do you have one favorite go to load

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive spent most of this winter mass loading all the empty brass i have. Ive got all the 45acp,223,308 and 762x39 done and am now staring at 1 1/3 5 gallon pails of 44 mag brass. Never was one to mass load handgun ammo other then 45acp. I usually load smaller amounts for each gun figuring every diffent gun has a differnt purpose even in the same calibers. Well i have 8 44 mag pistols and one rifle. I got looking in the loading records and one load stood out that shot at least 1 1/2 in every 44 mag ive got including my finiky 44p marlin and its the only swc that feeds well in that gun to boot. Load is a 240 rcbs swcgc with 10 grains of power pistol with a fed primer. I looked and ive got about 10lbs of power pistol in the cabinet and lots of fed primers. Nice thing about this load is it uses fed primers so it works well even in my double action guns. It may not be a rip roaring load but ive taken deer bear and pigs with that load and it allways got the job done. Figured for this year if i want to shoot anything bigger ill just grab a bigger gun and have some fun with the 44s. Now all ive got to do is put this keyboard down and get to work. Shouldnt be to bad as i found enough bullets allready casted and sized on the shelf for the project.

[midnight]

I'm going to find out if 16gr of 2400 behind a cast bullet in most any misurp rifle works as soon as the weather eases up a bit. I'll shoot the 314299 in both #4 & #5 Lee-Enfield. Also will try 22gr of RL7. 18-19gr of 4198 is next on the list.

Bob

[bobthenailer]

I too have several 44 mags, 5 at present and 4 others in the past, in those for loads from 800 to 1000 fps with cast ive used Bullseye in the past and currently Tightgroup powder from 5.0 @ 800 fps to 7.0 @980 fps with either powder for plinking loads. with the same accuracy results as you .

[EMC45]

3gr. Bullseye under a 158gr. Lee RNFP cowboy bullet and anything in the .30 cal. 165gr and up region with 10gr. Unique

[Markbo]

Well Lloyd thanks to you and all the fellahs at singleactions.com I got started in reloading in the last 7 or 8 years and this casting thing just in the last couple of years, so I have yet to find THE one load in all my guns/calibers. Except for one.

Every 1911 I own shoots a 200TC or HP (I happen to use Ranier plated bullets) over 5.0gr Titegroup into itty bitty groups. It is no burner but it's in the 850-900fps range so it's no pipsqueak either. It has accounted for lots of small game and in a pinch I'd probably take a shot at a small Texas sized white tail doe.

FWIW I have probably loaded and shot more .45 Colt than any other round the last 4 - 5 years in 4 different sixguns. I have yet to find the ONE load that every gun likes. Same for all my .223's. Every one likes something a little different and no one magic load has reared it's head. I guess the good news is that partially thanks to you I still have lots and lots of experimenting to do with all those other rounds!

[subsonic]

I have a .38 WC load that everything eats. It's the Lee 358-148WC from a 6 cavity mould. I size them to .358, put the lee snot on them, load them in any old case over 3gr of Rex 2 and whatever primer I have on hand. They shoot "good enough" in all of the .38 and .357's I own.

My wife can stack them on top of each other offhand @ 15yds with her 4" M28-2, so I figure that's good enough. We will have an occasional flyer, as I don't sort them as well as something I want more accuracy from. They shoot plenty good for 5" steel plates from 25yds from any other gun I've shot them in. Don't own an applicable lever gun.

[Markbo]

I did a few searches... where can one find this mysterious Rex powder???

[btroj]

I have about 3000 45 ACP with 4 gr of Clays and a 200 swc. About 1500 38 special with a 158 swc and 4 gr of HP38.

Other than those I don't have large numbers of brass for anything.

[subsonic]

Nowhere anymore. Was really cheap. 2.2lb for about $22 when I first started using it. Not made anymore. http://www.rexpowder.com/

[Alan]

9mm 3.9 gr Red dot and 121 gr cast RN
.45 ACP 4.9 gr Red Dot and any 230grn cast RN
.44 Mag 9.0 gr Unique and any 240-250 gr. SWC
.38 Lyman #358477 158gr and 5.0 gr. Unique

Playing w 8.0 gr Unique in .41 Mag, and looking for The Load in .32 H&R. Have some suggestions, now just trying a few of them.

[oldgeezershooter]

.40 S&W 8gr. Blue Dot under 180gr. trunticated lead boolit
223 25gr. Varget under 55gr hp.
45-70 50gr. Varget under 300gr. Rem. HP.
These are all accurate in my firearms.

[Swampman]

I use 8 grains of Unique for several different cartridges.

[David LaPell]

12.5 grains of 2400 behind a Lyman #358429 in my Outdoorsman will put some sub 1-inch groups at 25 yards. It's darn scary how good the gun shoots.

In my Model 27-2 it would be a #358156 SWC at 13.0 grains of 2400. Certainly not as fast as it could go but it groups very well at 25 yards for a 3 1/2 inch barreled gun.

[357Mag]

Yup !

In .357Mag.... 14.5gr WW296 and SP Magnum primer; under ay Lyman SWC of
158-172gr.

4", 5", or 6"...... Haven't found a better .357Mag load in over 35+yr.
Was great in my 1894SC carbine, aslo.


Regards,
357Mag

[Lloyd Smale]

I believe rex powders were sold by the same company that does ramshots powders and about all of them had a twin in the ramshot line.

[subsonic]

I believe rex powders were sold by the same company that does ramshots powders and about all of them had a twin in the ramshot line.

I would beg to differ, not that it matters much now. They were made at the Nitrokemia plant in Hungary, which is now closed. They were all flake type greenish powders that were similar in composition to the old alliant powders (and a bit dirty like tham too). The two I had were #2 & #3. 2 was supposed to be real close to Green dot and 3 was also a flake powder that was said to be like Unique for burning speed. #1 was like Red dot (I think) and I don't remember much about #0, but it was the fastest and only had data for use in shotguns.

I liked #3 the best for cast. I generally loaded it with Unique data and got about the same speeds and no pressure signs. #3 provided good accuracy in .44spl and .45 colt for standard loads.

[Lloyd Smale]

I thought they had made a aa2 type powder too but believe me ive been wrong before!!!

[felix]

Naw, prolly correct, Lloyd. The Hungarians made plenty of ammo as well as powders sold off as excess. Their 22's LR were exceptionally consistent, but unfortunately they had two production lines which were not calibrated identically as they thought before loading them together into 50 round boxes. I sold my 10K rounds because of this. The dang things shot into perfectly two groups at 50 feet....10 rounds...one group of 3 in the 10 ring, and 7 in the 9 ring to the exact right. Those groups repeated but the number of shots in each group would be a different combination. ... felix

[fecmech]

Yup !

In .357Mag.... 14.5gr WW296 and SP Magnum primer; under ay Lyman SWC of
158-172gr.

4", 5", or 6"...... Haven't found a better .357Mag load in over 35+yr.
Was great in my 1894SC carbine, aslo.


Regards,
357Mag

Pretty close to mine of 15 grs 296/358429. Shoots good in everything I've ever tried it in. The .357 and .44 mag + 296 are like bread and butter!

[Catshooter]

45 Auto, 255 grain 452424 (current Lyman production) over 4.9 grains Universal Clays, any case, usually Winchester primers. I have half a dozen 45s and this shoots really well in all of 'em.


Cat

[MT Gianni]

38 spl 358477 5.0 gr Unique or 5.4 for +P
44 Mag and 45 Colt 6.5 gr Red Dot 240-260 gr SWC easy plinking loads
32 Long 2.5 gr Red Dot 90-98 gr SWC

[Walt]

Lloyd,
I like your load of 10 GR Power Pistol under a 240 cast with a standard primer. I use mostly WLP primers where applicable but, in the case of PP in 44 Special (8 or 9 GR with a 240 cast) and 44 Mag a standard CCI or Federal gives me better accuracy. Not the hammer of Thor but, I like the 900 to 1000 fps loads for general plinking.
Walt

[Lloyd Smale]

I use mostly fed primers in standard handgun loads becasuse alot of my ammo goes into double action guns and the feds just are more reliable in those applications. Even if another primer does a bit better in a certain gun i will stick to feds as in my opinion reliability is the most important thing. Especaily if a guy is using that ammo for possible self defense.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Lately it's been .45 Long Colt 454190 /250 LRN over 8.7 gr Unique but over the past 30 years by far I've loaded and shot more .44 Special 429667 / 240 LRN over 5.2 gr Bullseye.

[tuckerdog]

right now I'm liking 10.5 grn unique and lee 200 grn rfp in 5.5" sbh

[Markbo]

Of course when giving a load, caliber is important. :veryconfu

[subsonic]

:bigsmyl2: My favorite load uses boolits, powder, brass and primers!

[MtGun44]

As to midnight's question of "whether 16 gr od 2400 works in milsurps"

Let's just say there is a deep path worn that runs there.

Bill