog, and while it handled them well, I backed it down to 750fps/312fpe because - like, YOWZA that 800fps load was stout!
Anyway, I digress. Rim Rock Bullets makes a nice-looking 158 grain gas-check hollowpoint hardcast that is the bullet you want for 1,400fps/688fpe IF you plan to load your own and it's not hard...even in this overpriced, over-mechanized world, a simple Lee Hand press is really all you need to turn out a box of 50 while relaxing at the table. I would however suggest anyone loading pistol ammo add a Redding 10X powder measure coupled with a genuine balance beam scale such as the RCBS 505. The 10X throws charges for the 5.7x28 that are spot on using AA powders. I never run a progressive when loading performance ammo. Every step is by hand for the ultimate in reliability and quality.
I'd like to point out here that one of the major benefits of running hardcast lead slugs is they can can be pushed upwards of 100fps faster at the same chamber pressure as jacketed. Copper-alloy jacketed slugs have more bore friction and worst of all are the solid copper slugs because they can't compress to accommodate the barrel and are thus limited - you've probably already noticed that all copper projectile ammo seems inordinately slow compared to other types.
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