[Jcon72]

Originally Posted by Unclenick

....As a result, for good velocity consistency, you often need a faster powder. The other reason for a faster powder in snubbies is to hold down the nighttime blinding fireballs and the muzzle blast.

Yes, I understand that, but the titanium cylinder can be somewhat sensitive to certain loads and the face of it can become eroded if not careful. I wasn't sure if there are certain powders that are more/less of a problem in this regard and this is one of the big factors I would like to learn more about. Certainly don't want to hurt such a nice gun.

Originally Posted by Unclenick

....The main factor in that is getting primers properly seated, which means pushing them in two to four thousandths past the point where the feet of the anvil are just touching the floor of the primer pocket, so you actually compress the tip of the anvil into the priming mix in the cup by that much. If you don't have a means of measuring this, just seat fairly hard.

This is SOP for me.

Originally Posted by Unclenick

The next thing is to choose a powder that will be mostly consumed in the short barrel. This can be difficult as primers often unseat the bullets before the powder burn gets well underway, another reason for choosing a relatively quick powder. It is also a reason for producing a very solid crimp. The Redding Profile Crimp Die produces the best roll crimp I've seen. The Lee Collet-Style Crimp Die is available in 357 Magnum (currently on sale for under $12 at Midway) and will also produce a stout crimp. Note that of the two, only the Redding die works with both 38 Special and 357 Magnum. The Lee die cannot be made for multiple case lengths and is not available in 38 Special.

Pretty sure I have a Redding profile crimp die for 38/357 that I picked up at a gun show a year or two ago for $5 or $10. Might be a different caliber but I'm almost certain it's 38/357.

Originally Posted by Unclenick

Then you get to choose the powder. Personally, I would be using something like 231/HP-38 (same powder differently packaged) or Universal or even Unique to start. You can try Bullseye. One board member even went to Clays in his gun recently. You can play with slower powders, but will have fireball and blast penalties and will probably see the velocities become less regular.

I have quite a bit of HP-38 and Bullseye and a pound of Unique that I've not yet cracked open.

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

So I'm fond of questions.
Will this be your first time loading?
Will this be your first time loading rimmed cartridges 38/357?

Oh, no, I've been loading for several years and my very first experience was .38 Spl. While I do load other cartridges I would have to say that the majority of my reloading (and my preference, really) is rimmed cartridges including .38 Spl, .41 Mag, .44 Mag, .45 Colt and have just started on .327 Federal, .460 S&W and soon will be doing a bit of .444 Marlin.

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

If your already loading what powders do you already have on hand?

Unclenick is on point with his advice, as always. I too would recommend HP-38/231, universal, or unique. If you want to shoot the gun a fair bit comfortably I am playing around with Hodgdon's clays and am very happy with it so far.

For pistol powder I have Bullseye, Unique, 700-X, H-110 (probably not good for this project), HP-38, HS-6, Longshot and TiteGroup (might be a good candidate here?). Today while at a gun show I saw a pound of Clays and really should have picked it up.

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

I did some testing the other day with my snubbie looking for powders that would get me a good full burn. Heres the link to the thread https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=613662

Yes, I read that thread, thank you. My point in posting this thread was not to hijack yours while attempting to gain some advice in powder choice specifically in regard to the titanium cylinder. For your situation the 4.4gr load of HP-38 looked pretty good, all things considered.

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

While I don't doubt Uncle Nick is right about the dies he mentions, I've never used either and don't plan to.

I've been loading .38/.357 on the same Lyman die set I started with in the early 70s and never had any issues with crimp, once I got enough experience to understand what I was doing (and that was VERY early on).

The factory seating die has a roll crimp shoulder and will produce as much or as little crimp as you adjust it for. Never needed or found any point to using a separate die for crimping.

Yes, I have no problem using a RCBS seating/crimp die for crimping but usually use an extra one that I have, crimping in a separate step after seating. As stated above, I'm pretty sure there's a Redding 38/357 profile crimp die up in my room as well, just gotta double check.

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

One thing Uncle Nick didn't mention, is the other reason you need a good crimp for a snub nose gun. While keeping the bullet in place for proper powder ignition is one important thing there is another, also important reason, and that is bullet pull.

Yes, I'm aware of this concern but thank you.

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

When you get to loading for your new gun, I suggest you not load a large quantity of ammo to begin with but load small batches and test fire them before any volume production. Test fire a cylinder full except for the last round. Then check it for any bullet movement. If there is any you need to adjust your crimp. IF no bullet jump, test again, firing a second cylinder full with that same last round from the first firing. If that one round takes 10 shots of recoil with no bullet jump, I'd call that amount of crimp good for volume production.

Yep, I learned long ago to test in small batches! It only takes (or at least SHOULD take) one or two experiences of having to pull bullets to learn that bit of wisdom.

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Good luck with your new gun, have fun, be safe and let us know any other questions you have.

Thanks, guys!