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Vaquero 357 question


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I'm on another site and someone is raving about his "range gun". He says he enjoys shooting his 357 Vaquero in front of millennials because of the "basketball size ball of flame" it emits when he shoots it. I've shooting SASS for a lot of years and had many 357s, but I always shot 38s. He's making fun of me because I "must not have shot 357s before".  Only times i've seen that was with black powder.  Am I wrong? I'd be glad to admit it even if it is the first time. Appreciate some input from the experts on here.

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High speed can catch a "basketball size ball of flame", but it's so fast & short-lived, you're not likelly to see it in daylight. Search ".357 muzzle flame" on Google Images.

MuzzleFlash.jpg

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Way back when I first started loading 357, 40 or more years ago, I used the load straight out of the Winchester manual. With 125 grain jacketed hollow point and "so much" of 296. And when fired in my 6-inch Python or my friend's 6-inch Model 19, you got a good basketball-size muzzle blast, that looked like it reached out about 3 feet.

 

Added: I made some up a few years ago. Same load data. Fired out of my 2½-inch Model 19.

 

Made being fired out of a 6-inch barrel look like you were flicking a Bic, compared to a flamethrower.

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Plus one to Three Foot.  The shorter the barrel the more flame.  Figure it this way.  There are millions of rounds fired at ranges with the .357 every year.  Any stories of a huge ball of flame being common place.  No.  Sounds like more BS unless the guy is handloading rounds to generate the flame.

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Flame is usually caused by powder burning in the air.  296 is a slow powder.  Depending on the load it can produce more flame as the powder burns past the muzzle.  Certainly a .357 Vaquero is not going to produce any more flame than any gun chambered in .357.  In the overall scheme of things a .357 is not all that impressive as a "range gun."

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Counting the time I helped Dad load 38s in the garage, I’ve been reloading for near 50 years. 
 

With great confidence, I can say that your on-line acquaintance is full of poppycock. 
 

Even without Black Powder, I can load 38s that will throw a basketball of flame, or 44 mags that create barely a flash. It’s all in the powders, the bullets, and how they’re safely loaded. 
 

If the person really wanted to impress millennials, how about inviting them to try the Vaquero and get them interested in the shooting sports?

 

You keep having fun and don’t worry about the poppycocker. 

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The only balls of fire I get when shooting .357 are from my S&W 327 Night Guard with a 2 1/2” barrel. Very impressive volleyball sized fireballs with Hornady American Gunner .357 from that gun. That round is the most “flashy” I have tried. 
From my old Vaqueros and my 6” model 19. A little flash, but definitely not impressive. 

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Back in the day....when officers within our agency  carried 4 inch .357's, night range shoots with magnum loads was impressive to watch.  The longer the barrel, the lesser the fire ball.  I still load Win 296 or H110 in my full load .357 just for nostalgia sake.  

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3 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

Flame is usually caused by powder burning in the air.  296 is a slow powder.  Depending on the load it can produce more flame as the powder burns past the muzzle. 


Indeed.
H110 and IMR 4227 fall into that list as well.
Almost half the 296 powder load is still burning beyond the end of the barrel.

 

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A lighter bullet will get going and clear the muzzle a bit quicker, combine this with a lighter crimp, a shorter barrel and/or a slower powder and the fire is still burning after the bullet is gone. once the bullet is past the muzzle there is nothing to keep the still burning fire inside the barrel and so it goes the same escape that the bullet took. If the fire hasn't burned out by this time then it is visible, all be it briefly, to the eye/camera. I have had enough flash from muzzle and cylinder gap of a .22 revolver to see where my next target was on an unlit range.

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