38/357..what is your favorite bullet

[Rustygun]

Asking the seasoned reloaders here what is your favorite bullet for reloading 38/357?
I have almost used up my inventory of bullets in this caliber and was about to place an order understanding it might take 10-12 weeks to receive anything.

I have loaded mostly 38 with bullets that range from lead 148gn DEWC to Hornady 158 gn and 125 gn XTP hollow points, and 125 gn polymer coated lead. I have accumulated enough 357 brass that I can load a couple hundred and am looking for a bullet that you have tried in both 38 & 357 with good results.

I am considering ordering a quantity (1000 or more) that will last me for a while. I am considering reordering 125 FP polymer coated from precision bullet (https://precisionbullets.com/product/38-125-fp/). when they show available again, but I think they state these Bullets should not exceed 1250 FPS and in 357 you will be flirting or exceeding that speed.

I was gifted a bag of about 500 148gn no name DEWC and have to say these are amazingly accurate. Recently shot 18 rounds into a 3” circle free hand at 10 yards. I am very satisfied with that considering how blurry the target is at that distance with these old eyes. I currently have 500 DEWC in my shopping cart at X-treme Bullets but have no experience with wad cutters at 1300-1400 FPS velocities in 357 mag.

 

[Dumpstick]

Are the xtreme wadcutters plated or lead ? I've never seen jacketed wadcutters in .358.
If they are cast lead, you may be able to take them to 1300+, swaged lead no way.

There is plenty of data out there for full power wadcutter loads, at least in 38 spl, but if the Xtreme bullets are plated they may not take 1300 fps either.

If you are looking for some swaged HBWC for target work, I have some I could be persuaded to let go of.

 

[okierider]

I load 158 grain in both, LSWCHP for SD in 38 and XTP in 357. Both get fed hard cast coated for practice . I load the practice rounds full power in the 357 and have seen zero issues other that I think my revolver likes lead better than copper , tightens the groups up a little with lead.

 

[Honey Badger]

I always loaded 38 spl to shoot out of my .357 revolvers. You can load as hot or as light as you want. Brass is usually pretty available for cheap. Back then powder and primers were easy to find as well. Not so much anymore. They will be again.

 

[panayoti]

Lee lists a 105 gr 38/357 bullet that supposedly can also be used in 9mm. Jerry's in Tulsa sells a similar powder coated bullet. Might give some economy of scale if you loaded 9mm and 38.
When supply starts meeting demand I may do some experimenting.
I have had good accuracy results with hollow base wadcutters. These were soft swaged lead. Don't push them to fast as they may breakup.
You can also make an old school defense load by seating them backwards and glueing a bb in the cavity. Poor man's hydrashock.

Update: I am not a lawyer. I am not giving legal advice but using hand loads in self defence situation is not good. You are opening yourself up for an attack on your character. You will be labeled as a vigalanty . The same goes for modifying your self defence weapon. Check out some of Masad Ayoob's articles.

 

[Gunbuffer]

158gr all day. berry’s makes a plated thats
A Joy to load and shoot

 

[Shadowrider]

X-Treme plated bullets in my experience act an awful lot like swaged lead. They are just soft lead with a thin foil like copper plating on them. I wouldn't want to push them much over 900 FPS. Coated lead and even conventional hard cast uncoated are far better IME and I've loaded and shot thousands of all of them. I don't buy plated bullets at all anymore.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

For .38/.357 cast bullets I always used load data less than 1k FPS. They had good accuracy without much leading of the barrel.

 

[Honey Badger]

Is JK Bullet casters still around? I bought a lot of projectiles from Mitch.

 

[magna19]

Is JK Bullet casters still around? I bought a lot of projectiles from Mitch.

Per Mitch about 3 weeks ago. Hes not doing bullets. Didnt ask why.