38 special 357 mag

[Laguna Freak]

I carried a S&W Model 19 for years, A couple other models, Last was S&W Model 686, Before our department went semi- auto.
Done a lot or reloading and shooting. 38 spec. and 357 Mag.
My favorite 38/357 bullets was a Wad cutter 141 gr. and 150 gr. Keith style. I sized them with a .357 sizing die as I applied lube to the bullets. An old gunsmith/gun nut gave me a recipe for a lube that worked great, No leading even when driving rifle bullets to 2200 fps.
My play load in a 38 Special. was 141 gr. cast wad cutter. 3.2 (three and 2/10 Gr.) Bullseye, Remington primer. Shot very accurate in several pistols. I have loaded some150gr. Keith bullets with Unique powder in 38 spec. cases, Shot well too.

My 357 mag. load was 150gr. gr Keith flat nose cast bullet, With a load of Hercules Herco powder. Tried 2400 in my 4" barreled service pistol. 2400 would not burn clean in 4" barrel and find unburned powder on a sheet in front of pistol.

I need to find some newer powders and work up a load for the 150 cast bullets. My son got a Henry rifle in 357 Mag. Need to load some shells to play with in the Henry rifle.

I recently acquired a very clean 6" S&W 14-2 mfd 1967 (.356 bore). Talk about an amazing revolver trigger! Double action is the smoothest and lightest I've ever experienced and single action is almost as good as my rifles. I'm pretty darn happy with Silhouette pushing .357 x 140 gr XTP HP and .358 x 148 gr BNWC. I've got some .357 x 158 gr XTP HP loaded and waiting on an order of .357 x 145 gr Keith profile LSWC HP. Last weekend I shot 5 rounds of the 148 BNWC at a 12"x12" target at 100 yd from bench and hit 3 for 5.

 

[Critter Picker]

I used a lot of Herco behind Lymans 358429 173 Gr. bullet that was designed by Elmer Keith. I've also had really good luck with Lymans 358156 155 Gr. semi wadcutter that was designed by Ray Thompson. Propelled with blue dot or Accurate #5 . The most accurate jacketed bullet in my 686 is the Sierra 158 JHC pushed by Accurate #9 or Winchester 296. With the 296 load I always used magnum primers.

The 124 grain pulled bullets are most likely from 9MM rounds. That is a pretty popular bullet in the 9. If you are really serious about accuracy, you probably won't get it,but for .38 plinking loads they should work fine.

 

[Mark37082]

For plinking and just having some fun at the range I think I'm going to pick up some Berrys flat points. $27 for 250 is pretty darn cheap at Midway.

 

[Critter Picker]

Back in the early 70's, Iran across some linotype that I think I paid $.17 a pound for. At that time I worked in a tire shop and bought used Wheelwrights for $5.00 for a 5 gal. pail. I still have more lead than I can shoot in my lifetime. I cast my own bullets,have for the last half century. Never felt the need for jacketed pistol bullets.

 

[QuietTexan]

For plinking and just having some fun at the range I think I'm going to pick up some Berrys flat points. $27 for 250 is pretty darn cheap at Midway.

Berry's are good stuff, I shoot a lot of them as plinker 9mm subs.