Guys,

I picked up a M92 in .357 stainless and it is quickly becoming my favorite gun.  My question is that I want to reload .38 special to plink with, but I would like to use either Berry's bullets or Rainer plated bullets because of the whole leading/health issues.  Both bullet manufacturers say no faster than 1200 fps.  Using a 158 gr lead roundnose and W231 powder, the charts are saying 680 fps to 800 fps.  With a barrel length of 20 inches do you think I would be getting over 1200 fps?  I would really like to use these bullets and have contacted both companies, but neither were much help.  Any ideas?

Thanks,

Maddogg

If you want higher velocity use the .357. Just because the barrel is 20" doesn't mean you"ll get a 400fps increase. Maybe 200. maybe.....

With 357 loads the carbine barrel will add 400-500 fps over a revolver.  With 38's the gain would be much less, probably 100-200 fps.  Why not tailor your handloads to get the velocity you want?

You can push cast bullets a lot harder in 357, with gas checked bullets. Unfortunately for me, neither my 1981 Marlin 1894c or my Browning B92 (357) groups well with heavy cast gas check bullets.  I'm hoping the stainless Rossi 92 trapper that I haven't shot yet (it's in line waiting to go visit Steve Young) will like them.


BTW, I went on a hog hunt last weekend where a 5 year boy killed a big boar hog with a Rossi 92 shooting 38 Special cast bullet loads.  I later learned that these loads were from Mike Rintoul of Grizzly cartridge, so they were probably NOT standard 38 specials.  A young lady on this same hunt used a Marlin 357 shooting handloads with XTP bullets to take two hogs, with one shot each.

I used my Rossi 44 Magnum Trapper to drop two hogs in their tracks.

I have two Rossi 357s, a 24" rifle and 20" carbine, and I've shot close to 5,000 of my own 38spl+P level loads through both using Berry's plated bullets without any issues.  I load them to an OAL of 1.500" so that they'll feed without issues as some shorter rounds will flip up when on the carrier because leverguns are OAL sensitive.  I load these 158grn Berry's and achieve 1,500fps from a levergun with no problems at all using plated bullets.  I've had no plating shed off and I've found them to be as accurate as my Zero JSP bullets, even out to 300yds.  
In fact, I use Berry's plated bullets in my 1,822fps 357mag loads with equaly good luck.  The 'secret' to using plated bullets is 1) bell the cases enough so that the bullet isn't sliced when seating, and 2) to not over crimp them and damage the plating. The neck tension of the case is what holds a lead bullet in place in a bullet without a canalure, not the crimp because when crimping, the brass case has a bit of 'spring back' while the lead doesn't.  In fact, you can loosen up the bullet by over crimping.
So, I use a set of Lee Deluxe Carbide dies that include a FCD and adjust it to remove all the bell and return the case mouth to the same dia. as the body and I'm good to go.

 
 
 

Thanks for the info guys.  For hunting I will probably just use factory .357 loads.  But for plinking, I wanted to just use the Berry's bullets and make up a nice .38 plinking load.  That is good to know about the Berry's bullets.  I do use the Lee dies exclusively and have come to appreciate how good they really are.  Steve, what type bullet shape do you use?  Just a roundnose or a flat roundnose?

Maddogg

    It as been ages since I tried plated bullets .  I was trying them in .30 caliber & it was a flop .

    I shoot Lee ~ 150 grain RBL in my Rossi & Winny .357 Mag's .  If a lever gun is going to feed anything , it will feed RNL .

    I load my .38 & .357 brass with the same amount of AA # 9 & roughly the same OAL .

    Do not worry overly about lead poisioning .  Just shoot outdoors , and wash wour hands before smoking , eating or drinking .

God bless
Wyr

Thanks Wyr,

My main concern with lead is the health issues.  I think most of my shooting will probably be done outdoors anyway, so I guess it won't really be a problem.  Thanks for the info.

Maddogg

     Yes , that was my impression .  
   
      It is also why I cast bullets outside .  

    Plenty of ventilation .  Same thing about eating , drinking & smoking ( I quit smoking in the early 1980's  ) .  

    I also try to be strict about the same thing during and after reloading .  Wash your hands .

      And when I finish , I wash my " bullet casting clothes " separate from other clothes .

      And run my tumbler with the lid on it .

God bless
Wyr

   

I use both these (don't worry, they're copper) or these.



 

That looks like a pretty good price on those bullets.
Thanks for the link COSteve. Have you done any expanson test on those HP's yet?

Nope, I use them for plinking and I load a couple different levels and use the bullets to tell them appart.

Great idea Steve!!!  Thanks for the link, that is just what I am looking for.

Maddogg