.357 magnum loads and which primers?

R

Ricky Bobby

New member
OK guys, I'm wanting to work a load for my .357 mag pistol and have decided on using H110 powder and load with Hornady 158gr XTP bullets into new Winchester brass. My problem is I hate to go buy more primers when I have quite a few CCI 500 small pistol primers above the bench. The book recommends small pistol magnum primers and I need to know what results I'd get using the standards? Would it be a safety issue? I would never switch from a standard to magnum, but wondered if it would be safe to go from a magnum to a standard? Would you notice a big difference? Again, I'm fairly new to this. Just trying to avoid having all these components build up around the bench when I can possibly use the same ones for multiple loads and guns. Thanks
 
Sorry Ricky,,, I've loaded a bunch of .38 spl, but never any .357 Mags.... We always carried and trained with factory loads in ours...

I think the worst that could happen would be that some of the powder might not get burned completely and leave a bunch of residue in the barrel/cylinder...

I know that in our match revolvers (.38) for the police pistol team, we used to load some of the rounds really light for specific distance shooting, with almost no recoil, on the PPC course and everything got really dirty a lot quicker...
 
Because I have 10k small Federal pistols primers thats what I use in my 38 and 357 loads. No problems at all. But I am using Power Pistol until it runs out them using W231 afterward.
 
I guess that what I'm getting from you guys is that it will probably work but I just might not get the best results. Been doing some reading and apparently H110 is a slow burner compared to some of the others. My choice of powder is really where the problem exist. Other, faster burning powders probably would go better with the standard primers!
 
Zilla, thanks for the advice! I just ran down to my bench in the basement and tried some out and they fit. Looks like standard primers will do, thanks!
 
The small pistol primers aren't as hot as the magnum primers is the difference. Also the metal cup on the magnum primer may be a little thicker than the cup on the regular small pistol primer. I've loaded a lot of .357's using 2400, 296 and 110 powders with small pistol primers and I haven't detected any issues. I would use the small pistol primers without any concerns.
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Flyrodder
 
With H110/W296 I would use magnum primers. That is a fairly sensitive powder that requires you run it pretty much at full throttle otherwise pressure problems may result. Consistent and hot ignition is important for H110/W296. It is not a forgiving powder or tolerant of changes in the recipe.
 
With H110 OR W296, you may experience hang-fires or slow ignition with regular sm pistol primers, particularly in cold weather. I'd use mag primers with these two powders.
Mark
 
I really do appreciate everyones input on this! I know that when it's all said and done I will probably do the smart thing and go by the books! I just wanted to here guys opinions from their personnel experiences, so that I can justify my decision on how I'm going to load my .357 rounds. Just trying to get double use out of one particular primer. After doing more research I have found that it would be possible, but with a different type powder.
 
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