Sub sonic >357 Mag loads - anyone worked one up?

[DanO]

I have been running a suppressor a Ruger 357/77 w/ a 16" barrel. Works fine with 38 Spl wadcutters, .38+ P and full house .357s. Is anyone else shooting a .357 with a can? I am looking for a good subsonic .357 Mag load with heavy bullets. Internet search gave me some ideas, but I am interested in talking with someone who has real life experience with this.

Thanks,

DanO

 

[KJW]

I thought a subsonic .357 mag was called a .38 special?

 

[dsol]

I have toyed with the idea myself and contemplated getting a single shot carbine for that. I cast my own bullets and if I were to run a suppressor on a .357, I would get a mold and cast the biggest heaviest bullets with a big flat meplat. The twist rate of the barrel would need to be checked. For example, my Rossi .357 lever gun has a pretty slow twist and is not happy with anything over 170 grains or so, and that is pushing it. It shoots best with the 140 and 158 grain hollowpoints I cast. I cannot remember what the rate is off the top of my head but you certainly want to check the Ruger's twist before investing in heavyweights. I would think a 200 grain flat nose slug at 950 to 1000 fps would be pretty quiet and hit hard.

 

[jwh20]

I have been running a suppressor a Ruger 357/77 w/ a 16" barrel. Works fine with 38 Spl wadcutters, .38+ P and full house .357s. Is anyone else shooting a .357 with a can? I am looking for a good subsonic .357 Mag load with heavy bullets. Internet search gave me some ideas, but I am interested in talking with someone who has real life experience with this.

Thanks,

DanO

Titegroup 5 grains with 180 gr. bullet. Hodgdon load data says 948 fps. I've loaded 100's of rounds using this recipe and had excellent results. I've not tried this suppressed but 948 fps. is well into the subsonic range.

There are many other subsonic combos here if you're using other powders.

 

[Karl-just-Karl]

I haven't bought a can yet, but Trailboss makes for some real slow loads.

I don't have access to my notebook right now, but I'm pretty certain I was well under 1100fps using 2400.

 

[Slow Hand]

I have toyed with the idea myself and contemplated getting a single shot carbine for that. I cast my own bullets and if I were to run a suppressor on a .357, I would get a mold and cast the biggest heaviest bullets with a big flat meplat. The twist rate of the barrel would need to be checked. For example, my Rossi .357 lever gun has a pretty slow twist and is not happy with anything over 170 grains or so, and that is pushing it. It shoots best with the 140 and 158 grain hollowpoints I cast. I cannot remember what the rate is off the top of my head but you certainly want to check the Ruger's twist before investing in heavyweights. I would think a 200 grain flat nose slug at 950 to 1000 fps would be pretty quiet and hit hard.

My rossi is an older one, but it shoots heavies just fine. I've got an NEI mold that drops a 195gr SWC-GC that shoots great! I've also shot a bunch of 175gr Keith style bullets as well.

For my suppressed shooting, I just load a powder coated cast 165 gr bullet in .38 speciL
cases with a light load of Promo powder. Shoots well and is pretty danged quiet!

 

[DanO]

Thanks for all of your replies! I want to load in a .357 mag case so I am IN compliant while hunting.

JWH- Will try the titegroup 5Gr, with a 180 Gr. bullet. But will it stay subsonic in my 16 &1/2 " Ruger bolt gun? don't know what gun you were using to get 948 FPS?

 

[jwh20]

Thanks for all of your replies! I want to load in a .357 mag case so I am IN compliant while hunting.

JWH- Will try the titegroup 5Gr, with a 180 Gr. bullet. But will it stay subsonic in my 16 &1/2 " Ruger bolt gun? don't know what gun you were using to get 948 FPS?

I was only firing them from a revolver. I don't have a .357 bolt gun. But the 948 is from the load data, not from field measurement. Since I wasn't running suppressed, it wasn't that important. If you get higher velocity from a longer gun, and I'm not sure that you actually would, you can always adjust it down a bit if needed. Generally 1100 fps is considered the subsonic-supersonic threshold but that, of course, varies with current conditions.

 

[chibicascade]

This reminds me of a post I saw a few weeks ago about subsonic .44 magnums. I think they answer was "shoot specials" or something like that...

 

[Win52C]

I thought a subsonic .357 mag was called a .38 special?

This