A really fun sub-sonic plinking load for my .357 Handi-Rifle with handloads

[nitesite]

I have a .357 Handi-Rifle with an 18.75" barrel that so many youth shooters, new shooters, and even myself and other experienced shooters find so enjoyable to shoot because it can be downloaded for some fun casual plinking.
 

 
I am loading a Lee 140-gr LSWC that drops from the mould unsized at 0.3595" and  is lubed with LLA, and crimped into the upper lube groove (not the top crimp groove) because the leade/freebore in my rifle is quite long.  This puts the front driving band about 0.015~0.020 off the rifling.  I leave them unsized because of the Micro-Groove rifling and it seems to grab the rifling very well with absolutely ZERO leading.
 
With 4.2 Grains of Unique in a .357 Magnum case and a medium roll crimp, these go over my Chrono at a consistent 940-fps (ES=60, SD= 17) and are subsonic but still have some pretty good thump and are accurate with iron sights.  I looked up bullet drop with that bullet coefficient and velocity and it's 12.4" @ 100 yards when zeroed to 25-yards.  And the 50-yard drop is just 2.4 inches so anyone handling this gun can basically lay the sights on anything out to 50-yards and be on target given the margin of error with iron sights.
 
I've been having so much fun with this rifle just this way that I haven't put a full-power .357 magnum load thru it for a while now!
 
Shooting a "Lite" .357 from a rifle length barrel has an added plus in that there is a very slight amount of noise, less than the crack of a .22LR leaving the barrel above the sound barrier.  So it's not objectionable to onlookers or neighbors.
 
And since I cast these bullets from free wheelweights, at 50 bullets per pound of lead, I can make 100 rounds including powder and primers and free re-useable brass for $4.75 per 100 rounds, about what 100-ct plastic pack of CCI Mini-mag 22 rimfire rounds would cost.
 
Anyone else out there handloading a pistol caliber for their Handi Rifle?

[geezerbiker]

I make what I call cat sneeze loads for my .44 mag Handi.  I cast a .433" round ball with a Lee mold and power them with 4 gains of Unique.  I'd like to think these are somewhat equivalent to the squirrel loads the colonist use 200 years ago...

I also make some round ball loads for my .30-30 that are just as quite.  For some reason I'm having more fun with powder-puff loads than I ever did shooting hot loads.

Tony

[nitesite]

I hear ya.
 
I have to shoot .40-S&W duty loads, and 12-ga slugs and buckshot, and .45Auto 230s duty loads all day long.  Then ther is the AR-15 training that is loud as heck.  Settling back into a relaxed plinking mode that's quiet and accurate and just plain fun is another level of shooting that brings out the plain enjoyment of sending some lead downrange.  Doing it as cheap as rimfire ammo makes it more than fun!

[nitesite]

I make what I call cat sneeze loads for my .44 mag Handi.  I cast a .433" round ball with a Lee mold and power them with 4 gains of Unique.  I'd like to think these are somewhat equivalent to the squirrel loads the colonist use 200 years ago...

Tony

I LIKE your thinking.  Nostalgia and American History come together for you.  Nicely played, young squire.

[Flash]

I have a .357 Handi-Rifle with an 18.75" barrel that so many youth shooters, new shooters, and even myself and other experienced shooters find so enjoyable to shoot because it can be downloaded for some fun casual plinking.
 

 
I am loading a Lee 140-gr LSWC that drops from the mould unsized at 0.3595" and  is lubed with LLA, and crimped into the upper lube groove (not the top crimp groove) because the leade/freebore in my rifle is quite long.  This puts the front driving band about 0.015~0.020 off the rifling.  I leave them unsized because of the Micro-Groove rifling and it seems to grab the rifling very well with absolutely ZERO leading.
 
With 4.2 Grains of Unique in a .357 Magnum case and a medium roll crimp, these go over my Chrono at a consistent 940-fps (ES=60, SD= 17) and are subsonic but still have some pretty good thump and are accurate with iron sights.  I looked up bullet drop with that bullet coefficient and velocity and it's 12.4" @ 100 yards when zeroed to 25-yards.  And the 50-yard drop is just 2.4 inches so anyone handling this gun can basically lay the sights on anything out to 50-yards and be on target given the margin of error with iron sights.
 
I've been having so much fun with this rifle just this way that I haven't put a full-power .357 magnum load thru it for a while now!
 
Shooting a "Lite" .357 from a rifle length barrel has an added plus in that there is a very slight amount of noise, less than the crack of a .22LR leaving the barrel above the sound barrier.  So it's not objectionable to onlookers or neighbors.
 
And since I cast these bullets from free wheelweights, at 50 bullets per pound of lead, I can make 100 rounds including powder and primers and free re-useable brass for $4.75 per 100 rounds, about what 100-ct plastic pack of CCI Mini-mag 22 rimfire rounds would cost.
 
Anyone else out there handloading a pistol caliber for their Handi Rifle?

Try lubing with Johnson's Paste Wax if your velocity is this low. It's clean, not sticky, doesn't clog your seating stem and it's lubrication qualities are excelent.

[tacklebury]

SPG lube works well with low velocity and black powder loads also.    I use 4.2 gr. Unique with 158 gr. copper plated .38 specials and SWC's for my wifes plinking loads in her pistol.  I bump her self defense loads up to 5.1 gr. Unique with a 110gr. XTP HP.  Quick expanding little buggers for limited overpenetration, but would be fun in your handi for varmints. 

[Buckwheat Jack]

I don't have a .357 Handi yet, but do load reduced power loads. I shoot cowboy action shooting
. I shoot the same ammo in my 7.5" revolvers and my Rossi Model92 carbine. I load a Lee 150 grain round point lubed with tumble lube in 357 brass over 3.1 grains of Unique and an OAL of 1.50". I don't have a chrono, but these have been filling my needs for three years now: accurate and cheap!

[geezerbiker]

I LIKE your thinking.  Nostalgia and American History come together for you.  Nicely played, young squire.

Thanx for the complement but I'm old or at least I feel that way.  I'm pushing 55 this year... 

I tried loading .22 air rifle pellets in my .223 with only a primer for power and these were a lot of fun and with a little effort I worked up a load that had a couple tenths of a grain of Red Dot that weren't any louder than primer power alone and still a load of fun... 

Tony