Generic .357 magnum loads

[Beerd]

I remember seeing those old Herco loads that Ben mentioned. At least a hundred feet per second faster than Hercules 2400!

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[C. Latch]

My Lyman manual actually says 11.6.

No way I'd shoot that today, even with my 40-year-old can of Herco.

[nylocmik]

Ditto on what C. Latch said. 14.5gr. 2400 pushing a 158 swc . My '76 Ruger Security Six "barks" real nice with this combo.

[FullTang]

My Lyman manual actually says 11.6.

No way I'd shoot that today, even with my 40-year-old can of Herco.

I asked about this old Lyman data in another thread, and lots of people shot these loads, but everyone noted pressure signs. Maybe that's why Herco has been dropped from a lot of the current pistol reloading books, even though it makes a fine pistol powder. In any case, the 2004 Alliant manual (easily found online) has a bunch of good Herco loads (all much more conservative!)

[375supermag]

Hi...

My "generic" .357Mag load for all my revolvers, 3 Ruger BlackHawks, a couple of Colt Troopers and a S&W 686 has been the same for years and years. I also provide this load for a friend to shoot in his Ruger GP100 in exchange for all the factory brass he shoots in .38Special and .357mag.

I use a commercial cast 158gr LSWC with 9.8gr of Blue Dot with a SP Magnum primer. It seems to burn cleaner and is a bit more accurate than a standard primer in all my .357Mags. I don't recall the velocity that the manual this load is rated at, but it is well below maximum, yet is reasonably powerful and quite accurate. we shoot thousands of rounds of this load every shooting season between my myself, my son and my friend. The brass seems to basically last forever...I can't recall any that has needed culled for any reason and it never needs to be trimmed.

[C. Latch]

I asked about this old Lyman data in another thread, and lots of people shot these loads, but everyone noted pressure signs. Maybe that's why Herco has been dropped from a lot of the current pistol reloading books, even though it makes a fine pistol powder. In any case, the 2004 Alliant manual (easily found online) has a bunch of good Herco loads (all much more conservative!)

My Lyman manual and my can(s) of Herco are all older than I am (I'm a '75 model and I think my Herco was bought in the early 70's) so I wasn't around when the Lyman manual was new, but just looking at pressure data on Herco through the years, I think that Lyman just had a 'slow' can of the stuff, and maybe the crude pressure measuring system of the day allowed them to think those loads were within the safe pressure range of a .357. Truth is, I don't think a steady diet of 50kPSI loads would harm MOST .357 revolvers, at least not an L or N frame or Ruger, but I'm just not comfortable with the 11.6/158 Herco load. No clue what pressure that would make. I'd like to see that load ran through Quickload.

[dragon813gt]

Quickload gives erratic results w/ straight wall cases. I don't trust it as much as I do w/ bottle neck cases.

[Love Life]

I don't use Unique because it's dirty

I'm not your friend anymore.

[C. Latch]

Quickload gives erratic results w/ straight wall cases. I don't trust it as much as I do w/ bottle neck cases.

Didn't know that.

[dragon813gt]

I'm not your friend anymore.

Hey there pal. If you're going to quote me, quote the whole sentence

I honestly don't use Unique because I use a lot of W231/HP-38. I don't need a "one powder to rule them all" type of powder. I'd do use Universal which I find to be "cleaner" than Unique. Cleanliness is a relative term. W/ Unique I have to use a higher charge then I want to achieve one hundred percent burn. I have a few pounds in the cabinet and I'm sure I will find a use for it someday.

[Love Life]

Hey there pal. If you're going to quote me, quote the whole sentence

I honestly don't use Unique because I use a lot of W231/HP-38. I don't need a "one powder to rule them all" type of powder. I'd do use Universal which I find to be "cleaner" than Unique. Cleanliness is a relative term. W/ Unique I have to use a higher charge then I want to achieve one hundred percent burn. I have a few pounds in the cabinet and I'm sure I will find a use for it someday.

You can do what I did with a couple of lbs of WSF this summer and use it to fertilize flowers. The stuff eats powder hoppers like nobody's business!!

Now to the subject at hand: 2400 is my go to for 357 magnum followed closely by any powder that will make it go boom bigger than the 38 special.

Load it to the book, and within SAAMI, and I guarantee there is a very high probability that it will fit in and fire safely in the firearms made for the cartridge.

I do the same with 45 acp. I keep an ammo can full of 230 gr RN boolits over 5.0 gr of Bullseye that I use to test any 45 acp gun I get. Makes life easy plus leaves me a bunch of ammo to play with.