M65 and 357mag loads

[ptf18]

Fellows. I handload, mostly rifle, which is what I shoot the most. Brought out a M65 3" I have and various handloads that I had made up. I chronographed them and by the end of the day at the range found that a 357 magnum load I had loaded was extremely accurate at 25 and 50 feet.

What I would like to know is, long term, how determental is the use of ANY 357 Magnum ammo on this K-Frame gun if using 357 Magnum ammo excusively.

 

[ContinentalOp]

Any gun shooting a steady diet of .357 Magnum ammo is going to have more wear-and-tear. How much that'll shorten a gun's useful life is hard to tell, but if you maintain the gun properly there's a good chance the gun will outlast you.

Specifically to the K-frames like the 65, you want to limit, or avoid, full-power loads with bullets 125gr or less (i.e., 125gr @ 1450fps). Heavier bullets, or lighter-powered loads, should be fine. FWIW, I had a 3" 65 and my favorite magnum load to shoot was the WWB 110gr SJHP (~1250fps, IIRC).

 

[Babysitr]

in my 65-2 I shoot .38 158gr. handloads....very accurate revolver! suprizes me all the time....If the .357 itch comes up, scratch it with an N frame

 

[buck460XVR]

My guess is that the gun will outlast your wrist.

 

[ptf18]

My guess is that the gun will outlast your wrist.

Buck... Yes indeed. Was noticing that after firing about 30 rounds of the various charge weights of .357

Maybe more so being that gun features its original (smallish) wooden S&W grips.

On the other hand I was amazed at the tight group the gun shot....so I kept firing until I was out of my handloads.

 

[hatchet jack]

I have a model 65 with 4" barrel. I shoot handloads in mine to. But I shoot more of a mid range power loading. I like anything from 6.6grs of Unique up to 7.5grs of Unique. I also use 158gr lead bullets in 357 cases.

I don't have a leading problem at that speed and the bullets are either Lasercast or my Lee tumble lube SWC bullets. They shoot to the sights. I don't know the exact speed but they should be in the 1150fps range. So about what the original 38-40 loads were.

I don't think that gun will ever wear out with those loads. And they are cheap to shoot and have all the recoil I want for a days worth of shooting.

 

[jtcarm]

Fellows. I handload, mostly rifle, which is what I shoot the most. Brought out a M65 3" I have and various handloads that I had made up. I chronographed them and by the end of the day at the range found that a 357 magnum load I had loaded was extremely accurate at 25 and 50 feet.



What I would like to know is, long term, how determental is the use of ANY 357 Magnum ammo on this K-Frame gun if using 357 Magnum ammo excusively.

It would help substantially to know what the load is.

 

[The_Truth]

I practice with Speer Lawman 158gr +p and exclusively carry Underwood 158gr SJHP .357 in my Model 13 3" FWIW

 

[gwpercle]

Details on your handload would help us answer your question.

I've been shooting a Ruger Blackhawk with a 155 grain cast lead SWC gas checked bullet over 7.0 grains of Unique for about 40 years now with no ill effects .
I don't believe this load would be hard on a S&W model 65 .

Gary

 

[kaaskop49]

Any gun shooting a steady diet of .357 Magnum ammo is going to have more wear-and-tear. How much that'll shorten a gun's useful life is hard to tell, but if you maintain the gun properly there's a good chance the gun will outlast you.

Specifically to the K-frames like the 65, you want to limit, or avoid, full-power loads with bullets 125gr or less (i.e., 125gr @ 1450fps). Heavier bullets, or lighter-powered loads, should be fine. FWIW, I had a 3" 65 and my favorite magnum load to shoot was the WWB 110gr SJHP (~1250fps, IIRC).

^^^what he said. As usual, ContinentalOp is on the mark. Not a handloader, I like the moderate .357 Blazer load for practice. Re the WWB 110gr SJHP: somehow, it has gained the reputation of being a 'gun-eater' like the 125gr planet-wreckers. It is anything but. When introduced in the 80s IIRC, it served as an acceptable load in K-frame mags to lessen wear. Still does, IMO.

Moderate loads seem to be the way to go.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[ptf18]

Details on your handload would help us answer your question.

I've been shooting a Ruger Blackhawk with a 155 grain cast lead SWC gas checked bullet over 7.0 grains of Unique for about 40 years now with no ill effects .
I don't believe this load would be hard on a S&W model 65 .

Gary

Fellows. The 357 Magnum load that I shot was this. 6.7gn WW231 and a 158gn jacketed HP (purchased 25ish years ago, unkwn MFT) WW primer.

Very surprised by the extremely small group I fired (at both 25 and 50 FEET) with this load, 2 handed and unsupported. This was thru a Model 65 3"bbl.

 

[oink]

Fellows. The 357 Magnum load that I shot was this. 6.7gn WW231 and a 158gn jacketed HP (purchased 25ish years ago, unkwn MFT) WW primer.

My Speer #10 would indicat that to be a mild magnum load. Using 158g Speer JHP it shows 7.2 to 7.7 grains of W231.

It lists the same bullet in a 38 Special as 4.5 to 5.4 grains of W231.

Blast away, it sounds like an enjoyable load.

 

[stansdds]

Fellows. The 357 Magnum load that I shot was this. 6.7gn WW231 and a 158gn jacketed HP (purchased 25ish years ago, unkwn MFT) WW primer.

Very surprised by the extremely small group I fired (at both 25 and 50 FEET) with this load, 2 handed and unsupported. This was thru a Model 65 3"bbl.

That's a relatively mild load for a 357 Magnum revolver. I think you are just fine with that load in terms of wear and tear on a K-frame S&W.

 

[growr]

Blaze away until your hands can't take it anymore!!!

You have found what works well for YOU and YOUR revolver....

Randy

 

[Erich]

The issues I've seen with K-357s have been caused by 125-grainers going really, really fast. Much more prevalent were issues caused by idiots flicking the cylinder closed or pulling the trigger super-fast for a long time.

I kept my 3" 65-5 hiking gun stoked with handloaded 180-grain hard casts over a max load of Blue Dot - they would give 1230 fps from the short tube at this altitude, and did no harm that I could see to the gun. Figured it would leave a mark on anything I might come across on the trails.
My brother's wife liked it, so he has it nowadays:

 

[ptf18]

Fellows. Thanks for the additional info. Not being a pistol shooter and thus not really doing much in the way of handloading for them, I was concerned about this load, being that I'm using WW231. Having read various forums about the use of WW231/HP38 with the "heavy" bullets I wonderd if its "too fast" of a powder. But the results were quite surprising.

The average velocity is 790ish. Thats a 3" barrel.

 

[stansdds]

W231/HP-38 is fine as long as you are not looking for magnum velocities. Just be sure that you don't double charge a case, it's easy to do with fast burning powders in the large capacity magnum cases.