357 Mag reloading Newbie

Dhawk · Post by **Dhawk** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:18 am

I just bought a Ruger GP100 357 Mag and after shooting 22's for all this time got quite a shock at the price of ammo.

So am investigating reloading. This gun shoots 357 or 38's. I was told to practice with 38's and defend self with 357's. So probably want to reload 38's . I, and my wife, do love shooting this pistol!!!!

My only expierence with reloading was with a hand Lee loader for a 12 ga shotgun back in the 70's. (I don't even know what happened to that reloader) I have been looking on the internet but have successfully got confused.

Damn, we like this weapon almost as much as my Ruger competition 22 and her Browning Buck Mark 22!! They are too much fun!

ruger22 · Post by **ruger22** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:27 am

I don't reload, but just stick to .22 these days. My previous shooting life (pre-Obama) was when you could snag .38s at nine dollars for fifty. I think .357 was maybe twelve. A box of 100 .22LR was a buck and a half.

My brother was into reloading then to experiment, not to save money. He went so beserk buying equipment, it would have paid for twenty year's ammo........

It's good to get lots of advice and opinions on the gear. Then you can decide exactly what you need and get good quality. That will save you money before you even load the first cartridge.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:05 pm

I prefer to only have one kind of brass a round, 357mag. If you reload you can load the 357 down to 38spl loads. So there is no need to have the 38spl brass. If you want to do both you can use a 0.135 spacer under the seating die to correct for the length difference. If you shoot lead 38spl in a 357mag you will have to make sure you clean the cylinder good.

It always easier to learn on a SS press. But if your going to shoot an Auto you will have problem keeping up. You can run any progressive as a SS press. You just run 1 die and 1 round at a time. As you get more comfortable you can add the extra stages. The same is with a turret.

All mfg these days makes good presses with a few exceptions. Any will produce a good round in the right hands. I run a Hornady LNL-AP w/brass feeder. With my bad back I'm limited to how long I can sit, so I maximize my output. It is easy to change over from different calibers, rifle or pistol. With reloading you probably will not save any money, you shoot up your savings. It just allows you to shoot more for the same amount of money.

greener · Post by **greener** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:05 pm

blue68f100 wrote: With reloading you probably will not save any money, you shoot up your savings.

And then some.

All of us do it a little differently. I jumped in with a progressive press (Lee Pro 1000) and found myself loading one round at a time for a bit, to learn the press operations.

bgreenea3 · Post by **bgreenea3** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:22 am

Brass will last for many many loadings but you will need a good supply of it. If you've been buying factory ammo start saving your brass, a reloading kit from lee or RCBS will get you all of the pieces parts you will need to get started loading. Or you can still get the hand tool for 38/357 rounds. The lee anniversary kit is a great deal and is plenty to get you started....

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:40 am

greener wrote:
blue68f100 wrote: With reloading you probably will not save any money, you shoot up your savings.
And then some.

All of us do it a little differently. I jumped in with a progressive press (Lee Pro 1000) and found myself loading one round at a time for a bit, to learn the press operations.

Remember this old/new saying when using the Pro 100 :"He who heitstes get the primer deated properly"?

FlyerTom · Post by **FlyerTom** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:45 pm

I got out of reloading for several years when the price of everything started to skyrocket. Then came 2009...
A trip to the gun shop would go something like this:
"Do you have any .357s?"
"No. Probably next week or so. Same with the .38s"
".45 Autos?"
"They've been on backorder for 3 months now."
"How about some .44 Mags?"
" I might have a box of Blazers in the back."
Thus, I started again buying up all the stuff I sold off 30 years ago, and started stocking my shelves with all the necessities to keep my pastime passion going.

FlyerTom · Post by **FlyerTom** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:51 pm

Remember this old/new saying when using the Pro 100 :"He who heitstes get the primer deated properly"?

???

greener · Post by **greener** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:19 pm

Good looking pups, tom.

Oldman's "he who hesitates" is based on an idiosyncrasy of the Lee Pro. On the forward motion of the lever, the pause allows the primer move onto the ram and center.

Once bgreene convinced me I ought to try it, almost all the centerfire ammo I shoot is reloaded. It's relaxing. Sometimes. Mr. Lee was doing real well with .38 spl but wanted some tuning and TLC when I switched to .357. It would be easier to have a turret set for .357 as well as one for .38.

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 6:48 am

Seating primers with the Pro-1000 is best when one takes their time. That is the trickiest part of using the press properly, you got to feel them go in, not force them.

R,
Bullseye

greener · Post by **greener** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:22 am

Bullseye wrote:Seating primers with the Pro-1000 is best when one takes their time. That is the trickiest part of using the press properly, you got to feel them go in, not force them.

R,
Bullseye

Bent and crushed primers fire ok. Well, at lest some of them do. Most of the time.

It also helps on the Pro-1000 to ensure that the "holding" spring on the priming stage keeps the casing tight in the shell plate. .357 brass seem a bit touchier than .38 brass for some reason.

When the Pro is working properly on the forward stroke, the casing hits the limit switch and you hear a click indicating the seating pin has dropped and you can see the primers move down in the feed trough. The momentary pause allows this to happen. If you go too fast the casing catches the primer before it centers and doesn't allow it to center. When all is right, you feel a mushy bit of stroke as the primer seats.

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:06 am

greener wrote:
It also helps on the Pro-1000 to ensure that the "holding" spring on the priming stage keeps the casing tight in the shell plate. .357 brass seem a bit touchier than .38 brass for some reason.

When the Pro is working properly on the forward stroke, the casing hits the limit switch and you hear a click indicating the seating pin has dropped and you can see the primers move down in the feed trough. The momentary pause allows this to happen. If you go too fast the casing catches the primer before it centers and doesn't allow it to center. When all is right, you feel a mushy bit of stroke as the primer seats.

Bear likes his cousin with the shades.
Greener, the taller .357 brass may be a little bit more unstable and yes that spring does hold the case in line with the primer, if it shifts it will caues a problem. Y^our description of operation of the Pro 1000 is just the way it should be done to get by problem free. If you look through the press at the primer feed track ans see them move you are home free.
You do not need another whole die set for .357, the only one that is different is the bullet seat/crimping die. Another one set up for .357 would be hand,
myself I just do the .38,s, paper punching does not require MAGNUM FORCE.

greener · Post by **greener** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:21 am

Just bend the retaining spring back. Probably gets bent out from removing a couple rounds when I think I have had a problem with the prime.

The Lee pro primer feed is susceptible to dirt, usually in the form of gunpowder.

greener · Post by **greener** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:29 am

Dhawk wrote:I just bought a Ruger GP100 357 Mag and after shooting 22's for all this time got quite a shock at the price of ammo.

So am investigating reloading. This gun shoots 357 or 38's. I was told to practice with 38's and defend self with 357's. So probably want to reload 38's . I, and my wife, do love shooting this pistol!!!!

My only expierence with reloading was with a hand Lee loader for a 12 ga shotgun back in the 70's. (I don't even know what happened to that reloader) I have been looking on the internet but have successfully got confused.

Damn, we like this weapon almost as much as my Ruger competition 22 and her Browning Buck Mark 22!! They are too much fun!

The GP100 is fun. bgreene "introduced' me to the revolver. He got tired of me telling him it was ugly and not a Smith and forced me to shoot his. Made me a convert.

I shoot mostly .38's in my .357's. I load .38 10-to-1 over .357. I do like the big bang every now and then.

Almost any reloading system will work well. Depends on how many you want to reload and how much you are willing to spend. Everyone has their favorites and recommendations.

Me, I'd prefer a Dillon 550, but I'm not going to part with that amount of cash and can't seem to get my kids to take the hint about nice birthday/father's day/Christmas presents. I bought the Lee Pro 1000 because it seemed like a relatively inexpensive way to get into reloading and it wouldn't cost much if I decided I didn't want to reload. Does what I want and I couldn't afford to shoot as much centerfire as I do without reloading.

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357 Mag reloading Newbie

357 Mag reloading Newbie

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