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Old June 22, 2013, 12:16 PM   #23
Lost Sheep
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 24, 2009
Location: Anchorage Alaska
Posts: 3,341
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilot
Is the pistol you would shoot these through a .357 Magnum, or a .38 Spl? Do you have a .357 Magnum that you could use? If so the Hogdgon Data indicates Maximum Load for the .357 Magnum, 158 grain is 4.8 grains, so your 4.0 grains is well under and safe to shoot in a .357 Magnum.
As schmellba99 pointed out, the case volume of the .357 Magnum is greater than the case volume of the .38 Special. Once you subtract the volume actually occupied by the powder, the amount of FREE volume at the time of ignition is even more different!. THERE IS DANGER THERE. I have no idea how much cushioning effect the free volume gives (if I did, I would probably be a ballistician) but that's why I use loading manuals.

If I had 5,000 rounds loaded like that, I might be tempted to prove the load in a .357 Magnum. I might consider loading 3.1 grains, 3.2 grains, 3.3 grains....3.8 grains and 4.0 grains and shoot them, looking for pressure signs. But for under 100 rounds? Not worth the trouble, especially with what it is likely to do to case life.

I have seen what a heavy charge does to case life. I had one batch of 50 .38 Special brass I loaded once to max pressure (still below giving signs of overpressure and within book recipes). They were OK when I shot them and I only loaded them hot once. A couple more loadings with light loads and I observed that the cases started to split at the mouth and even down the body. And this was in a Dan Wesson (DW revolvers have tight chambers). 15% case loss after 5 reloadings. I retired the entire batch. My other cases last much, much longer, so much that I have quit counting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimSr
My RCBS Kinetic Bullet Puller (hammer) works great but pulling 50 is a lot of work!
After the first dozen or so, you develop a technique and it goes pretty fast. I once had to pull 35 rounds. I was loading in continuous mode on a progressive press and ran my powder measure to empty, but I did not know when. I developed a technique of using the rebound of the puller from the end-grain of a 4x4 to assist and lightly holding the handle between thumb and forefinger at the point of impact. High speed and free rebound made light work of the job.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver00LT
Inertia pullers still damages hunting rounds. It bashes the lead tip down. But at least you could use them as plinking rounds versus using a puller that grabs the bullet and messing the bullet completely.
As Snuffy just pointed out, if you put a little piece of foam rubber (a disposable ear plug, or maybe just a cotton ball) in the bottom of the puller, the points are better protected. If you really wanted to get fancy putting down a ring of foam rubber would likely stop the bullet at the ogive instead of the tip.

Lost Sheep
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