J&K .38 158gr. LSWC

[338Shooter]

dustin,i run that same load through a S&W model 10.at 60 yards we're ringing an 8 inch iron target almost every time shooting freehand.pretty impressive for a simple load.who's bullet are you using?

J&K Bullet Casters in Moore. Mitch is a good guy and makes great bullets.

 

[338Shooter]

If you want to shoot cast bullets check your cylinder throats. Rugers are usually sized for jacketed bullets. Ideally they should be at least .3585" dia. You can get a rough idea by using a jacketed bullet. Push it through the cylinder from the front. If it slips through with no resistance at all you are probably okay. A snug slip fit (any resistance at all) and you should ream them. If they are too small the cylinder will swage the cast lead bullet down to a size thats too small to seal in the barrel and accuracy will suffer. Won't hurt anything but it won't ever shoot cast bullets to it's full potential and leading will always be a problem. The old school rule is that they should be .001" larger than the groove diameter of the barrel.

Could I use my caliper on the front end of the cylinder? I don't have any jacketed bullets around to see.

 

[Shadowrider]

Could I use my caliper on the front end of the cylinder? I don't have any jacketed bullets around to see.

Probably not going to be accurate enough. Dial and digital calipers are notorious for giving inaccurate readings on the internal jaws. Especially if they've ever been dropped. But give it a whirl and see what it says anyway.

 

[338Shooter]

If my calipers are accurate, I got .358-.362 in my measuring one of the chambers. The .357 semi jacketed bullets will go in easily from the front too. Not sure if they are full diameter before they go into the case, but they appear to be.

 

[Shadowrider]

If my calipers are accurate, I got .358-.362 in my measuring one of the chambers. The .357 semi jacketed bullets will go in easily from the front too. Not sure if they are full diameter before they go into the case, but they appear to be.

They probably are full dia. I've never bought any to handload that weren't. And it appears like you don't have to worry about reaming them either. That .362 sounds a bit big though. Later today I'll check my and post up what they are.

 

[338Shooter]

They probably are full dia. I've never bought any to handload that weren't. And it appears like you don't have to worry about reaming them either. That .362 sounds a bit big though. Later today I'll check my and post up what they are.

That is probably me not getting the caliper in there right. I saw much more of the .358-.359.

 

[Shadowrider]

Mine (I got two of them ) are:

Gun 1: .3575 to .3582 (with most chambers around .358)
Gun 2: .3578 to .3582 (with most chambers around .358)

Measured with a telescoping gage and micrometer.
There's really no point in slugging the barrel these days. I guarantee they will be within .0005" or less of .357" (probably less).
My two will do a passable job with cast bullets. I'd like them about .0005 bigger but I won't lose any sleep over it. J&K's are plenty hard which will help.

 

[Shadowrider]

That is probably me not getting the caliper in there right. I saw much more of the .358-.359.

.359 if that's what it is would be close to perfect for CB's.

 

[oneof79]

Finally got my Lee 4-die set and made up 50 rounds of these. I loaded them over 3.8 grains of Universal. Min/Max for universal is 3.5/4.5 for these bullets according to my Hornady book. Should be a nice shooting medium-light load. If I like it, I'll roll up some more just like it. Hopefully getting out to the gun club this weekend to try these out and I'll report back with the review.

I loaded up 100 more last night.

Now I'll have 50 each of 3.6, 3.8, and 4.0 grains of Universal.

Review to come. Not today, but hopefully Wednesday we can get to the range. My bro is supposed to be visiting and I hope to surprise him with his GP.

Thanks for the report.
I have a question, what is the outside diameter of those bullets? The reason I ask is that I bought some 158 gr swc bullets from H&H the other day, they are marked 38/357 158g hc. When I measure these I get .355 almost everytime. That is what size a 9mm is. I would think the 38/357s should be a little bigger.

 

[338Shooter]

I measured 15 or so randomly out of my box of 500 and got 0.357" on every single one of them. H&H sells the bullets from J&K so yours likely went through the same lubrisizer as mine did.