Midrange Magnums

After a too long hiatus, I recently had my broken 686 repaired and got it out shooting this week. I took along a bunch of 38s and 357s I had loaded and squirreled away years ago. I had a few boxes of mid-range 357 Magnums. 158 grain cast SWC, coated, loaded over W231 and Titegroup. Man, are those fun! Just enough boom and flash but not crazy, perfect for some double action shooting. I definitely prefer the W231 loads over the Titegroup, lighter recoil and just a more pleasant experience. I'm digging out my dies tonight to load up a couple hundred more :)

I realized that I didn’t really like titegroup after shooting a similar load with a 158 swc. I agree about the w231 though. I’m really liking it in the 45 lc flavor as well.

For a long time, my powder selection ran WW231, Unique, 2400. Rifles were loaded with ww748 or IMR 4350. I hope to get back there one of hese days.

2400 is another great powder, got a big jug of that on my bench too!

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I've not used 231 for any magnum loads but I did notice my manual lists it in the mid range. I normally use unique for that range, but I've got some bluedot to try. I hear tell im going to love it. We'll see.

Try some Accurate #7, CFE Pistol, Power Pistol, or similar. They will wake that gun right up.

For close to ten years my wife and I put several thousand rounds of mid range cowboy loads using 231 down range in .45 Colt for handguns and carbines. We had original 4 digit SASS numbers, were good shots and won tournaments. That powder just works so well in many applications. GF

Due to some geographical oddity that I've never really understood, Bullseye powder was difficult to obtain in the region I once lived. As a result, WW-231 became my primary powder for 38 Special loads. In fact, it became my powder for a lot of handgun cartridges. I probably burned more WW-231 [HP-38] than any other powder. It is a very useful powder. It meters well, it gives good performance and it's economical (or at least in those days it was).

It is still my #1 choice for a lot of cartridges.

And speaking of versatile, the OP's stainless steel L-frame S&W is an incredibly versatile revolver. It will shoot everything from 38 Special wadcutters at target velocities up to full house magnums and everything in between. While you need H-110 to reach the magnum loads, WW-231 will handle a lot of the other loads.

Chuck Perry Almost all of my .357 Mag loads are loaded to 1,100 FPS with a 158 grain bullet. What one decides to use is dependent on what you are shooting at. If one is punching paper or plinking, you don't need heavier loads IMHO. One huge advantage that a reloader has is they can load ammo to lower power levels. It's quite easy to load up .357 Mags with a faster shotgun powder to attain 1,100 FPS and you use very little powder. Just be careful no to double charge; you place charged cases in a loading block and inspect with a flashlight.

Agreed Wally! I used to load up 38-44 style loads using 2400 in Special cases with a 158 cast. Think I'll do a run of those this weekend too.

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used to load 158gnswc with 11.5 gn of 2400 in my 686 ,when we could have revolvers

2400 and 296 have their place but it seems I go through more 231 than those two combined in the .357.

You show great wisdom with that IMHO. As reloaders we can tailor loads for our shooting. Years ago I would only shoot heavy loads in my Magnum pistols; these days I seldom ever do.

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Originally Posted by c0wb0y84

2400 and 296 have their place but it seems I go through more 231 than those two combined in the .357.

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Originally Posted by Wally

Chuck Perry Almost all of my .357 Mag loads are loaded to 1,100 FPS with a 158 grain bullet. What one decides to use is dependent on what you are shooting at. If one is punching paper or plinking, you don't need heavier loads IMHO. One huge advantage that a reloader has is they can load ammo to lower power levels. It's quite easy to load up .357 Mags with a faster shotgun powder to attain 1,100 FPS and you use very little powder. Just be careful no to double charge; you place charged cases in a loading block and inspect with a flashlight.

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Absolutely, I just noticed my bulk loading for .357 is 7 grains unique for I believe about 1100 FPS. Don’t need 2400 for that speed and I may to use even a fast powder because 1100 FPS in a 357, especially a 6” barrel just does it all for me without the ear piercing noise. I just cast about 600 Lee TL 158 SWC waiting to be loaded.

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Originally Posted by Petrol & Powder

Due to some geographical oddity that I've never really understood, Bullseye powder was difficult to obtain in the region I once lived. As a result, WW-231 became my primary powder for 38 Special loads. In fact, it became my powder for a lot of handgun cartridges. I probably burned more WW-231 [HP-38] than any other powder. It is a very useful powder. It meters well, it gives good performance and it's economical (or at least in those days it was).

It is still my #1 choice for a lot of cartridges.

And speaking of versatile, the OP's stainless steel L-frame S&W is an incredibly versatile revolver. It will shoot everything from 38 Special wadcutters at target velocities up to full house magnums and everything in between. While you need H-110 to reach the magnum loads, WW-231 will handle a lot of the other loads.

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This was the case for a number of years when I lived in Los Angeles, Bullseye was nearly twice the cost of Red Dot, when you could find it, and was only available in 1 lb canisters. But WW-231 was available in 4 and 8 lb. jugs, and ran about a dollar a pound less. A dollar meant something to me then, but once I started using ww-231, I was in hog heaven. Great accuracy, cheap to buy and economical to load, it is still my favorite powder for standard loads.

231 (or HP38) really starts to shoot clean when it gets some pressure. I shoot a 265 SWC GC in my 44 magnums, and starting at 8 gr and working up, it really started to shoot clean when I got to 9 grains. Very accurate and a good whitetail load in my 6½" 629 Classic @ around 1075 fps and 28,000 CUP.

https://i.imgur.com/z8pIXdx.jpg

Gorgeous revolver. I'm really considering getting a 629 Classic.

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Back in the day I used to shoot BlueDot with a 125JHP in the 4" GP-100 for about 1600fps, but I guess now BlueDot is not recommended for the 125s anymore.

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Originally Posted by Chuck Perry

Gorgeous revolver. I'm really considering getting a 629 Classic.

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You wont regret it. If I could only have 1 gun, my 4" 629 would be the one and only. Thank heavens above I don't have to make that decision.Attachment 263419 As far as mid-range loads go, 2400 works in this gun with a 250 gr 429421 at 16.6 gr for 1k fps.