357 Mag - 38 Special +p - 38 Special ???

[grahng]

Can it be said that the ranking of pressures would be:
1st 357 mag
2nd 38 Special +P
3rd 38 Special

Assuming that to be the case, can you use numbers 2 and 3 in a 357 Mag designated firearms?

[bdhold]

interesting that Uberti and Chaparral Arms state on their 1873s that all factory .357 loads are safe.
They state .38 +p is not safe.

Personally, I'm looking into loads slower-burning powder (specifically 4227) to give lower pressures at higher muzzle velocities.

[SoftwarePro]

Can it be said that the ranking of pressures would be:
1st 357 mag
2nd 38 Special +P
3rd 38 Special

Assuming that to be the case, can you use numbers 2 and 3 in a 357 Mag designated firearms?

Yes, this is correct.

357 mag = 35,000psi
38+p = 20,000psi
38 = 17,000psi

This is from the Speer #14 manual

[COSteve]

SAAMI lists max pressures for the three as:

38spl - 17,000psi
38splt+P - 18,500psi
357mag - 35,000psi

[AJMD429]

Yes. The only "issue" is the shorter cases permit residues of burnt powder to coat the chamber in front of the shorter cartridges, which could make longer rounds stick or even raise pressures if you never cleaned your gun then fired the longer rounds, particularly with maximum loads. Simple fix is to clean the gun before going back to the longer cases.

The other "issue" isn't a pressure one - some leverguns won't feed the shorter rounds well.

[pokey]

The other "issue" isn't a pressure one - some leverguns won't feed the shorter rounds well.

i've got the opposite. a '92 357 that likes the shorter 38s and not the longer 357s.