Silhouette load for .357?

[Gunny45]

Just bought all the gear for switching my Dillon 550B so I can reload .357 for silhouette.  Never done this before - only loaded .45's.   I plan to start with my own once-used Magtech nickel-plated brass, Zero 158 gr JHP bullets, 14gr H110, and Winchester mag small pistol primers.  Do you think this should be enough to knock over the rams at 100 yards?  (If I hit any!).  I will be shooting these from a DW .357 revolver with an 8" barrel.  Thanks.

[ihmsa70]

That load's way too hot for Field pistol or Hunter's pistol.  You will suffer needlessly in a 40 round match.  Try Bullseye, 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0 grains.
Clyde

[Sixgun]

I agree on the recoil.  You will want the lightest recoil you can get.  Don't worry about knocking down the rams, if they arn't hardset you can knock down 50% of what you hit with a 22 long rifle.  Recoil will kill you though.  40 rounds of heavy 357 recoil will have you flinching so bad you won't be able to hit the backstop.

I started off in Hunters Pistol with a 357.  Went to 38 special with the lightest loads I could get to be accurate. Then saw a 22 hornet barrel in a gun shop, which I took home, and load a 45gr lyman cast bullet in front of 3.7 gr of titegroup.  It really works.

The main thing is expirement and have lots of fun in the process.

Sixgun

[B_Koes]

One more vote for moderation.  However, sending those chickens flying at 25 yards (or 40 if you're shooting NRA events) is very rewarding too.  With that said, you could easily have enough knockdown power pushing a 158gr bullet at subsonic velocities.  I know of guys reliably knocking over rams with .32 mags shooting 110gr bullets at 1100fps.

I use .38spl cowboy loads without any concern about knockdown problems.  I haven't chrono'd them, but I suspect they're around 800fps for a 158gr cast bullet.

[Gunny45]

I went out and shot 100 rounds of the 14 gr of H110 yesterday.  My friend said they looked really hot when he was watching the recoil of my gun.  I really don't feel any the worse for wear today.  The recoil was not even as bad as shooting factory loads from my GP100 4".  But they were very stout.

B_Koes - Is a 38 spl cowboy load very light?  I have no idea...

The reason I used the 14 grs is because the Speer reloading manual says to load the 158 gr JHP (I actually use a SJHP) with H110 from 13.9 to 15.5 grs.  I figured I was on the LOW side???

[Sixgun]

Gunny,

Even if you can control a stout, 158gr load, you will have to consider the targets.  On most ranges, you will be asked to leave, or just watch, if you start denting targets.  For some reason, match directors just don't like to see any kind of a dent in their targets.  Those short jacket hollowpoints will do less damage than any other bullet, cast included, but they will still damage targets when you get much over 1000fps.  Even if it is okay at your range, when you go to shoot at another range, you may not pass.  I saw a guy come down from British Columbia to shoot at the Idaho State match.  His loads damaged the targets and the match director wouldn't let him shoot.  Someone who was shooting 357 or 38s loaned him some ammo so he could shoot but he didn't do too good, using ammo that he wasn't used to.

Sixgun 

[Gunny45]

OK, so my loads are too hot.  What is the lowest I can go and still knock down the rams?  I am new to silhouette and really need some help here - as you can see!  Maybe I should see if I can borrow a ram and try out different loads that way...

[Sixgun]

I guess the first thing to do is to get with the match director where you plan on doing most of your shooting.  Get some suggestions from him, because he will be the one that is determining what is too hot.  If anything goes with the match director, then you can do some of your own testing on pigs at the pig distance.  Pigs are close and heavy and the dents will show up on them really good.  Faster powders like Bullseye, Win 231, Unique, or AA2 should work fine.  I only shoot soft cast bullets and they are more forgiving on the pressures but I use 5 gr of bullseye on everything from 170gr to 125 gr.  You will want to be a little more cautious with a jacketed bullet because pressures can get high really fast with the faster powders.  Just look in a good reloading book and go with the medium loads and work up or down from there. 

It may take a bit of load work but you can get some really fantastic loads worked up if you have patience.  When I worked up my load for the 166 gr Lee cast bullet, I was getting fair groups with several different powders but just always felt I could do better.  Finally I tried some of an old can of Bullseye.  I got to 5 gr and all of a sudden, I was getting sub 1 inch groups at a velocity of around 900 fps.  The standard diveation on that load is 2. 

When I was working up a load for my 30-30 model 94 for Cowboy Rifle Silhouette it was the same story.  I tried everything and the best I could do was about an 8 inch group at 200 meters.  That is smaller than the ram but I kept fooling around and came up with a load that consistently does under 3 inches at 200 meters.  It is a RCBS 180gr fp  gc cast bullet with 34 gr of IMR 4831.  It moves so slow that I think I must have missed the ram and then it clangs and falls down.  I won the Idaho State Match in 2005 with that load.

Heck, working up a good load is half the fun in shooting silhouettes.  I tell my wife that i win most of my matches in my reloading room. 

Ask any questions you want.  Someone will have an answer and have fun shooting

Sixgun

[Gunny45]

My thanks to all of you.  I will continue to try different combinations to see what I come up with.  It IS half the fun! 

[jro45]

When I used to shoot Silhouette, I used a contender 357 with a 10" barrel and my load for the 158 HP bullets was 14.1 gr of H110. That round would reach 100 metters with about a 3"
high at the center. I had it figured for each set of steel animals so I knew where to aim.

[gypsyman]

Gunny, try a bullet somewhere between 125gr. and 158. And coralate(?) whatever powder your using, to keep the loads around 1000fps. You might want to try a cast bullet, as they are much cheaper, and with those velocitys, you shouldn't have any trouble with leading. Several bullet companys make bulk bullets, and once ya get to banging steel, you get hooked. So your probably going to shoot a whole bunch more.

[HAMMERHEAD]

CCI .38 spl LRN was my first Field Pistol load. If I hit'em, they went down.
Now I use a handload with .357 brass, a Hornady 158 grain SWC over a .030" vegetable fiber wad and a max load of IMR Trail Boss for a velocity of about 900 fps.
I use the Hornady bullets for their consistancy and accuracy at 100 yards and the wad to reduce leading in my barrel.
This load is cheap and accurate and has plenty of power to tip the rams on our reseting targets.

[crabo]

Does anyone mix a 38 special load for some of the targets, and a hotter 357 for the longer targets?  I'm thinking that the combination of hot and mild loads might lead to a more consistent sight picture without changing sight settings.

Inquiring minds want to know....

Thanks

[Mikey]

Gunny45:  I used to shoot metallic silhouette to 200 yds with a 4" 357 S&W M19.  The load I used then, and now, is 12.4 gns of WW296 under a 200 gn hardcast slug.  30 years ago, before semiwadcutters in 200 gns came along as bowling pin slugs, we used 200 gn round nose slugs.  Winchester had loadings for that bullet in both the 357 and the 38 Spl.  In addition to the WW296 load (and loads with 231 and 630, now discontinued), the older Lymna manuals carried load data for 2400 powder, 4756, Unique and 4227 - this is a nice accurate load at mid range velocity for that bullet in 357 is 12.2 of IMR4227 for about 1020'/sec. that was sufficient to topple the ram at 200 yds. 

If any of the above shott accurately from your 8" Dan Wesson you won't have any problem with the ram at 100 m.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Glockman]

For 100 yard work try a 125 grain jacketed bullet and a medium speed powder.  Keep the velocity under 1100 feet per second so you don't get the transition from super sonic down to sub sonic.  That knocks the Heck out of accuracy.

For full size full distance steel animals we fed our 10 inch contenders the .358 Hornady  200 grain spire point over 14 grains of ww 296.  On any one day it would shoot right with the 7 TCU guns.  But because of the taller trajectory and slower bullet it would give month to month variations based on temperature and air pressure.   This became a problem at AAA and above. 

[Steve P]

Try 5.0 grains of unique and winchester small pistol primer.  You don't need magnum primers.  Very accurate load, no recoil, and will take all of the animals.  If your gun doesn't like that load (very rare a gun doesn't) try small doses of WW231.  With a 550b and a little practice, you can load about 400 of these per hour.  Make sure you seat the bullet in station 3 and crimp the bullet in station 4.  The Redding profile crimp die is well worth the $15.

If you want to shoot big bore, try a 200 grain cast bullet in a 38 case.  Work up loads using AA#9 powder.  As you work up in half grain increments, watch your group size.  The #9 powder will usually cause the group to get tighter and tighter and tighter, then bigger and bigger.  Once you see that trend, work up in 2/10 grain increments to find the sweet spot.  Should take all the big bore animals with that load.  Fun to practice on the HP/FP targets tool

With 357 and heavy bullets, you are shooting rainbow trajectory.  If you try lighter bullets, the trajectory will flatten out.  125s and even 110s will take the HP/FP animals. 

Good luck,

Steve

[begeberg]

I have used 6.85 grains of AA#5, 357 mag, 155 grain Lee bullet from their line of molds that need no sizing, just roll in lube and load. These were cast from wheelweights with no leading. In my Contender it would shoot sub 1 inch at 50 yards. Was easy to shoot but can't remember what it did in my 8 inch DW.

[mugs]

If your going to shoot 357 for H/P or F/P shoot whats accurate and don't worry about knock down. These are targets that 90% of the time can be knocked down with 22 RF.
Mugs