I will be getting my first .38 Super pistol in a few days and picked up some dies and brass to start loading for it. I wanted to start out with a 124 grain lead flat point that I’ve had good luck with in .357sig. I picked them because I have a good supply of powder coated projectiles on hand. Everything else I have in LRN .356 is “as cast” and I’ll need to powder coat first.
Anyway, my question is: Can I seat the FP 124 gr. shorter than a LRN as long as I maintain the same case volume?
The FP measures .032” shorter than the LRN. My Lee manual calls for an O.A.L. of 1.27” for the LRN, so I should be able to seat the FP to 1.235”-1.24” and have the same usable volume as the LRN, and I’m assuming similar pressures. I sized and loaded a .357 Golden Saber 125 gr.I had lying around and seated it using Hornady data for the XTP which shows an O.A.L. of 1.20”. The GS is only .013” shorter than the LRN, so more case volume is used and pressures would be higher. At what point does case volume vs pressure become an issue?
My reason for asking is that to get a good crimp, I need to seat it to just above the top lube groove, otherwise I crimp into the groove and it doesn’t look right. I’m using a Lee taper crimp.
Are these projectiles ok to use in this application? Or should I just PC some .356 LRN and stick with them? You guys that shoot .38 Super, what projectiles do you use? And what powders do you like? I was going to start with 5.5 grains W231 under these powder coated FP’s.
Anyway, my question is: Can I seat the FP 124 gr. shorter than a LRN as long as I maintain the same case volume?
The FP measures .032” shorter than the LRN. My Lee manual calls for an O.A.L. of 1.27” for the LRN, so I should be able to seat the FP to 1.235”-1.24” and have the same usable volume as the LRN, and I’m assuming similar pressures. I sized and loaded a .357 Golden Saber 125 gr.I had lying around and seated it using Hornady data for the XTP which shows an O.A.L. of 1.20”. The GS is only .013” shorter than the LRN, so more case volume is used and pressures would be higher. At what point does case volume vs pressure become an issue?
My reason for asking is that to get a good crimp, I need to seat it to just above the top lube groove, otherwise I crimp into the groove and it doesn’t look right. I’m using a Lee taper crimp.
Are these projectiles ok to use in this application? Or should I just PC some .356 LRN and stick with them? You guys that shoot .38 Super, what projectiles do you use? And what powders do you like? I was going to start with 5.5 grains W231 under these powder coated FP’s.