357 Load In My 38 ?

[Walt S]

I shoot a new model 260 357mag/38 +P. Hodgdon has a 357 load using H110, 13.5 gr, 180 gr bullet which provides 1396 fps. Do I dare use that load in my 38 Special brass. I know, I should just use my 357 brass, but I'm interested in the 38 Special brass answere, THANKS.

[revchuck]

Walt - The short answer is "no".

Folks used to do this by cutting the powder charge 15-20% and going from there. They did it because .38 Special brass back then was like 9x19 brass now - cheap and available everywhere. Nowadays, there's not much difference in the price of .38 and .357 brass, especially if you buy new.

There's no real advantage to this now, and there's the possibility of sticking "short .357s" into a .38 Special only gun...won't blow the .38 up, but it'll sure shorten its life expectancy.

Keep your .357 loads in .357 brass. It just makes life so much easier.

[DEP44]

I've been *thinking* about it too. At our club we used to have hours for competition shooters, and no 357m was allowed. Just 38sp and other small stuff. Just to annoy people (I know, bad...). What kept me from actually doing it, was the (for me) unknown factor of possible exessive wear on my gun, due to the extra "free flight". Decided it wasn't worth the fun.