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I bought a sample pack on some Bayou 124 grain .357 coated bullets. (http://www.bayoubullets.net/38-357-124-gr-rn-100-ct/)

My confusion is that when seated to 1.590 for .357 magnum, the uppermost drive bad is below the case mouth. Is this something to be concerned with?

I usually reload with Berry's or Montana gold so I've really never had to worry about drive bands or crimp grooves.

Thanks.

Edit: which caliber are you reloading?

Description says that it requires a taper crimp. Could these be intended for 38 Special and not for 357 magnum?

gun_fan111v2 wrote:Edit: which caliber are you reloading?

Description says that it requires a taper crimp. Could these be intended for 38 Special and not for 357 magnum?

I'm reloading for .357 magnum. I saw the part about the taper crimp but there is nothing there to crimp against.

I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

Hopefully one of the more experienced reloaders will chime in to confirm (or deny).

Plus you might want to RTFM again about the difference between taper and roll crimp.

These bullets do not have a groove for roll crimp and without that I would personally not use them for 357, or at least full power 357 loads. Better safe than sorry.

On the length, load one without powder to look like the picture below and see how it feeds in the gun.

Is it possible to seat a bit deeper? At least deep enough to get the edge of the case above the shoulder of the projectile? If so, you could then use a regular roll crimp.

Note, I have loaded similar projectiles for 38 Spl and seated the projo deep enough to do a light roll crimp that was against the top side of the shoulder of the projo.

The other option is to do a Taper Crimp just as they are now seated (from how they look in your pics)..

YMMV

BigDog58 wrote:The other option is to do a Taper Crimp just as they are now seated (from how they look in your pics)..

That right there is what I would do. Plus that's what Bayou says to do. I would also only load these at reduced (non-magnum) velocities though.

A cannelure, the groove around the bullet, is not required nor an indication of where to crimp a bullet.

Coated or plated bullets are VERY sensitive to the crimp. Taper crimp a minimum amount only. Crimping too much will cut through the polymer coating or plated. When fired, the lower portion of the bullet plating will tear off and accuracy will suffer.

From Black Bullets International:

"We recommend separate seating and crimping dies. Combo dies can be used as long as it is verified that the coating is not damaged in the process. Pull a bullet to check coating integrity."

Okay, who's on first?? The bullets in the ad look like this:

First, the 124 grain weight AND round nose are typical for 9mm loads. The round nose is necessary for feeding in an autoloader, which would ONLY apply if you were shooting a Coonan. The most common weight for 357 loads is 158 grains, and the bullet shape is almost always the semi-wadcutter shown in gunfan''s post. Considering the length of a 357 case, there's plenty of room to seat the bullet wherever it's convenient to taper crimp it.

I am not at all certain that these good 'ol boys who probably live just down the road from me aren't ALL named Cletus, and stuck the picture of the 9mm bullet in the 357 spot in their cattalog.....

I'd mike the bullets to see if they are .355 instead of .357, and if they are then you have definitely wound up on FUBAR bayou.

Okay, just went to the Bayou website, looked up 9mm bullets, and this is what I found: (Look down at the bottom row.... )

http://www.bayoubullets.net/categories/hi-tek-supercoat-bullets/9mm.html

GEE!! Do those bullets look EGGSACKLEY like the listing for .357 bullets, or what??? RUN AWAY!!!!!!!

Bayou 124 gr. .357 bullets state: ".38/.357 124 Gr. RN - Sized to .358 (Typical)."

Bayou 124 gr 9 mm bullets stage: "9mm 124 Gr. RN - Sized to .356 (Typical)"

I have found, lead or plated bullets typically are made 0.001 larger than jacketed bullets.

Hopefully some pictures will help clarify my delima.

The bullets are .358.


When seated like the images above, the OAL is 1.645 which is longer than the max OAL for .357 of 1.590.

When seated to 1.590 the uppermost shoulder is below the case mouth.

Well, if Bayou bullets can't even get their pictures to match their bullets OR their specs, then it's little wonder that their OAL numbers are totally buggered up too..... I bet they mixed up the 38 Spl and 357 OAL numbers

Provided you aren't trying to make extra crispy 357 Coonan loads, just TAPER crimp the case in the middle of the upper band by .003" - .004", and it should be fine. Roll crimping can ONLY be done when the case mouth is over a groove in the bullet.

To do this, seat one of those Cletus By-You bullets to the middle of the top band, and mike the case mouth diameter. That is your baseline diameter. Then start moving the crimp die down by 1/8th or 1/10th turns and crimping the round until the diameter at the crimp is 3 mils smaller than the baseline.

Thanks guys. I only bought 100 of these. I think I'll just skip it and call it a learning experience.

And the moral of the story is: Don't buy bullets from a company where EVERYBODY is each other's cuzzins!!!

Deleted, saw your post about only having 100 of these.

If that's how they are seating I would pass on them too.