Nobade
05-27-2012, 09:12 PM
I have owned a Browning '92 357 mag rifle for about four years now. Developing a good accurate load for it with black powder was easy - #358250 over 21 gr. FFFg and it shoots lights out. 2 inches at 100 yards easy. But trying to find an accurate load with smokeless powder has been quite a trip. I could get it to shoot well with the RCBS 200gr. rifle boolit paper patched, but not with any pistol boolits and nothing that will feed through the magazine.
Finally, Ranch Dog comes out with his 175gr. boolit just for 357 mag rifles. Fat nose to fit the throat, short enough to feed properly. I just got one of his moulds with the plain base option. Cast from ACWW, sized to .359" and run through the lubrisizer instead of tumble lubed. I tried loads from 1100 - 1300 fps with 10B101, Green Dot, AA#2, and AA#5. Nothing shot terrible, but the 10B101 and the AA#5 were the standouts with 5 shot groups about the size of a quarter at 50 yards, at 1200 fps. Looks like that will be a good speed to run it at and will have plenty of power for pistol caliber levergun matches. I was quite pleased, since this is the first time it has ever shot under about 4 inches at that range with smokeless.
So if anybody has been trying to find a good boolit for their 357 mag rifle, this looks like a good one to try!
Finally, Ranch Dog comes out with his 175gr. boolit just for 357 mag rifles. Fat nose to fit the throat, short enough to feed properly. I just got one of his moulds with the plain base option. Cast from ACWW, sized to .359" and run through the lubrisizer instead of tumble lubed. I tried loads from 1100 - 1300 fps with 10B101, Green Dot, AA#2, and AA#5. Nothing shot terrible, but the 10B101 and the AA#5 were the standouts with 5 shot groups about the size of a quarter at 50 yards, at 1200 fps. Looks like that will be a good speed to run it at and will have plenty of power for pistol caliber levergun matches. I was quite pleased, since this is the first time it has ever shot under about 4 inches at that range with smokeless.
So if anybody has been trying to find a good boolit for their 357 mag rifle, this looks like a good one to try!