.355 Bullets In .357 Mag.

[phique2000]

I have an opportunity to pick up a bunch of 125 gr. LRN bullets at a ridiculously low price. They are sized to .355

I know .38/.357 should use bullets sized to .357/.358.

My question is, will I run into any problems loading the .355 bullets in .357 mag?

I will be loading in the 1000-1050 fps range, and shooting them in a 4" Dan Wesson model 15-2, just for punching paper in our local league.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Philip

[Allgoodhits]

I have an opportunity to pick up a bunch of 125 gr. LRN bullets at a ridiculously low price. They are sized to .355

I know .38/.357 should use bullets sized to .357/.358.

My question is, will I run into any problems loading the .355 bullets in .357 mag?

I will be loading in the 1000-1050 fps range, and shooting them in a 4" Dan Wesson model 15-2, just for punching paper in our local league.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Philip

They will be OK. You probably will need to adjust your crimp die in order to get more crimp in order to hold the bullet tight enough to get consistent burn and to prevent the unfired rounds in the cylinder from "backing" out of the brass. You may also have to re-evaluate your powder choice.

Accuracy may suffer, because the bullet has the opportunity to yaw more than normal from the time it leaves the brass until it get's completely into the barrel. The actual bore groove diameter and the land to land diameter is the same for most 9mm, .38 super, .38 spl and .357 mag at .355 and .346 respectively. I would guess that a fast powder will working best for you. BE, W231, CLAYS etc.

.357 and .358 bullets shoot better in most revolvers because the crimp is tighter, the fit is tighter in the part of the cylinder forward of the chamber, and because the barre throat is to accomodate slight variables. There were some aftermarket .38 barrels that can be ordered as .355, .356, .357, and .358. Many PPC shooters experimented witht he differing bore diameters as well as differing twist rates from 1:10, 1:12, 1:14, 1:16, and 1:18. With target velocity wadcutters, it didn't seem to matter much. The bigger variable was the quality of the "Smithing" and quality of barrel that went into the project.

Be safe, proceed with caution, and have fun.

MJ

[dajarrel]

One problem you may (probably IMHO) have is an increase in barrel leading. Depending on the hardness of the lead, it probably will not expand to fill the grooves allowing gasses to "jet" by the bullet. This will melt and deposit lead in your barrel. It can possibly be reduced by reducing your powder charge and as a result your bullet velocity. If you are just making plinking rounds, this shouldn't be a problem.

YMMV but I've scraped a lot of lead from my barrels

dj