Would it be foolish?

[hulley]

I have a .357mag on my "List", specifically the S&W 686+ in 6". I have alot of brass that I've collected and was wondering if it would be a foolish idea to go ahead a reload the rounds without gun on hand. If it was a semi than the answer is no, but a revolver? FWIW I'm talking about loading some easy target rounds, not full power defence or hunting rounds.

Thanks
Steve

[Adamantium]

I don't think so. Just don't put a tight crimp on them so if the OAL needs to be adjusted, or the bullet pulled, there isn't a problem. All you are doing is making "factory ammunition" in that no consideration is being given to the specific gun used to shoot them.

[hornetguy]

From what you said, I'd say nope... it doesn't matter. Load up a bunch of them.

[g.willikers]

I just did that and am glad the gun was handy.
Somehow the crimp die unwound slightly out of the press, and the rounds were too fat to chamber.
Good thing they could be checked before heading for the range.

[AFK]

I would personally load up a few different loads first. After you get the gun, find the one you like for accurancy, power, and clean burning. Then load that one in quantity. I use 3 different powders for my 4 calibers, so that would keep me busy for a while. Usually about 6 differnet loads per powder per caliber. That usually gives me enough information to make a decision on which one I like. I usually end up about 3/4 of the way between min and max.

[hulley]

Thanks guys. I guess what I'll do is get my supplies, dies, etc ready and that should give me a little more motivation to get the gun.

[Shotgun693]

and the rounds were too fat to chamber.

If you're using a carbide sizer just run'm through again and they'll work fine.

[BerettaPx4]

Hello Steve
I've had a 686+ for about 3 years. You'll be very happy with it whe you get it. S&W does a great job on them. The trigger on my gun is really good, one of the best I've ever owned. Good luck with yours, and enjoy it. I don't see anything wrong with loading up some ammo before you get it.
regards
Ed

[BigJimP]

Just buy a "case gague" ...and when you complete the new rounds -use the case gague to check them for overall length and sizing. If they drop all the way in ...and drop out when you turn it over ...they've fine.

Personally, I "case gague" every round I reload....before I box them up. It gives me that one last check ...to make sure a little crack didn't open up in the case ....or some kind of a crimp issue didn't happen ...so I know my reloads will run 100%. Some guys do use revolver cyclinders or barrels out of semi-autos to check their rounds ...but a "case gague" is a lot easier to use / and handier in my opinion.

Accuracy of the round / or how well the gun likes the specific reload is a little different...but for casual shooting / practice ...using any good published recipe will be fine

[serf 'rett]

Doesn't sound foolish to me..

..coming from this old fool who's toyed with the idea of loading some .45acp rounds because I'm thinking about getting my first 1911 PISTOL.

[Sevens]

I think it's a VERY foolish idea... but WAIT, stay with me here.

If you've never loaded this caliber and don't have a handgun for it yet, it's crazy to produce any LARGE volume of ammo. Very small counts of ammo, YES, that would be fine. The point I'm making is that if you haven't range tested anything that you've made, it's pure lunacy to start making hundreds of them or more.

All you will end up with (if it's not as good as you had hoped) is hundreds of average, crappy, not-good-enough or whatever it was that you made. A pile of ammo that isn't quite what you wanted is a PITA.

Better use of that time? Prep brass, a whole heaping helping of it!
Clean that brass... size & deprime it... seat new primers... flare some mouths just right... and then find a nice big coffee can (or multiple cans!) and build up a stock of brass that is prepped and ready so that when you DO find your pet load, you can crank it out by the heapload.

At my bench, I'm not just trying to make any ammo that will go BANG, I'm trying to make the best out of what I have. That means a lot of experimenting and testing. In some cases, it has taken me quite a bit of time to find a load that I really, REALLY like. But boy, when I do, I make a metric ton of it.

[golfnutrlv]

One time I loaded 10 rounds of .357 Sig before I got the gun they went to.

Then I never got the gun. Another project came up.....

Worked out fine though. Pulled the rounds, sold the brass and dies, and called it good. Figure I can buy them again later if I go for another .357 Sig.

As they say...oh well!

[serf 'rett]

Agree with Stevens. Do not load a pile of cartridges!

I often find I have made a wrong assumption, either based on a lack of knowledge or thinking that others will approach a situation or problem in the same manner that I would. I would never dream of loading anything other than some series’ of cartridges for initial testing. Shooting the test rounds will help in narrowing down the particular brass/primer/powder/bullet combination which functions and groups best. This leads to another series, specifically loaded to verify the initial test data which looked to most promising. Then I can get down to the yank and crank mode (provided I haven’t used all my bullets during the testing).

[hulley]

I think I'm gonna go with Sevens idea. I've got a fair amount of .357/.38 brass that I've collected and have already tumbled so maybe I'll go ahead and get dies and do the deprime/size/prime moves before actually loading the round.

I made up 200rds of 9mm that I was CERTAIN the load was correct only to find out the load was too weak to cycle the slide. Pulling a couple hundred rounds is no fun!

Thanks for the help.
Steve

[buck460XVR]

I agree, go ahead and load 'em if you want. I just wouldn't load a whole lot till you know what you and the gun like. As others have said, it would be no different that buying factory rounds.

Just don't put a tight crimp on them so if the OAL needs to be adjusted, or the bullet pulled, there isn't a problem.

Since revolver bullets generally have a cannelure for the roll crimp, OAL generally is determined by the bullet, not the firearm. There's usually not a whole lot of adjustment that can be made in OAL and still crimp within the cannelure. Most major bullets manufacturers have already determined what OAL works with their bullet and place the cannelure appropriately. Most of the time a firm crimp is needed in revolvers to keep the bullets from jumping under recoil.