Gentlemen - I need your advice and help with reloading for my 357 Mag S&W 627. My brother and I both have 627's, I have the regular 5" and he has the V-Comp model. One of the reasons we got the 627's was because of the moonclips and the other was that in Canada pistols must have a barrel greater than 4" or they are classified as prohibited and thus reguire a special permit for which we do not qualify.
To get the most speed out of the moonclips we decided to try plated or jacketed bullets.
We first tried some 125 gr. Remington JHP bullets in Federal cases, CCI 500 primers and 5.3 gr. of WW231. Results were quite good with excellent groups out to 25 meters.
I wanted to use the heavier 158's, longer bearing surface, so we got some West Coast X-treme copper plated 158 gr. RNFP bullets and loaded them in 38 Spl. Federal cases with CCI 500 primers in two lots, one with 4.3 gr. for WW231(minor) and the second with 6.1 gr. of WW231 (major). Both loads produced groups of just over 8" at 10 meters with 6 for the 8 hitting the target sideways, key holeing. These West Coast bullets are extremely hard and measure just over .357", maybe .3572".
We have shot 158 gr. Federal & Remington lead factory loads withh excellent results. The problem with factory lead bullets is the lead fouling and the fact that we can only fire about 75 rds before accuracy really starts to fall off and we have to stop for a major cleaning job.
The guy we get our bulk bullets from keeps recommending 125's however from info I see on this forum most use plated 158's because they work better speed loading with moonclips.
Is it possible that 125's are more accurate than 158's? Any suggestions on a better avenue to take?
Thanks, Jay