Author Topic: 357mag cat sneeze loads (Read 1213 times)

Scibaer · « **on:** January 22, 2010, 09:30:38 AM »

i have some cast bullets, 98 grains and want to make up some quiet, shoot in the back yard and have the neighbors not hear much of anything, type loads. any suggestions ? i do have some trailboss i have yet to use..
glenn

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2010, 11:00:17 AM »

Glenn

Quiet and 357 mag are two things that just don't go together

You may want to look at some 38 spl loads with Trail Boss , 3g will give you around 740 fps , however the type of gun and barrel length are going to affect your noise level more than the powder charge though .

stimpy

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 22, 2010, 11:29:02 AM »

I agree with Stimpy. Get yourself some 38 Special cases. I was going to make a load up for 357 cases like you described, but decided to go the 38 Special route because there is a ton of load data for the 38 Special cases and no real light loads for the 357. Light loads in 38 Special cases will make the cases last a looong time. I ended up using 3.0 grains of Bullseye under a 148 grain HBWC. It is quiet and it is effective up to about 50 yards. It has plenty of accuracy; I have knocked over chipmunks at 30 yards with it as well as woodchucks, raccoons and skunks. 2.6 grains of Bullseye got me at 750 fps out of a 22" barrel at 15 feet and is very quiet. I increased to 3.0 grains just so that heavier loads would shoot closer. A 125 grain 357 Max load shoots exactly 2" higher at 25 yards.

shot1 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 22, 2010, 11:35:34 AM »

Any load that will actually push that bullet out the barrel a few yards is going to make a good bit of noise.

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #4 on:** January 22, 2010, 03:12:58 PM »

I use 2.5 to 3 grains of bullseye or titegroup and 125 grain bullets in .357 cases. It's a very common load in cowboy action shooting. Very accurate at closer ranges, I think trailboss will work well also but I haven't tried it yet.

securitysix · « **Reply #5 on:** January 22, 2010, 11:03:07 PM »

Depends on the platform you're firing from. A wheelgun is going to make noise through the barrel/cylinder gap regardless of what it does at the end of the barrel.

If you're firing in a closed breech system (Contender, Encore, or even a lever-gun), and you have a long enough barrel to burn all the powder, and if you keep the bullet subsonic, you can get some pretty quiet loads.

As for the actual load, I agree with the others: .38 Special cases and Bullseye or something else fairly fast (the idea being to burn up as much of the powder inside the barrel as possible).

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 22, 2010, 11:29:58 PM »

I fill in for the second shift Supervisor on occasion. One night when I got home, I noticed a skunk under one tree and a raccoon under another in the back yard digging up the lawn. I stepped out on the porch and shot the Raccoon first. It never disturbed the skunk. I then shot the skunk. I went to bed, the next day I talked to my wife. She said the shots did not wake her up. On another occasion, I saw a woodchuck in the back yard during the day. I crept around the house and shot it at about 30 yards. When I came back into the house, my wife asked if I got a shot off, because she did not hear it. It is not perfectly quiet, but it sure does not make very much noise for not having a silencer on it. It is every bit as quiet as a 22 subsonic round, maybe a little quieter. It will not disturb neighbors. Even if they are in the yard, they will not know what it is unless they see the gun.

Scibaer · « **Reply #7 on:** January 23, 2010, 01:53:42 AM »

the gun is my ruger new vaquero.
i do have some 38 special brass, i'll try those if the 357 cases dont work well.
the bullet i want to use is a 98 grain cast lead round nose bullet, typically sold for .380's.
they shoot real well out of my 4 5/8 inch vaquero, in the 357 cases with full power loads, but like i said, i want something quiet as i can get it.
something that would kill a opossum, stray cat or the like.
i made one round using 2 grains of trailboss, but have not shot it yet.
i'll try that load in a 38spl case and see how that works too

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #8 on:** January 23, 2010, 02:43:36 AM »

I always used the .357 brass because the .38 cases wouldn't feed well in my Marlin, I didn't have to carry two diffrent loads on a shoot that way. Seems to me that the .380 loads wouldn't get the accuracy as a .38/.357 bullet. I use .358 dia bullet in mine, .380s are sized .355 to .356. If they shoot well I'd sure usew them thou.

Scibaer · « **Reply #9 on:** January 23, 2010, 02:55:37 AM »

i first used the .380 bullets because they are light at 98 grains, but i found that they are very accurate at moderate speeds.
and at the distances i plan on firing these rounds at, point and shoot accuracy is all i should need.
i have fired some other rounds with 38 spl brass from my vaquero, but dont like the crud ring that gets built up in the cylinder.
so, i try and stick with 357mag brass.
im just playing around some, nothing to serious, just trying to come up with a quiet load for yard work.

Scibaer · « **Reply #10 on:** January 23, 2010, 05:30:31 AM »

i tried the 357 brass with the trailboss. at 2.5 grains, it fills the case pretty good, so ignition was no problem, but its still a fair report.
i shot one round out back of my house, didnt wake one kid and the other one didnt hear anything while texting, only a few feet away inside the house.
so i doubt my neighbor heard it, but i think i can do better.
i'll try 1.5 grains of trailboss in a 38spl case next.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 23, 2010, 05:40:26 AM »

Glenn

Just watch going too low , sticking a bullet in the barrel is bad , sticking one between the cyl and the barrel is a flat pain in the XXX , if you know what I mean .

stimpy

Scibaer · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2010, 06:23:24 AM »

i do, and i will watch things closely ..

Scibaer · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2010, 07:31:33 AM »

well, i loaded a round up with just 1.8 grains of trailboss. i think i'll stop there, the bullet did leave the barrel, but you could hear it zing down range.
i think that i cant go any lower and have the bullet leave the barrel.
two, i like trailboss, it meters out well and it easy to handle. it has a nice smell when fired too.
so anyhow, i think 2 grains is what im after. i'll make a few more and get some sort of pentration test set up..

here is one boring cold saturday afternoon down, cant wait for warmer weather...

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #14 on:** January 23, 2010, 10:21:08 AM »

Good info, I have ten lbs of trailboss to try soon. The .38/.357 and .45-70 are what I want it for.

GH1 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 23, 2010, 11:33:11 AM »

Do you have access to a chrony? It would be interesting to see just how fast those super light loads are traveling.
GH1

Scibaer · « **Reply #16 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:24:18 AM »

no, i dont have a chrony. thats something i really need to buy, and prolly should have a long time ago.
but the 98 grain bullet pushed by 1.9 grains of trailboss in a 38spl case with a very slight crimp will pass completely thru a 5 gal pail of water at 15 feet away, fired from my 4 5/8 inch barreled new model vaquero. the sound it makes is a very sharp pop, but not as loud as a fire cracker.
near the house, there is a slight reverb and echo, but out in the yard there is none, just the POP.
at 1.8 grains of trailboss, i can hear the bullet zip thru the air, so i wound say they are traveling pretty slow, but that .1 grain seems to make a difference with the trailboss at 1.9 grains, the bullet pickes up enough fps to operate properly at short distances.

Mikey · « **Reply #17 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:51:36 AM »

Glenn: you can load two of those 98 gn slugs, one on top of the other, into either a 38 or 357 case. In teh 38 you could use 3 gns of Unique for about 500+'/sec (this is with a 200 gn load) or in the 357 with 4 gns of Unique for somewhere around 700'/sec. You could even try 3 gns of Unique in the 357 cases as loading 2 slugs, one on top of the other, should take more room than just one 200 gn slug.

These loads should be quieter from a rifle/carbine than from a revolver.

This is not new - a few years back someone was loading 3 round balls into a 38 spl case. HTH and have fun.

Scibaer · « **Reply #18 on:** January 25, 2010, 02:27:55 AM »

mikey,
thats some good info too. i did try using some Unique but they still had that 'crack' sound to them. although i didnt try stacking 2 slugs together.
i was bored and could not work on my street rod, because the intake has yet to show up. so i thought i'd work on something i was wanting to do for a while, keep the opossums from tearing up my garbage without sending up a red flag to the neighbors. lol

tobster · « **Reply #19 on:** January 25, 2010, 03:20:47 AM »

It's a lot of fun to experiment with different powders and cast bullets trying to get a mild load that shoots well out of a particular gun, but if your objective is to dispatch trash eating varmints in suburbia without making the natives restless,then buy a box of subsonics or cb longs for your .22 rimfire. A target load ( I think 2.7 grains of Bullseye over a 148 gr. wadcutter in a .38 case has been the standard forever) is much louder than the above mentioned .22 rimfire loads.