Alright I have begun to dive into the world of reloading. But I wanted to know how many people reload 357 Sig and what degree of difficulty is it compare to standard pistol reloads. Also is what are some top dies to get for 357 Sig and 10mm. Thanks for the help guys and gals
-
ODT Gun Show & Swap Meet - May 4, 2024! - Click here for info
Help with reloading
- Thread starter iceberg
- Start date
10 mm is a snap, as are most all straight walled cases. I purchased dies for the .357 sig but have not started loading for it yet. I have loaded 400 Corbon, another bottle necked pistol cartiridge, found it no more difficult than rifle cartridges.
I reload 40 S&W and 357 Sig. This is how I load the 357 Sig rounds.
Step 1- run them all through the 40 cal carbide sizing die, this sizes the full length case and deprimes it.
Step 2- run them all through the 357 Sig non-carb sizing die, this will size only the neck and there is no need to lube.
By running them through the 40 carb die first, you won't have to lube the cases to size them as you would if only using the non-carb 357 die.
Now you can buy a carb 357 sizing die, but the are crazy expensive.
Step 1- run them all through the 40 cal carbide sizing die, this sizes the full length case and deprimes it.
Step 2- run them all through the 357 Sig non-carb sizing die, this will size only the neck and there is no need to lube.
By running them through the 40 carb die first, you won't have to lube the cases to size them as you would if only using the non-carb 357 die.
Now you can buy a carb 357 sizing die, but the are crazy expensive.
I loaded 357Sig about 10 years ago. At the time, there was some debate about the cartridge and whether it headspaced off the shoulder like a rifle, or off the case mouth like a pistol. There were also some issues with the shoulder shape in sizing dies from different MFGers. I think I used RCBS dies at the time, and didn't like the ways the shoulder was reformed compared to fresh brass. It was very rounded instead of a sharp angle like new brass. I never had problems with my loads, but I did find that neck tension on the bullet was different than other rounds I loaded for. Bullet set back was more of a risk, and you have to choose bullet selection wisely to ensure that the ogive doesn't terminate too close to the bullet base since you have much shorter neck area to grab the bullet than on a straight walled case like 9mm.
I did load from 90gr (380acp bullets) to 147gr bullets with success.
Those little 90 grain rounds were running 1710fps from a P229's 3.9" barrel. They shot dead on to the sights at 90 yards.
115's ran around 1590fps, 124/125's were next 1500 and 147s were around 1385. This was with Power Pistol powder.
I won't recommend any of the above, just saying what I found possible.
I did load from 90gr (380acp bullets) to 147gr bullets with success.
Those little 90 grain rounds were running 1710fps from a P229's 3.9" barrel. They shot dead on to the sights at 90 yards.
115's ran around 1590fps, 124/125's were next 1500 and 147s were around 1385. This was with Power Pistol powder.
I won't recommend any of the above, just saying what I found possible.
Well, I'd research for any updates to dies first, and make sure you have the most current rendition.
If you already have dies, then once/twice fired isn't gonna matter since you're going to resize them anyway, unless you want to shoot new brass every time, and in that case, the savings isn't there and you may was well shoot factory stuff.
If it were me, I'd either buy once fired if the price is right, or buy some factory loads and pick up my brass. The latter gives you something to compare your loads to.
I'd stick with 357Sig specific bullets (125gr Speer GD or FMJ's for example) to figure out any idiosyncrasies of the loads, and venture into different bullets after I was comfortable.
Another thing I recall is that, when taper crimping the bullets after loading, it wasn't uncommon to buckle the shoulder in the process if the neck was a little longer than other rounds. It required a crimp more by feel than by just completing the press stroke.
Just make sure you do the thumb test on the first couple of rounds to be sure your crimp will hold them. It doesn't need much, but it's more critical than straightwall.
I just googled these and find that the first one restates some of what I found myself. The latter makes a good point about the shoulder setback issue I mentioned, and suggests how to set the die up to negate/minimize it.
http://www.massreloading.com/357sig.html
http://www.realguns.com/archives/001.htm
If you already have dies, then once/twice fired isn't gonna matter since you're going to resize them anyway, unless you want to shoot new brass every time, and in that case, the savings isn't there and you may was well shoot factory stuff.
If it were me, I'd either buy once fired if the price is right, or buy some factory loads and pick up my brass. The latter gives you something to compare your loads to.
I'd stick with 357Sig specific bullets (125gr Speer GD or FMJ's for example) to figure out any idiosyncrasies of the loads, and venture into different bullets after I was comfortable.
Another thing I recall is that, when taper crimping the bullets after loading, it wasn't uncommon to buckle the shoulder in the process if the neck was a little longer than other rounds. It required a crimp more by feel than by just completing the press stroke.
Just make sure you do the thumb test on the first couple of rounds to be sure your crimp will hold them. It doesn't need much, but it's more critical than straightwall.
I just googled these and find that the first one restates some of what I found myself. The latter makes a good point about the shoulder setback issue I mentioned, and suggests how to set the die up to negate/minimize it.
http://www.massreloading.com/357sig.html
http://www.realguns.com/archives/001.htm
Tough case to learn on, i resize twice redding carbide for 40 sw (if you have a 10mm same sizing die) run them trough once then a rccb standard die just for the neck. As said before bullet selection is critical due to neck size/retention. You can form 10mm into 357 sig just be carefull. Better to start with 9 or 40 till you get the feeling for it. Used cases no problem, if you locate used 40s watch out for the guppy belly from early gen glocks gxr carbide sizing die works good.
Redding is known for being tight dies and excellant. Dillon dies top shelf. Then rccb hornady, lee lyman. They are all great just depends how much you want to spend. 9mm great shell to learn follow a good manual speer lyman hornady, just reduce loads by 10% and adjust from there. Load 5-10 and try them out. Watch for pressure spikes. Use a powder that fills the case to prevent double charge. Unique is good for that and can be used in a lot of different loads. I like titegroup and w231/hp-38 (both hard to find). Swapped to be-86 i like it so far for pistol. Xtream bullets are cheap for blinking keep vel under 1100ft to prevent leading. Good quality bullets hornady xtp, speer gdhp, same powder unique be-86 or power pistol. Becareful.....safe...and pay attention. Way to much info to list and sure others will disagree/agree with this. started loading back in 1976 most good, some bad but still have all fingers. Just my 2 cents.
