I have a new S&W 686. I also picked up 500 pieces of new .357 brass. Thing is my wife prefers to shoot .38 loads.

My question is this. In general, would a top end load for a .38 be ok in a .357 case? That way I could develop "His and Her" loads without buying more brass (at least right now).

quote:

Originally posted by NEJack:
I have a new S&W 686. I also picked up 500 pieces of new .357 brass. Thing is my wife prefers to shoot .38 loads.

My question is this. In general, would a top end load for a .38 be ok in a .357 case? That way I could develop "His and Her" loads without buying more brass (at least right now).

Most manuals give a pretty good range of loads and many even offer cast bullet or plinker loads with something like 700X or Bullseye. A top 38Spl load (meaning +P) in a 357 case is going to be pretty mild due to the excess case capacity. My Speer No 10 that I keep close to the computer lits +P 38Spl loads that are below the 357 loads for most bullet/powder combos.
Your 686 will be plenty strong for either.

I routinely shoot mild 38 special loads in 357 cases. I imagine one would have to be quite an expert marksman to notice any difference in accuracy.

I have a lot of friends who do the same as me. We all don't want our 357 magnum cylinders to get worn, burnt, etc by shooting 38 special brass in our 357's. Right or wrong that is what we do and why.

I shoot 38spec in my 357Mag and haven't seen any adverse effects, but I clean it after every shooting session. When I shoot 357s in it they are usually pretty much a full power load. I don't know why you would want to try to downsize a 357 load to run like a 38. Just shoot the 38s and forget it, well after a thorough cleaning.

Well I tell you why. Smith and Wesson themselves do not recommend you give your model 19 or 66 a steady diet of full power 357 magnum loads.

Practice and plink with the lighter loads and hunt/carry/etc with the full power loads.

Not everyone packs a model 27 or 28.

The L frame was made to digest full power 357 loads on a continuous basis but even so you can't hotrod things as much as you can with an N frame.
Of course guys used to shoot N frames to pieces too in the silhouette days.

I found that using trailboss in a .357 case with a cast 158 both Ruger Blackhawk and SW 686 will shoot to point of aim at 15 yards. My wife also likes the low recoil of TB.

The trick I use is to load the .38 Spl load in brass cases, and the Mag loads in nickel cases.
The main reason here is that I use what appears to be the same bullet in each...a ww-alloy in the .38 and either Lyman #2 or linotype in the .357.
Have fun,
Gene

Don't know if this helps much but; 4.7 of unique(max) and a 158 cast bullet says 913 in Speer 12 for a .38. The same cast 158 and 5.5 (min) unique in a .357 is listed at 970. For bullseye 4.2(max) in a 38 is 888, 4.3 (min) in a .357 is 848 fps.

Speer loads cast at or below 1000 fps. If you have a bullet powder combo in mind I can check a couple of manuals and see what is listed.

Late to this, as usual, but 2 cataract surgeries for me and 5 hospital visits for my wife (2 for really serious stuff) in the last 2 years have occupied my mind and narrowed my prespective marvelously!
BUT! When I was competing in IPSC, The +P load for .38 Special was ~5.4 gr. Unique, for ~940FPS. I loaded 5.5 gr in .357 Magnum cases, 150-158 gr cast...860 FPS chronoed. Nice load! Didn't make Major, but, if I shot well enough, not a problem! Never did come in first, but never last, either. Now, I use .38 +P max data, add 5-10% to compensate for the added case volume, and come up with loads that are not magnum, but not 38 +p, either. My Trail Boss loads are nice, soft shooters, too!