What is / is there a good powder for .38sp and .357 magnum?

[saddler]

2400 is a very good powder for magnum performance hunting loads
Target work, TrailBoss as you already have, plus Bullseye & Red Dot

[Hornet35]

If you have lead fouling then your cast bullets are wrong.

It is good practice however to remove all copper fouling from a barrel before shooting lead as the copper fouling can in some cases cause inaccuracy for lead bullets.

There you go, I had it the wrong way round, thanks for putting me right.

[Hornet35]

Right here's the plan

Target load I'll give trail boss a go as thats what I've got already for reduced hornet load so i'll give that a go.

My RFD has a tub of H110 that he's not updated the price on, £37.00, so I'll buy that and use it for the 110 gr vermin load.

That will then give me 2 options for the 140 gr FTX which will give me a high velocity target and fox load and with the lil gun I already have 2 bites at the apple to get comfortably above 1900 fps and be small deer legal.

Thanks again fellas

[Col]

I used to own a 38 (magnum) also a 44 (magnum) marlin, I could load those calibers very fast,,maybe 1600 fps or a little more,but my FOE told me they would never be suitable for deer.

[Hornet35]

I used to own a 38 (magnum) also a 44 (magnum) marlin, I could load those calibers very fast,,maybe 1600 fps or a little more,but my FOE told me they would never be suitable for deer.

That was his opinion I guess, perhaps based on the idea that hand gun hollow points at carbine velocities will blow up, I plan on using hornady FTX which are a hollow point designed to give controlled expansion so tick the box and can hopefully be loaded to at least 1900 fps (so quite a bit faster than your 38 load) which will give 1140 ft-lb, comfortably the right side of 1000 ft-lb for deer, so I don't see the issue. Just as much energy as a 0.223 which is small deer legal in England

It will be used for muntjac in woodland, that is on the side of the hill, shots sub 50 yards.

http://www.hornady.com/store/38-Cal-.357-140-gr-FTX/

[Richardd]

I'm also a reloading newbie (for my .38/357 Taurus and Rossi underlever) and have, so far, been loading 38spl only using different heads trying to find the shape that is most accurate and consistent over a number of distances.

So far I've been using factory bullets (Magtech Cowboy load) as a 'control' and although RNFP they're more like a TC. For reloading I've been using GM 158gr RNFP with 4.3gr Unique with mixed results. I can get a 3" grouping at 25m (standing) but totally inconsistent at 50m & 100m.

I've bought some GM TC, PPI SWC and Jacketed (all 158gr) and loaded them to 4.3gr of Unique (and some to 4.9gr) as well but not had a chance to shoot them. Once I've sent some up the range I'll have space in my allowance to try loading some at .357 to see if that make an accuracy difference. I've been worried about leading (thus the jacketed rounds) but the .357s are likely to be more for entertainment than completer accuracy ;-)

UPDATE
38spl
Loaded 4.3gr and 4.9gr Unique with GM truncated cone 158gr heads and they both shoot true and consistently. The 4.9gr is very good out to 50m & 100m but both are similar at 25m. Standing, with a light breeze, I'm getting a 2" grouping if I concentrate.
I also tried PPI SWC 158gr and they are s***, really s***. No consistency, leaded the barrel immediately. Nasty.

357 mag
used both FPJ and GM TC lead cast and they are just as good as each other. The GM is a hard lead alloy and are 15% cheaper.

I've got some Bullseye to try next and if you Yanks stop using up all the Trailboss I might get a chance of buying some here in the UK!

Hope that helps.

[Hornet35]

Trail boss is here, my RFD has just taken delivery of 40 tubs, so that's me sorted fr the .38

[ovenpaa]

Trail boss is here, my RFD has just taken delivery of 40 tubs, so that's me sorted fr the .38

Get it loaded, it is great stuff in the .357Mag for gallery shooting. I have a target on the armoury door, 5 shots in a tight little group shot off hand with a Remlin (Who says they cannot shoot)

[Hornet35]

Trail boss is here, my RFD has just taken delivery of 40 tubs, so that's me sorted fr the .38

Get it loaded, it is great stuff in the .357Mag for gallery shooting. I have a target on the armoury door, 5 shots in a tight little group shot off hand with a Remlin (Who says they cannot shoot)

Do you only use it in .357 cases? Mine seems to feed the .38s better and I'd imagine 4.5 gr will fit in there as I can get 4 in a hornet case

[ovenpaa]

I only shoot with .357 Brass however we do have .38 here as well, it is just that I started with .357 and never moved away from it. I have not had any feed issues with .357 Brass, I use 158 grain cast built to factory length, a slightly shorter magazine spring and a stainless follower I machined for myself. The internals are extensively polished with a few tweaks for good measure.