I picked up a ton of cast 140gr semi-wadcutters/RNFP cheap, thinking that I could use them with Unique powder to come up with a plinking load for the 357 Mag.

Granted, this is not the best combination - and I need some reloading software - but what is the likelihood of using this bullet and powder to come up with a load in the 900 - 1000fps range? I'm not finding much data on a 140gr cast semi-wadcutter with Unique. Alliant lists no data for this bullet.

I'm hesitant to use wadcutter data. Could anyone suggest a starting load - or offer their 2 cents?

Aquavit -
Start with 5.0 grains Unique and work up/down from there to get to 1000 FPS. In my experience, Unique works best with standard primers.

I did a similar thing some time back, with a pile of cheap 148 grain semi-wads, but, they were so soft they leaded the bore terribly. It was my fault for loading them to a pretty high velocity. Once we got them back down to around 900 FPS or so, they shot amazingly well.

R-WEST

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"it is up to God to judge these terrorists; it is up to us to arrange their meeting" Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf

Aquavit:
My 2 cents,this is what I do sometimes, but I dont have a chrony to see the exact results-you may want to get a second opinion:

You got to watch your bullet weight and your bullet seating depth and your powder charge. If you change anything it should be only in the direction of decreasing the pressure, i.e., use a lighter bullet, less powder, or do not seat the bullet as deep)

Options:

1. You can subtitute a lead bullet in place of a jacketed bullet but not vice-versa, the jackets cause more pressure. If you can find load data for a 140gn jacketed bullet, you could use it to reload a lead bullet, but the velocities are likely too high (may lead up the barrel) for casual plinking

2. Use load data for a 38+ or regular 38 except use the 357 case. With the larger case, the 357 will produce less pressure. I try to do this to always load 357 cartridges and not adjust dies back and forth to 38 heights. If you are competing, the 38 case may be more accurate?, but then you got to deal with 2 case lengths.

3. Use load data for a bullet heavier than 140 grains- there should be a bunch of cowboy loads for 158 gr semi-wadcutters. Maybe your 140 gn being about 10% lighter, would increase velocity about 10%?.

4. Use load data for a 140 gn or heavier wad cutter, but do not seat the bullet inside the shell like a wadcutter, but seat it to its canelure as it is intended. This makes more cartridge space and less pressure.

For cowboy loads, you should have no problem. You may want to keep up to 900 FPS to knock stuff over well.

If you wanted accurate loads at even lower velocities (wadcutter speed or less) , I found that bullseye worked better and unique would blow out a bunch of unburned powder especially with light bullets (70 gn round balls). I had my 357 shooting a .360 ball and feeling like a 22 revolver. That is my varment load. I also used 2 ball loads with wadcutter loading data and this was interesting. But I couldnt find bulk .360 balls to make it economical for plinking. IF I could get .360 dia buckshot in a 10# bag I would have it made.

Sorry I am babbling on. Good luck. email me at stogsdills@cyberback.com if you would like me to look up my Lyman loading data. I bet it has data on a 140 gn lead ball.