Are these .357 mag loads safe?

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
1

I have a handful of reloads I got from my grandpa years ago. I was thinking about just shooting them up so they don’t get mixed in with my factory ammo, but I’m not sure if they are safe.

About 30 or so rounds have been labeled to have .357 mag brass, 158 semi wadcutter, and 6.7 grains of Hodgdon international clays.

Another 60 rounds are a mix of .38 special and .357 mag with different bullets and I’m thinking the label on this box referred to the .38 special. These are supposed to have 4.7 grains of international clays.

Can anyone tell me if this stuff is safe? I was palnning on shooting it in either a Ruger Black Hawk or Marlin 1894. If I need to just junk it that’s fine since it was basically free.

2

I’ve never seen handgun load data for International Clays. It is usually used as a shot shell powder. Pistol and shot shell powders can sometimes be the same, but not always.

I think your best bet would be to contact Hodgdon and see what they have to say. http://www.hodgdon.com/contactus.html

If they don’t get back to you, I’d probably pull the bullets and reload with a documented recipe.

3

I’d pull the bullets or trash everything.

Hodgdon’s website does not list a single load for either .38 Special or .357 Magnum with International Clays.

Do not confuse Clays with International Clays. They are two different powders notwithstanding the name similarity.

4

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=49822

Some people here using it for handguns. YMMV and all that.

5

Thanks for the link. It didn’t seem very reassuring. I think I’ll pull the bullets since I don’t really feel like blowing up my guns.

6

Not a bad answer. They are probably safe but I almost never shoot another person’s reloads. Exceptions might be for my brother’s stuff.