ok about to buy powder to load 357 mags light 158gr bullits want a versatile powder for 357 and 44 mag was thinking of unique
any suggestions these loads will be for practice not full power

Bullseye.

Can't go wrong with unique...

Unique, AA#5, Blue Dot, and 2400 will serve you well. Unique would probably be my 1st choice followed by 2400.

win 231-these loads will be for practice not full power

I've found unique and 240 to be dirty burning. Since I normally load 357 and 44 mags with WW296, I burn WW231 for the lower power practice loads. But I was swayed by their $4 per container rebate at the time.

I'd go with unique myself.

Dirty? What? Are you trying to avoid cleaning after use?

If you are goijn to to clean your firearm anyway it's a "who cares?" issue.

Frankly I'd rather have copious ammounts of soft easily removed fouling than even a miniscule ammount of harder more difficult to remove dirt.

AD

When you say "light" do you mean a med. vel. load or a low vel. load? I like Unique for med. vel. loads. It burns clean as long as you run near the higher end of the pressure range. For really light loads, it will be "dirty".

when i say light i'm saying probally med power llight for practice want to introduce a friend to shooting also and if not hard on his wrist he will enjoy it more and maybe become a handgun fan but mostly for myself

I'm another Unique fan. It just works so well in the 357. It is also quite a good powder for other pistol cartridges, and makes a great shotgun load, too. It's probably the most used powder in my reloading stock.

There are many. I like Herco or Bluedot.

Hodgdon Lil' Gun is a good one if you want to get some speedy loads.

Good Luck

Reloader

When I started reloading for my .357 Magnum, I used 2400 on the advice of my mentor at the time. He felt, for a beginning reloader, the risk of a double charge was reduced by using a powder of lower energy density. Also, he was a rifle shooter and was more comfortable with 2400.

After I calculated how much powder I was using per shot, and saw how much unburned powder I was leaving in the barrel, I switched to Bullseye. But I switched away from that for safety because Bullseye has an extremely high energy density (a little makes a BIG bang) and a little variation, I thought, could be dangerous. I was being over-cautious, but that is better than under-cautious. I had good results (i.e. lots of fun plinking)

So, I switched to Unique for decades and have been very happy in both .357 and .44 magnums as well as .45ACP and 9mm.

Almost all my loads are very light (though I have never chronographed them), the .45 barely cycles my action and is noticably lighter than commercial hardball and the .357 is very much lighter than full-house .357 store-bought cartridges and does not reliably cycle the action of my Coonan .357 Magnum. I figure they are about equal to or less powerful than an ordinary .38 special. They are all fun to plink with. And the cast lead (non-gas-checked) bullets do not lead my barrels.

I have a similar question. I want to load .454 Casull and .500 Smith & Wesson to about 800 fps with 225 grain to 300 grain bullets. The 500 Smith has a 4" barrel and the 454 Casull is a Super Redhawk with a 7.5" barrel. I will consult a loading manual for the amount to use, but I have no idea what powder to use, if not Unique. These are very large cases and I suspect the burning characteristics of powders other than Unique might be better. There have been a lot of new powders since the last time I checked and need to back in the groove. Any advice would be appreciated.

In the interest of not taking the focus away from the .357/.44 original question, I will be starting a new thread on this forum with this question.

Larry (Lost Sheep)

But since

i use hp 38 similar to win 231; i can use it in 44 spl, 45 colt, 45 acp, 38 spl and 32 long with good results. hogdon universal is a good replacement for unique.