Meister Bullet question

[oldhenry]

My Hodgdon Reloading annual manual has a separate list of loads for the Meister Boolits LSWC from other LSWC. In all calibers the suggested loads for the Meister boolits are heavier & sometimes use different powders.

What's the difference between the Meister boolits & my 50/50+2% cast that I lube with BAC?

They advertise their boolits as being hard. In my experience proper fit & good lube trumps "hard".

I'm looking for a good .357 Mag. mid range load for the MP-360 "Hammer": mine (not GC) weigh 172 grs. in solid & 158 in wide HP.

They list a max HP-38 load of 5.0 for the 158 gr. LSWC for the non-Meister boolits. I tried this with the Arsenal 162 WFN (mine weigh 161) and also in the 172 gr "Hammer".

The separate Meister Bullet list has some CFE Pistol loads. I'd like to try some beginning with "starting loads" (velocity about same as max HP-38 in the non-Meister list).

Thanks,
Henry

[onelight]

The amount of bullet in the case for similar weight bullets will have more impact on pressure than alloy.
So if you don't have a way to compare your bullet to the one in the manual unless some one can offer you a starting load you have to make and educated guess from data you can find for a similar bullet and your own experience to determine a safe starting load to work up from.
It's rare to find loading data that includes all usable powders for all the bullets in all the cartridges that are in the manual . This is one of the reasons a lot of us hoard all the manuals we can find to help our educated guesses
Surely someone here has loaded that same bullet and can be more help .

[oldhenry]

Onelight, thanks for the response.

That particular manual only shows boolit weight & OAL of loaded round: no specifics. My Lyman Pistol & Revolver manual (dated) has good load info on the #358429 & it has a similar bearing surface below the crimp groove as the MP Hammer. The Hammer's surface forward of the crimp groove is not a bearing surface (not sized) which should produce even less pressure than the #358429. My #359429 & MP Hammer weigh within 1 gr. of each other. I've successfully loaded near max. loads of 4227 with each boolit. I can't find any 2400 but figure it would work OK also for heavy loads.

I was looking for a mid range load with the "Hammer" using a powder that would fill the case better: however, the HP-38 load is accurate. I'll work up something with Unique.

Since the Hodgdon manual treated the Meister boolits completely different from all other generic 158 LSWCs I was curious as to why.

Henry

[sutherpride59]

To be frank, when it comes to Hodgdon stuff I only use their online load data. It’s the most up to date resource they have and very easy to use. See if that can offer you what you are looking for.

[onelight]

If the amount of your bullet in the case is similar to the 358429 you should have some good starting loads to work up from.