I have written extensively of the 357 magnum and it’s Mega potential and loads. But we would be cutting ourselves short bread if we didn’t also use our 357/38s with lite to medium loads. They are fun, accurate and effective, for a variety of uses. I will also include the pressure we are working with, on the various loads mentioned where possible. I think that unlike the various magnum handguns...which are made strong, and can take pressures usually beyond commercial loadings. The 38 Special handguns require us to pay close attention to their age, condition, real strength...and ability to withstand today’s pressures. There are thousands of older 38s out there that are suspect, and a number of smaller framed guns that also must be treated carefully with reloads.

Some of the turn of the century S&Ws and double action Colts look like modern handguns, they are chambered for the old black powder and low power 38 Specials, (yes there were black powder 38 Spc. loadings)...some of these older guns will unfortunately sometimes even chamber 357s. I had a S&W 1st. Model. M&P 1899 Army/Navy, circa 1901, brought to me several months ago. It had a heavy 357 magnum load fired in it. The gun was totally frozen, nothing in the action worked any more. All internal parts were jammed, the forcing cone on the gun was gone. It was blown off even with the frame. So we really must look carefully before we leap.

There were a number of blown up 357 handguns in the 1980s. It was reputed by some fairly responsible gun writers that these guns were blown with target doses of Bullseye. Around 4 grains under simple 148 grain wadcutters. The first reaction was that the loads must have been double charged. But Remington did a study and found some interesting results. 3plus grains of Bullseye under a 148 gr lead wadcutter. will generate about 16000 psi. An easy load for nearly all guns to digest, especially magnum frames. But Remington learned that if you push the 148 grain wadcutter down into the 38 Special case just 1/8th of an inch, the pressure jumps to over 25,000psi. Now remember the wadcutter for 38s is a long bullet with most of it being set down into the case, in the first place. Remington said when you push it down a 1/4 inch below the lip of the case, your then in 40,000 to 50,000 psi territory. Bottom the wadcutter out in the case and the pressure escalates to around 90 to 100,000 psi. And that will take even a strong Ruger SA 357 apart.

As I have probably been preaching till my readers are tired of it...pressure is much more sensitive then velocity is to variables. Take care dear reader.

I like loading the 148 grain hollow base wadcutter backwards for a superb home defense load. When it strikes, it opens up like the jaws of a rattler, and dumps all of its energy into the target. 4 Grains of Bullseye under the wadcutter will give about 950 fps and around 21,000 psi. Strong 38s and of course 357s can take those loads with relative ease. Between 3 and 4 grains of Bullseye, or WW231, Clays, Universal Clays, those of the fast burning rates...will usually give you and your handgun, a load with gilt edge accuracy. I have found that 4 grains of Clays, and 17,000 psi, (not Univ. Clays) will break 1000 fps and give outstanding accuracy in most of my 357s. Putting a gas chec on the nose of the wadcutter, which becomes the base keeps the fouling down when you push them a little too fast.

Because of the difference in seating depth between the wadcutter and my Keith cast bullet, my 168/172 grain Keith semi wadcutter over 4 grains of Clays, gives about the same velocity and pressure. Even though it is 7% or so heavier. Be careful with the fast powders and the 148 grain wadcutters...just because 4 grains shows no pressure..a few more grains is not safe. Richard Lee’s book on pressure for example states that 5.7 grains of Bullseye under this bullet jumps the pressure to 34,000 psi! The velocity with that 5.7/Bullseye load is 1475 fps...I bet that leads like crazy. Do you know how to get heavy lead fouling out of your barrel easily....take a flat based jacketed bullet, load it backwards, over 8 or 9 grains of 2400 (ether brand) or 4227 (either brand) and fire it. Might take two rounds...but that will clean it out. The pressure range with those cleaning loads and jacketed bullets up to 160 grains is around 17000psi.

I buy 125 grain hollow pointed jacketed bullets by bulk,, from whoever is selling them cheapest that week. Usually MidwayUSA...at 500 count. HS6 and the 125s are made for each other in 38 special cases. 8 grains of HS6 will give about 1200 fps. A lite load in pressure at 16,500 psi or so, but nasty on pests. My S&W seven shot Mountain Gun likes this load. I can load them to 1800 fps in magnum cases with 18/2400...and 32,000 psi in my 7 and ½ inch Ruger. But the lite load is fun, not abusive on the gun or the ears, accurate and effective. Sometimes we don’t realize what ‘effective’ really is, until an experience comes along that shows it graphically.

I had a coyote that committed suicide at my home, in the far eastern end of Tucson, back in 1977 or 78. At that time we were in the middle of nowhere. This yote figured our new yipping, howling, and yelling puppies, were inviting him to lunch. So this idiot sneaks up the back of an acre of fairly wild desert brush, behind our house...heading for the dog pen. About the time he was trying to get his nose and paw into the chicken wire of the pen...I shot him from inside the back bedroom. The window was open and he couldn’t see me in the darkened room. At around 1200 fps that little 125 grain hollow point took him in the ear hole at 25 yards. He just collapsed at the shot...nose and paw still stuck in the wire. It put a small hole in the back window screen, but it’s worth it.

As I walked up to him, I could see his eye on the right side was bulged...and little else. But the left side of his head told a different story. His left ear, part of the jaw bone and skull were gone. Now that’s effective. I never liked the 158 grain lead round nose 38 commercial load. It was rated at about 800 fps from a six inch barrel...ugh. When a young officer and forced to carry it, I used to carefully break the ammo down...and reassemble it over enough Unique to give around 1100 fps, and flatten the nose somewhat with a file. It was a heavy load but I had a heavy frame Colt 38, that had no problem with it. It did lead a little, after a dozen or so rounds...but most times the festivities were over long before that many shots ever needed firing.

Because of it’s straight sided case and it’s small powder capacity, the 38 Special with some target loads can even rival the greatest of target rounds...the 32 S&W Special (long). And target loads are wonderful for small game hunting like squirrels and rabbits. But there are also a few loads that will give you short range accuracy, and will dispatch vermin, and are fun to shoot even indoors. I like ball loads. Magnum chilled shot has a coating over it, a 36 caliber ball (#000 Buck Shot 70 grains) over a 2 or less grains of fast powder, can be stopped by a few old phone books...and lets you practice hold, squeeze, etc...right in your garage. Push the ball in with your fingers rub a little lube on it...or use one of the lubes that go on wet then dry...and you can push them to 600 to 800 fps without leading.

Quiet, and within their short range they can be deadly...certainly better than a standard 22LR out of short barreled handgun. And being spheres, their range falls off even faster than bullets loaded to low velocities. I shoot them into trees at birds without worrying if they are going to go into the next township.

The normal SAMMI specs for safe 38 Special loads runs to about 16000 psi....and the Plus P loads run about 19000 to 20000 psi. In good strong medium frame 38s, I probably exceed those figures but still have medium loads. Where 11 grains of IMR 4227 under a 180 grain bullet at 21,500 psi is considered a PlusP load....my Model 10 S&Ws don’t have any problems with 12 to 13 grains....and 1000 to 1100 fps running 28000 plus psi.

I once had the cylinder in a Model 10 changed. I had a Model 19/357 cylinder replace the 38 cylinder (you also have to cut the forcing cone back and re throat it) in effect creating a fixed sighted, 5 inch slim barreled model 19 S&W. Thousands of rounds later and the frame still had no problems. I was going to rechamber the original 38 chambers to 357...but the cylinder would have been too short for some of the commercial loading of 357 ammo.

Would that original 38 cylinder have taken the 357 mag pressures over a long period of time? Well I suspect so, but I never had the chance to prove or disprove it....so I can’t say empirically yes or no. I don’t suggest you go to mag pressures in your 38...unless you are ready to possible ruin it. We were running a test project....with confiscated government guns that were slated to be destroyed anyway. Since under Fed/Law the handgun’s frame is the gun, we used to cannibalize the guns for parts and destroy the frame...and/or test them to destruction. I learned a great deal about gun strength in those days.

I certainly learned how strong the Ruger Single Actions were. I believe the Ruger 357 SA is possible one of the strongest revolvers on the market...only surpassed by the Freedom Arms 353 (five shot 357 on the large frame) and that only because it is a five shot and the Ruger is a 6 shot. I destroyed a lot of 357 magnum brass before I ever came close to hurting the Ruger. Another time I put a Ruger Super Blackhawk 44 magnum cylinder in a lathe...I wanted to cut a several rings around the front of the cylinder and then put silver into them..to create silver stripes. Imagine my surprise when the blue came off but the cylinder burned the tip of the cutting tool and didn’t even scratch the cylinder. I would say that for the money Ruger is one of the finest handguns on the market...certainly some of the strongest.

I have always found that a little wisp of Dacron over 4 grains of Bullseye in 357 mag cases topped with good commercial 148 hollow base wadcutters gives outstanding accuracy. The trick here is the Dacron holding the small amount of powder against the primer. Also for some reason mag primers work better in some guns with this load. I have one 30 year old Ruger Single Action that prefers small rifle primers with this load...strange but testing shows it.

In the late 1960s myself and a few other lawmen were at the Richmond Va. Gun range just at the edge of town...several years later the range moved to Hanover County because of population growth of course. But this range was covered with green grass and surrounded by tall thickly forested trees. It was late evening and we were getting ready to leave. And a bunch of loud type misfits on the rifle range had set up two five foot poles and run a heavy string between them and then hung beer cans from strings tied to the above cross string. They were about 20 yards from the cans and popping at them with handguns.

We told them that the range rules didn’t allow handguns on the rifle range...and since they weren’t members and had been drinking a little, they would have to leave. Well there was a lot of belly aching but they really weren’t bad guys...and had only a few beers. Anyway they challenged us to a shooting contest. They were having a hard time hitting the darn cans...and they without realizing it had just challenged the pistol team that came in fourth at Camp Perry the year before.

I had a special target revolver. It started life as a S&W five inch model 10/38 Special. It had been worked over by one of the finest Air Force armorer’s that ever lived. He had been assigned to the Air Force Champion Pistol Teams for over twenty years and retired in Richmond. That revolver was set to fire one load...and one load only at 25 and 50 yards...target wadcutters over 3.7 grains of Bullseye. Fixed sights with one gold bar on the front sight for 50 yards...top of the sight for 25 yards.

I took the challenge....a lot of money changed hands behind me as I stepped up to fire. Because I told them I would do something they thought impossible...they just didn’t believe it could be done. The sun was low behind me...the strings holding the cans were thick and could be seen clearly, at that range with a smidgin of luck I knew I could do it. Yup, I cut six strings with six shots and dropped those cans to the ground. They left quietly shaking their heads...sans their money...and it was some of the finest shooting I have ever done in my life. I have tried it again a number of times over the years, but I have never been able to cut six in a row again....I guess there was just a little more then a smidgin of luck involved that day.