.357 with a filler

[Dusty Miller]

I loaded up some .357 rounds using a 158 gr. SWC, 7.4 gr. of AA5 (minimum load), and a multi-grain cereal as a filler.  It gave me a 70 fps gain over the load without the filler and I just decided it was not worth the extra work for that small increase in velocity.

[Mikey]

Ummmmmm, Dusty:  If you had to shoot a couple of streetwalkers with those loads would they have been considered 'popped tarts'??  Just askin'.  Mikey.

[OLDHandgunner]

I'm with you Dusty on the fillers for reduced loads in the 357 Mag. I tried it years ago only I used Dacron filler. It was a pain in the "#?*". Now I just go to the 38 Spl cases. I'd rather spend the time cleaning out the cylinder.

[Mikey]

Dusty:  I apologize for that comment.  I told my wife what I said and she reminded me that although the internet blesses some of us with a bit of the old 'cloak of invisibility' it is no excuse for subjecting people to my not so witty 'isms'. 

But, she did ask about the powder used and the type of cereal involved and whether you might consider those loads your 'Special Ks'?  (Sorry, that was hers, not mine.).  She then wondered if those loads, depending on the cereal used, might not be ummmm - a bit flaky (another one of hers). 

She is also quite health conscious and wondered if all that fiber helps get the lead out but I couldn't come up with an answer for that one so I have to bounce it back to you.  (snicker, giggle, snort).  Mikey.

[Dusty Miller]

Mikey, you are a rascal and scoundrel of the first rank!! 

[Dusty Miller]

And I might add, my kind of guy!!

[Mikey]

Thank you Sir......................I appreciate the compliment.  Mikey.

[flyboy]

It seems to me I read somewhere on the fora where somebody ... maybe it was Veral... recommended the granulated shotshell buffer material over the powder for getting rid of leading. Did anybody else read that, or is my memory not what it used to be, or never was? 

POPPED TARTS!??? snx snx  tee hee  BWAHAHAHAHAH  sniffle, wheeze...  Don't you EVER do that again!  My sides hurt, and at my age, that can be serious! 

[Steve P]

I have done some experimenting with reduced loads and fillers.  I have found best consistency when there was a separator between the powder and the filler.   Imagine a case filled part way with powder, then part way with filler, then a bullet.  You have to compact the filler or the filler and powder will mix.  Happens with dacron, cream of wheat, corn meal, plastic shot shell buffer, etc. 

For my reduced loads in 357 brass, I use a small wad cut from the foam trays you get in your grocer's meat department.  I have modified a fired brass by enlarging the flash hole.  I have a modified nail with the sharp point removed and the head just a little smaller than the 357 case.  I put the nail, point first into the case and the main shaft of the nail comes thru the flash hole.  Head of the nail is inside the case and is stopped at the flash hole.  I now use this brass, like a cookie cutter, to cut out circle "wads" of the foam.  The nail pushes the cut wads out of the case.  These little wads are placed on top of my powder charge.  In my loads, I have found no additional filler is really needed.  Standard deviations go down and no signs of the wad in the barrel or in the discharge.  I don't know if it disintegrates when the powder flashes or what, but it is gone with no added pressure like you get from a fiber wad.  In your loads, depending on case capacity, you may need to add a filler on top of the wad.  Wad just keeps the filler and powder from mixing and you get a better SD over the chrono.  I have never heard of a filler that can reduce leading.

Just my $.02.

Steve