what powder with 358495

[waco]

hello all
i have a lyman 4 banger 358495
what powder would be a good one to try first
what i have to work with is
red dot
clays
700x
231
unique
universal
im guessing 700-800 fps would be in the ball park?
this is my first try with wadcutters
alloy will be 50/50 ww pb
or maybe just pure lead
thanks again guys
waco:drinks:

[Thumbcocker]

231 has been good for me. I have shot this boolit at 1000 fps with good results on varmits and targets.

[Dale53]

waco;
Red Dot will work fine for target loads as will 231.

Lyman shows:
Red Dot 2.8grs 706 fps - 4.2grs 961 fps
231 3.0 grs 667 fps - 4.9 1001 fps

I would suggest you will find the "sweet spot" using Red Dot to be 3.0-3.5 grs

231's sweet spot will probably lie between 3.4 - 3.8 grs.

Generally speaking, solid base wadcutters work better with a little more powder than the Hollow Base wadcutters. Further, you will not be limited by bullet design to minimum charges (the only limit is pressure like any other solid base bullet). Using a good lube, you will generally find better accuracy with lubing only one groove.

Dale53

[Matt_G]

Waco, any of those powders would work fine I am sure.
I just started using this boolit myself and tried loads with Bullseye and 231.
Both loads were nice and easy on the wife and accurate to boot.
I loaded them both to the bottom end of the range and she really liked the lack of recoil. So did I.
My alloy was WW's + 2% Sn.

If you need load data for any of those powders let me know and I will post the loads out of my Loadbooks USA. The only powder on your list that isn't in here is Universal Clays.

BTW, if for some reason you decide you don't like that boolit, keep me in mind. I would love to buy it from you. :)
All I have is a 2-cav.

[fecmech]

I did a lot of shooting with that bullet years ago with a Ransom rest when I shot PPC. The best load for me was 3.1 of Bullseye followed by 3.4 of 231. Velocity was around 730 fps, bullet was seated and lightly taper crimped at the crimp groove.

[Shiloh]

I just acquired a can of 2400 for use with the 358495. No time to experiment with yet.

Shiloh

[lurch]

I just acquired a can of 2400 for use with the 358495. No time to experiment with yet.

Shiloh

I'd be interested to know if you can get enough of it in the case to do any good. There's not much room left with the boolit seated to the crimp groove. Are you planning on seating out? This might be interesting...

[Shiloh]

I just acquired a can of 2400 for use with the 358495. No time to experiment with yet.

Shiloh


I'd be interested to know if you can get enough of it in the case to do any good. There's not much room left with the boolit seated to the crimp groove. Are you planning on seating out? This might be interesting...

Actually, I made a mistake. I bought the 2400 for the Lyman 358429. This is a flat base, flat nose 170 gr for the .357. Sorry for the confusion.

Shiloh

[Dale53]

I also have determined to my satisfaction (with the use of a Ransom Rest) that taper crimping (what I would term "light to medium") gave more accurate results than roll crimping. That test always tends to be subjective but it always ended up favoring taper crimping.

Dale53

[Matt_G]

I also have determined to my satisfaction (with the use of a Ransom Rest) that taper crimping (what I would term "light to medium") gave more accurate results than roll crimping. That test always tends to be subjective but it always ended up favoring taper crimping.

Dale53

That's very interesting. I roll crimped mine.
I will have to try a taper crimp and see how it does.

[Dale53]

Matt G;
When I was in my "PPC Phase" (back in the seventies and early eighties) my local club had a number of VERY serious shooters that worked hard at not only shooting well, but using a "precision reloading frame of mind" to get the best performance out of their equipment. I ended up spending a LOT of time with the Ransom Rest. Contrary to what I have read and heard recently, I found that VERY rewarding.

Crimping (any style) is always a trade-off. I have come to believe that many suffer from a "Cultural Problem" (American Style). By that I mean, our tendency to think that "bigger is better" and "too much is just enough", etc.

However, when it comes to crimp, more is NOT necessarily better. I have proved, to my satisfaction at least, that a bullet size expander stem and a light to medium taper crimp that will secure the bullet with minimal damage to it, will produce better results regarding accuracy when working with target level wadcutters.

I use WW's + 2% tin successfully. A person might have good results with even softer bullets (maybe as soft as 50/50 WW's/pure lead +2% tin as an example). However, I am happy with my results with my standard alloy. My .38 Special and .357 Magnum revolvers work well with 3.5 Bullseye and the H&G #251 dbl ended W/C and give me well under 1.0" groups at 25 yards. The Lyman Wadcutter 358495 gave similar results.

My PPC gun (really just a .38 Masterpiece (Model 14 S&W) with a Bomar Rib would shoot the Factory Remington H.B. Wadcutters at 5/8" at 25 yards. I never was quite able to beat them (in those days Remington was really interested in building excellent factory target loads - I have heard that is no longer true, alas) with my own cast wadcutters. However, I did run quite close and often averaged 3/4" at 25 yards with used brass and my cast bullets.

FWIW
Dale53