Snubby magnum loads

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crazdgunman

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I normally pack a well trusted, full-sized fire breathing .357 Glock due to lingering paranoia (and a past career in law enforcement), but I also sometimes pack a handy little Smith .357 Model 66-6 with a 2.5 inch barrel and the nifty Hogue Bantam grips.

I've been using a handload of a 125 grain Speer Gold Dot JHP over 9 grains of Unique. It turns out a decent 1285 FPS, and about as much recoil as I would want to deal with in a gunfight.

Any discussion about handloads in defensive guns aside (if the shoot is a good one it won't matter, and if it isn't you're screwed no matter what) what are some of your favorite short barreled .357 loads?
 
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I normally pack a well trusted, full-sized fire breathing .357 Glock due to lingering paranoia (and a past career in law enforcement), but I also sometimes pack a handy little Smith .357 Model 66-6 with a 2.5 inch barrel and the nifty Hogue Bantam grips.

I've been using a handload of a 125 grain Speer Gold Dot JHP over 9 grains of Unique. It turns out a decent 1285 FPS, and about as much recoil as I would want to deal with in a gunfight.

Any discussion about handloads in defensive guns aside (if the shoot is a good one it won't matter, and if it isn't you're screwed no matter what) what are some of your favorite short barreled .357 loads?
 
crazd,
Notice you have just 7 posts so, I want to welcome you to the forum first of all. (This is the best section of it!
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)

I don't have a short barreled 357mag but I do have several 38spl ones. One is a M637 with an 1 7/8" barrel and in that firearm I carry factory 148gr JHP Fiocchi rounds.

I also have a M60 -13 with a 3" barrel that is stoked with a 158gr LSWC handload that gives me right at 1100fps from that gun.

Yeah, it's a little stout but manageable.
Hope I never have to use it.
 
I think one of the better ones may be 5.5 gr of Unique with a 158 gr LSWC bullet in .38 Special brass. It's around 920 fps or so out of a 2", but really needs to use a cast bullet instead of the swaged ones from Hornady, Speer and Remington.

The medium burning rates, like Unique or Universal, will deliver less recoil than the slower powders and provide a little extra margin of safety from double charges with the real fast burning powders, like Bullseye.
 
If you're getting an honest chronographed 1285 FPS from a snubby 357,that's very good.Speer # 11 shows 1390 from a 6" using 9.1 of unique.

Newer reloaders will probably balk at some of this because it's off the charts with so much of the modern manual data.The 357 has been watered down from it's original specs.

With the Speer 125 gr JHP,I've used 21.0 gr of W296 with good results although in all honesty,I did not chrono it.I've also used 17.5 of 2400 behind that bullet.
 
If what I posted isn't enough "juice", there's always 8.0 gr of SR 4756 with a 158 gr LSWC in .38 Special brass (The Load) at 1100 fps out of a 2". Then we could go further with .357 Mag brass, but recoil and control may be a problem.

I have some reservations about a 125 gr producing enough velocity out of a 2" to be as effective as a heavier cast bullet going a little slower.
 
The Speer #8 manual has a special section on 357 mag snubby loads.Actual chronographed figures show nearly 1400 FPS with a 125 gr jacketed bullet (from a snubby 2 1/2 inch revolver).

Years ago,I used a great deal of data from the Speer #8 manual and never had problems.Naturally I worked up to these loads.
 
Here are some heavy 357 mag loads I like.

1. Remington 125 gr. R357M1. This load clocks 1260 fps in my 2-1/8" M640 and 1345 fps in 2-3/4" Speed Six. It is my current carry load for Speed Six. Speer and Federal make full house loads with similar ballistics; Federal has a nerve to market it as "low recoil"...

2. Remington 158 gr. R357M2. Clocks 1110 fps in M640 and 1150 fps in Speed Six. I use this load for carry in M640.

3. Buffalo Bore 125 gr. 19D load is advertised at 1476 fps (!) from a 3-incher. Something to consider if you are not recoil sensitive.

4. BB also has a 158 gr. load (19C) advertised at just under 1400 fps from a 3-incher. That's a healthy 686 ft*lb, folks! Comes at the expense of very heavy recoil though -- power factor is 220. For me it's too much in a K frame but your milage may vary.

5. Handload with 17.0 gr. 2400 under 140 gr. Speer bullet is said to reach over 1300 fps from 2-1/4" SP101. I haven't tried it myself but trust the person who shared this data.

Some people prefer mid-range loads. There is any number of those offered by all major manufacturers -- Speer, Remington, Federal and Winchester. Stephen Camp posted a nicely written review titled Can Less be More? A Look at .357 Mid-range Magnums. Check it out if you don't want full house loads.

Mike
 
Yep, Smith Crazy...8 posts in four years. I haven't been back in a while.

And yeah, that is a chronographed performance. I figured a fairly fast powder like Unique might suit the shorter barrel magnum without so much muzzle flash.

I use the Alliant (and other powder manufacturers websites) to get the most recent data these days, and the max for Unique at the moment with a 125 grain jacketed bullet is 9.6 grains.

But just under 1300 FPS is fast enough in that medium weight revolver for me. Fast and accurate follow up shots are important too.
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I carry the Buf. Bore 158 gr load in both my 640 and 60 3” I would not advocate a day at the range with it, but I can hold it on target at 15yards for 5 rounds, and should I run into social problems I expect it would be a great leveler. If nothing else the flash/bang should get them.
My practice load is 10.1 gr of AA 7 or 9.0gr of AA 5 W/158 gr Keith or Lyman 156. I always use .357 cases.
 
If you're looking for something a little lighter to carry in your short barrel .357 Magnum the Speer 135gr Short Barrel Gold Dot round is a very good choice. I did some work on replicating it and came up with what I feel is a good replica. I use a 135gr Speer GD SB bullet or a 140 Hornady XTP bullet over 8.8gr Power Pistol using a standard small pistol primer for right around 1,000 fps.. Except for the excessive flash it's a great load. I'm going to try and duplicate Speer's short barrel Magnum round using HS-6 this summer to cut down on the flash. I should be able to obtain similar results using HS-6 as I got with Power Pistol. (I used Power Pistol because Speer recommended it)
 
Just got back from a mountain trip earlier Sunday morning.

Me and a bunch of friends (all reloaders) went up into dee hills to chronograph our various rounds for ACTUAL speeds, and to see which were the best suited for what we wanted to do. (Home defense, penetration, target shooting, steel plate plinking, etc...).

In an earlier post I started (which I cannot find now), I was asking for good load data for a Smith & Wesson model 60. (.357 magnum, 2 1/8" snubby with an unfluted cylinder). Some of the folks suggested the 125 grain beasties. But to my dismay, to get the optimal performance from these light loads, the powder created a horrible blast and a painful kick to my hand.

Anyhoo...to make a long story short, I took my Beta Master Chrony with me, and below is the data for a great-handling, very controllable, great penetrating round. My goal was to keep it at approximately 1000 fps, which I was very close to. (The recoil was pleasant enough that I may increase it to 16.2 grains and give it a try).

In Christ: Raymond

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


.357 MAGNUM

SPEER 140 GRAIN JHP, IMR 4227 @ 16 GRAINS, C.O.L. 1.590”


SMITH & WESSON MODEL 60, 2 1/8” BARREL (W/UNFLUTED CYLINDER)

Shot #1 – 988.9
Shot #2 – 1000
Shot #3 – 1020
Shot #4 – 970.5

Average FPS of 4 shots = 994.85 FPS
 
I often carry Win Silver-Tips in my SP101s and my handload that is fairly close in performance is a Rem 140JHP powered by 12.0gr Blue Dot and a Fed 100 (not a magnum primer). Yeah, BD gives a lot of flash/bang, always fun at the range, but this load has been very accurate for me in short barrels and is easy to shoot. Plus, the extra dazzle & sizzle effects if used at close range could count for something!
 
Long, long time ago, a reloader/handloader buddy of mine & I used SR-4756 to "hot-rod" our duty ammo.
I cannot recall what was the then-published dose was. I do know it was taken from a Speer manual, circa: 1970...
We would use an inertia bullet-puller to reclaim the department's 158-gr L-SWC, and using "their" brass and primer, stoke up the case with SR4756.
Next time at the range, Rodman's Neck, I was shooting at the primitive-for-the-time, knock-down targets. Second round hit the link holding the target up. As fate would have it, the target fell face down. The range officer came over to me and asked just what the hell I was shooting? Department ammo, of course. He takes my Model 10 and fires the last 4-rounds.
He gives me an evil look, and says; "BS, what the hell ARE these?" I, of course, plead ignorance. After some cajoling, and asking if this were "off-the-record", told him what was done. He grinned and told me to keep that kinda sh*t hush-hush.
This, of course, was before the advent of testing for bullet residue, GSR, and subpeona-ing the bullet manufacture for lot number and powder used, if the case required it.
Ahh, the good old days.

Mike, aka the Yankee Lawman
 
Nice story! I seem to recall hearing a thing or two about SR4756 load under 158 gr. SWC from a Speer manual circa 1970...

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Welcome to the forum, Mike.

Mike
 
Did someone mention a 158gr SWC and SR4756 from a Speer manual?

I must be hearing things! In a Model 10 no less!

"Well I'll be......."
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Yep, and still alive to tell about it. It's pretty amazing what could be done 30+ years ago, that can't be duplicated today.
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For those interested in loads for short barreled magnum revolvers, there is a good article in the sixth edition of Handloaders Digest. The downside is it was published in 1972. James D. Mason is the author. The author claims certain handloads will give 90% of the velocity and 75% of the energy of the same load in a 6" barrel. Loads given include reverse wadcutters and buckshot.

FYI.
 
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