Bullets for a .38/.357 lever gun

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bullets for a .38/.357 lever gun

Posted: 11/29/2013 1:09:41 PM EDT

I have a couple .357/.38 pistols and will be looking to get a lever gun as soon as I can find one. Curious as I have just started to reload and I am wondering what bullet would be best for loading in the tube magazine. Should I look at round nose or flat nose.???? Thanks, Scott..... Also is cast lead ok to shoot ???

Posted: 11/29/2013 2:13:14 PM EDT

[#1]

I use a lot of SWCs and they run fine through my Winchester, I prefer to load just .357 brass though, I have had a hiccup or two with .38 special in it

Posted: 11/29/2013 5:22:50 PM EDT

[#2]

I haven't loaded any, but the Hornady 140gr "Cowboy" looks like it would be a good general purpose bullet.

ETA: for lighter loads.

Otherwise the bulk Remington 158gr semi jacket soft points work too.

Posted: 11/30/2013 4:46:33 AM EDT

[#3]

In my Marlin Cowboy .357 I usually run truncated cone bullets in .357 brass. I also found things worked better if I polished the chamber and chamber mouth.

Posted: 11/30/2013 5:03:50 AM EDT

[#4]

It Depends.......some pistol caliber leverguns feed SWC bullets Ok.....My Uberti 1873 does because the bullet stays parallel to the bore at all times.
Others like Marlins and Winchester 1892-type rifles tip the cartridge up towards the chambers and the "shoulder" of the SWC's catch on the chamber mouth.
The key to using lead bullets in a pistol caliber levergun is a nice strong roll crimp and an easy transition in bullet profile.
May I suggest something like these bullets:

Posted: 11/30/2013 11:27:40 AM EDT

[#5]

It really comes down to the particular rifle you end up with. Some lever guns are not fussy. Others are very particular.

Two rules of thumb, however. First, Keith style, semi-wadcutters often won't cycle through the action of lever guns smoothly. There are exceptions, but in general, stay away from SWC designs. Second, a tubular magazine can result in a chain fire if the wrong bullet design is used. The bullet you use in a lever gun must have a flat meplate at the front that is larger in diameter than the primer in front of it in the magazine. Therefore, truncated cone and round nose flat point bullets are the ones most people use. Start out with a 140 grain TC and you'll probably find you end up somewhere near there.

Posted: 11/30/2013 1:56:04 PM EDT

[#6]

I can't think of any commericially available .357/.38 bullets that would be unsafe to use in the mag tube. Whether a particular bullet feeds well in a particular rifle is another issue. I have not had any issues with my 1873 replica. Had a Marlin .357 1894 that did not like semi-wadcutters.

Posted: 11/30/2013 10:32:02 PM EDT

[#7]

I think some of the bullets intended for the 357 Maximum cartridge have fairly pointy noses. I'd avoid those in a tubular magazine.

Posted: 12/1/2013 12:34:47 AM EDT

[#8]

I've shot quite a lot of these in a .35 Remington Contender and 400/500 hundred in a 6" 686.VERY accurate and expand beautifully in deer.

Posted: 12/2/2013 2:13:59 AM EDT

[#9]

My Rossi 92 doesn't like shorter 38 bullets. Round nose lead or heavier SWC are fine. I use 158gr round nose in 38s If I use 130 grain metal case ammo, or wad cutters, it won't feed reliably.

Posted: 12/2/2013 6:37:20 PM EDT

[#10]

Hornady XTP in 125 or 140 grain.

Posted: 12/3/2013 6:22:26 AM EDT

[#11]

Thanks everyone for the input, I bought a small variety of bullets to try out.....Now I just need to find a rifle......

Posted: 12/3/2013 8:23:58 AM EDT

[#12]

I've fed just about everything thru my Rossi 92, including full wadcutters.

Posted: 12/6/2013 9:24:03 PM EDT

[#13]

What I've learned with my rifles:

'92 Rossi 357: Doesn't like .38 Special length at all. Will feed any .357's OK, but RN or RNFP's best. Will feed Keith type bullets, even the long Lyman 358429 SWC's, but not quite as smoothly.

Uberti 1873 .44 Special: Like the other poster said, these rifles will feed ANYTHING because the entire cartridge is lined up directly with the chamber. My .44 even feeds large nosed Keith SWC's like shit through a goose.

What style bullet you use depends on your intentions. If you plan on hunting, I'd stick with the heaviest SWC I could find. I keep my Rossi loaded with home-cast 165 gr. SWC's. If you're just going to plink and target shoot, bullet style doesn't matter so much.

Posted: 12/7/2013 3:31:32 PM EDT

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:
I've shot quite a lot of these in a .35 Remington Contender and 400/500 hundred in a 6" 686.VERY accurate and expand beautifully in deer.

http://youtu.be/rMSWscZQiYk

View Quote

Second that. Shot tons of these and can verify it's effect on deer. I've got an H110 load for my Marlin that's quite the short range sledgehammer for the four-legged freezer fillers.

Posted: 12/13/2013 7:18:37 PM EDT

[#15]

all pistol caliber rifles can be picky but I know from my rossi 92 that they can be tuned to perfection I have a ruger vaquro in .357 as well I shoot 158 grain loads through both and am very happy working on heavier loads in lead 180 grain. Nothing to report yet.

Posted: 12/14/2013 7:12:43 AM EDT

[#16]

I've got 2 Rossis, a 24" rifle and 20" carbine and both feed my handload 38spl and 357mag very well because I load the 38spl a bit long at 1.500" OAL vs the std 1.460" OAL and the 357mag at 1.580" OAL. I use both 158grn Zero JSP and Berrys Plated bullets. Both are blunt nose be with a ogive rounded enough so feeding is smooth as glass.

Here's a picture of the difference in seating depth of the two bullet types in 38spl cases from the std 1.460" to the 1.500" OAL. Feeding with the longer OAL makes a big difference even though both bullet types have a decently large metplate for hard hitting. I load them up hot for my Rossis and with my rifle with it's tang and globe sights, 300yd shots at steel plates are not that difficult. And 8" plates at 200yds are pretty easy.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bullets for a .38/.357 lever gun

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