Tallbald
11-08-2014, 07:38 PM
OK so I'm down to maybe an ounce of Trail Boss, my favorite characteristic powder. Light, fluffy, easy to load and makes me feel good all around. Like Mama's hot whole wheat bread right from the oven. And thanks again folks for helping straighten out my confusion about "which is it I have" in a 15 year old can of Universal powder, given the change in what people call it in the last so many years.
Before I was bitten by the casting bug months back, I had recently bought 1000 Missouri Bullet Company 18 Brinnell ,158 grain LSWC to go with the 500 Magnus 158 grain LSWC I bought in 1999 at the same time as the pound of Universal powder. That's a lotta slugs and powder for me to use up.
Now that I am forced to begin using the Universal because I can't find Trail Boss, I'm revisiting load data. My LSWC can be used in the .38 Special or .357 Magnum cases I have of course, and starting loads listed are in the 750 to 800 FPS range on each. Slow is just fine for me. Love it as long as I can find a really accurate slug/powder combination. Here are a couple of questions though. I know wadcutters were developed for target shooting to ease scoring, and they were meant to be slow but accurate. All I have is LSWC. If I load putterbutt WC speed rounds with the LSWC slugs, will the attributes I read about for the LSWC design not happen because it is maybe meant for higher speeds than 750 to 800 FPS? Just like I read some airplanes aren't efficient and handle poorly until they reach a certain minimum speed, does the LSWC need to be at a minimum FPS before it really shines? I hate to waste good lead on slow loads that won't perform because they aren't moving fast enough. I reckon aerodynamics and barrel twist rate come into play here.
Also, with starting loads of Universal and the low velocities, is powder position in the case going to be a real issue bearing on any accuracy I can hope to get? I know I can work my way up from the starting load, but again I prefer low recoil for a number of reasons.
Thanks. Don
Before I was bitten by the casting bug months back, I had recently bought 1000 Missouri Bullet Company 18 Brinnell ,158 grain LSWC to go with the 500 Magnus 158 grain LSWC I bought in 1999 at the same time as the pound of Universal powder. That's a lotta slugs and powder for me to use up.
Now that I am forced to begin using the Universal because I can't find Trail Boss, I'm revisiting load data. My LSWC can be used in the .38 Special or .357 Magnum cases I have of course, and starting loads listed are in the 750 to 800 FPS range on each. Slow is just fine for me. Love it as long as I can find a really accurate slug/powder combination. Here are a couple of questions though. I know wadcutters were developed for target shooting to ease scoring, and they were meant to be slow but accurate. All I have is LSWC. If I load putterbutt WC speed rounds with the LSWC slugs, will the attributes I read about for the LSWC design not happen because it is maybe meant for higher speeds than 750 to 800 FPS? Just like I read some airplanes aren't efficient and handle poorly until they reach a certain minimum speed, does the LSWC need to be at a minimum FPS before it really shines? I hate to waste good lead on slow loads that won't perform because they aren't moving fast enough. I reckon aerodynamics and barrel twist rate come into play here.
Also, with starting loads of Universal and the low velocities, is powder position in the case going to be a real issue bearing on any accuracy I can hope to get? I know I can work my way up from the starting load, but again I prefer low recoil for a number of reasons.
Thanks. Don