.357 reload question.

[jstory]

Loaded up 6 .357 tonight and shot them. Everything seemed to be fine till I went to pull the spent cases. They were all stuck. My load was out of my Lyman manual. 12.8 grains of 2400, standard primer (told to use non magnum primers by Alliant rep) and 158 grain hardcast. The Lyman manual says a max load of 13.5 of 2400. I had been shooting 38 special and did not clean the revolver after shooting the last time. Could a dirty cylinder have been the culprit? The primers look to be quite a bit flatter than my 38s but naturally the .357 is alot hotter load. I don't have any other cases to compare with. I did shoot some .357 the other day with no sticky cases. What do all the experts here say, dirty revolver or did I push the limits of the powder charge. Thanks again INGO

 

[mac45]

Hardly an expert, but yeah. A dirty cylinder can make things sticky.
Give it a good cleaning and try again.
If you run into a stubborn carbon ring, a .357 Mag case belled out till it just barely fits makes a dandy scraper.

 

[hammer24]

If powder was measured correctly to 12.8, and oal was correct for the bullet, I doubt you pushing the pressure envelope. Too much oil in the cylinder could also cause sticky cases.

 

[17 squirrel]

Clean you're cylinder... And most likely your problems will be gone.

 

[wassup61]

Clean you're cylinder... And most likely your problems will be gone.

IME, this is accurate, esp with a 38spl session on the pistol before a full magnum load

 

[bulletsmith]

Can't go wrong with cleaning the cylinder. I agree that you are not likely near the upper end of the scale with that load. One other thought, I have had cases get a little sticky with a hot cylinder. Lot's of shooting and not so much resting . Seems to be worse with a Stainless gun ime. Did you only shoot these 6 rounds? If so, I doubt that heat is the issue.

 

[gabrigger]

Your load is fine. Clean the carbon fouling from the .38's and extraction should be fine.

 

[jstory]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I gave it a proper cleaning last night and plan to try out a few more reloads tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again....

 

[deviljunkie]

Double check your scale to make sure something isn't "off" . I haven't run into the cylinder err problem with a dirty cylinder and I've had sessions of 150 plus rounds.

 

[OutdoorDad]

Double check your scale to make sure something isn't "off" . I haven't run into the cylinder err problem with a dirty cylinder and I've had sessions of 150 plus rounds.

i don't think it's just the fouling. The 38spcl is a shorter case, so the cylinder fouling starts further back into the cylinder. And the 357 cartridge is already overlapping the fouled portion.

At least that's how I'm interpreting things.

 

[deviljunkie]

Ya I get that and that's probably what's going on
. My suggestion is just to make sure and be on the safe side

 

[Classic]

I try not to shoot 44 special and 38 special cartridges in magnum handguns due to this issue. Since I started handloading, I just use lighter plinking loads in magnum cases to avoid this kind of buildup.

 

[Farmritch]

You know nothing of your load unless you chronograph them, trial N error may just get you ERROR!

 

[jstory]

Thanks for all the replies gents...problem was a dirty cylinder. Shot 6 more loads tonight, zero problems. Thanks everyone