Newbie to .38/.357 reloading

[bedbugbilly]

44 AMP - good post and well said . . . clear and to the point . . . I loved it!

[Nick_C_S]

But a guy I know at church who shoots in revolver competitions swears by 231, Says it's cleaner.

It is.

Bullseye is "residuey." It won't leave unburned powder from underloading like Blue Dot or HS-6 will, but it leaves a fine residue that is kind of like graphite lube, but more oily - for lack of a better description. Comes off your hands with soap n water; and off the gun with Hoppe's #9. All powders are dirty and will eventually foul the gun. So I don't let this quirk of Bullseye stop me from using it.

But yes, 231 is clean. I've seen it leave flaky stuff behind when it's underloaded, but it's really hard to do. It's clean stuff. My all-time favorite propellant.

However, I would use whichever one I could get ahold of - ideally, both.

[fatman73]

Originally Posted by PA-Joe

Plated bullets are loaded as lead so Unique would be a good starter.

I've always thought this as well loading plated bullets as lead. I don't compare soft copper coated swaged lead to jacketed bullets. I have loaded some 158s hard cast with 5.7 grains of universal in 357 cases and they shoot nice.

[WESHOOT2]

I recommend 'Cowboy' data; I specifically recommend Hodgdon 'Cowboy' data (and your listed chamberings, Hodgdon Universal).

[coalroller]

Originally Posted by fatman73

I've always thought this as well loading plated bullets as lead. I don't compare soft copper coated swaged lead to jacketed bullets. I have loaded some 158s hard cast with 5.7 grains of universal in 357 cases and they shoot nice.

Depends which plated bullets, powerbonds are loaded as jacked bullets, and I load them to max and no problems. I've shot them in ballistic gel and everything looks good.