357 180 grain Hi-tek coated bullets and W296/H110

[Army03CRNA]

Kinda new to posting here and I think this is the right place for question, so here goes.

I'm not new to reloading, but I am for the 357 magnum. One of those Ruger match champions followed me home and until I figure out which mould to buy, I thought I'd try some Missouri bullet co bullets (can I call them boolits if they're coated?) of the 180 grain pugnose type. Load data for 180 J-type bullets tops out at 13.7 ish. I know starting out here will be safe, but what have you guys here with more experience found to work for you? I have plenty of new starline brass & CCI 550 primers to go along with the aforementioned powder and bullets.

I did try google and going back pages on sub-forums here without much luck. Any insight is appreciated--thanks!

Oh, I know 2400 is a favorite powder, I've used it in the 44 mag. But, alas, I cannot find any to bring home :sad:

[Army03CRNA]

I guess I'll drive on with my original plan. I'll start at 13 grains of W296, go up in .3 grain increments, stop at 14.0 and see where I get the best accuracy, or stop should things look too hot.

[Animal]

Your plan looks good to me, but you may want to consider starting your load at 12.7gr. My Lyman Cast Bullet handbook suggest 12.7 as a start for the Saeco #354 180gr. Personally, I don't like to work pistol loads up more than 2/10 at a time. I prefer to work them up in 1/10, but I'll do 2/10 when the min-max range is large like this particular load. I might go back to the best charge weight and test several rounds 1/10 up and down to get a good feel.
Looks like you have good magnum primers. A nice firm roll crimp may also be needed. I've found that the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook is a must have for H110 loads and cast. Be careful, work up responsibly, enjoy and welcome to the forum!

[2wheelDuke]

I'd be cautious about a heavy roll crimp with Hi-Tek coated boolits. You could get the answer strait from the Aussies over in the coatings & alternatives section.

[Army03CRNA]

Animal--After loading up 13 grains of 296, I agree I'll step down to probably 12.7 grains and top out at 13.6. I can barely hear the powder shake inside. I know the whole "don't reduce 296/H110" thing, but I also don't want to pull a bunch of loaded rounds because I loaded them too hot either. I have a RCBS cast boolit manual, but my Lyman manuals are REALLY old, I have them for nostalgia not really as a resource. I'll have to look into one of those.

I used to load in .2 grain increments. I gave that up because I think it's really too hard discriminate at that fine a charge. I "THINK" I can, but is it that, or just confirmation bias, self fulfilling prophecy, or (pick your own logical fallacy)? NOT knocking anyone who does. And, I noticed the article on loading the 9mm in the '15 Hodgdon loading manual was in .3 grain steps. It made me rethink my strategy.

2wheelDuke--I knew that section was there, but never looked it over. I brief check of the first 3 pages gave me a lot info in how to apply the coating, but I didn't a see single thread on changes in loading them. I will, of course, keep looking.

[Animal]

Army, we all do things a little different for different reasons. But since you threw that out there in your second post, I figured I'd let you know how I've worked up similar loads. It sounds like you have a good load in progress. I think you will find a sweet load somewhere with the H110. Most of us like to give 2400 the credit and respect that it has earned, but lots of bullet casters LOVE h110/296 in fullhouse magnum loads. Enjoy

[Army03CRNA]

Army, we all do things a little different for different reasons. But since you threw that out there in your second post, I figured I'd let you know how I've worked up similar loads. It sounds like you have a good load in progress. I think you will find a sweet load somewhere with the H110. Most of us like to give 2400 the credit and respect that it has earned, but lots of bullet casters LOVE h110/296 in fullhouse magnum loads. Enjoy

I certainly appreciate the insight. It's why I decided to quit lurking and start posting. Lots of information here if one simply asks : )

Edit: If you would, would you discuss with .2grain increments how far do you back down if you feel you a load is too hot? A lot of sources like to simply state a half a grain, but what about backing down to the next sweet spot?

[Animal]

I don't have any good answers for that, I wish I did. I'd like to see a few other folks chime in on that question. Ultimately, if I know my bullet profile/weight is similar to the data listed I will proceed by reducing the charge by 10% and working up, that is, when working with cast boolits. H110 doesn't like this though, from what I've read in some manuals. I don't know what could be so bad about reducing it. I'm sure someone will let us know.
Fortunately for me, the only 2 loads I've made with H110 worked out very well because I had the same bullets the manual listed. I didn't feel any need to reduce the powder. There wasn't much to ponder. Hopefully you will find more information or someone chimes in with more experience. I never did like having a knot in my stomach from uncertainties with a load.

[Army03CRNA]

A quick update:

I did drop down to 12.7 grains of W296 and went up in .3 grain increments (12.7-13.0-13.3-13.6-13.9) I used brand new starline .357 brass, and CCI 550 primers.

Range was 25yds, all shots kneeling with both elbows supported. I use a 6" shoot-n-see cut in half and use only the top half (now what to do with all the bottom halves :razz:) Anyways, the 12.7 and 13.0 shot the best with groups ~1.7x1.7" for six shots. Nothing really outstanding with any of the groups. The 13.3 and up were at or slightly over 2". The primers were all nice and round, no signs of any flattening. No sticking in extracting.

Prior to shooting these groups, I checked the zero of my J-type load using a speer 158 deep curl and 16.0 of W296 (same brass and primers)and it was right on at 25yds. As a comparison, these loads all hit between 1-2 o'clock with one or two shots of the six hitting inside the black. The 13.0 grain loading was almost at 12 for some reason.

My plan going forward is to drop down to 12.4 grains and retry the 12.7 again too. I'll take the best of the two and load up some more for further testing.

After this I have some MBC 140grain TC HiTek coated bullets I'm going to work with to find a good mid-range load. I have some W321/HP38 and some Universal to work with there.

I really like this pistol--a ruger match champion. It's light (compared to my Redhawk) and even the M9 I have to carry when in those situations---no it's not like a glock 19 or the HK VP9, but I can't hunt with those in the Keystone state : ( I like the accuracy and given the limited testing I've done, the fact a few different loads shoot really close to each other so I don't have to hold off much even at 25yds. If my 9mms would only be so cooperative.

[Animal]

Very cool. I'm curious about how you like the H110 after using 2400.

[Army03CRNA]

Very cool. I'm curious about how you like the H110 after using 2400.

I really can't speak to that since it's been years since I loaded any 2400 and that was in a 44mag with j-type bullets. As soon as I find some again, you can be sure I'll be making a comparison : )

[Groo]

Groo here
As was told to me so I tell to you.
In a discussion with J.D.Jones [ S.S.K.] , he stated that a cast boolet of similar design[aka seats the same depth in the CASE]
For any given J-word load the cast boolet will be around 100fps faster [ magnum hunting stuff] or if loaded to the same speed
will be of lesser [ like 10%] lower pressure.
I have used j-word loads as a benchmark for years. [ I usually load heavy]
P.S. I have shot SNS coated 41mag 215gr SWC with 6gr Trailboss [1/2 under max listed] in schools
and the gun showed NO leading , coating, and little powder remains.
I will be using coated in the future for loads up to 2k fps and may try powder coated higher.

[leadman]

The powder companies and some of the bullet companies have free load data on their websites. Always good to check the manual against the website to make sure the data is still valid. Hodgdon has IMR, Winchester, and Hodgdon powders on their website.
I shoot alot of Hi-Tek coated boolits and have had no problems with a heavy crimp as long as the case mouth is chamfered slightly.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Any updates on this? I'm going to be messing with some 296 loads under 358156 hi-tek coated and possible a 180 hi-tek coated if I can get my hands on some.

[popper]

My gold coated ACWW 144gr PB works good ~1800 fps in 30 cal. using H110.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Nice!
I load 44 mag to 1100+ fps just shy of a max load with universal with the same gold coating with good results. That's pretty high pressure but not a ton of velocity. I'm wondering if pressure or velocity makes more of a difference in performance.

[Army03CRNA]

Any updates on this? I'm going to be messing with some 296 loads under 358156 hi-tek coated and possible a 180 hi-tek coated if I can get my hands on some.


Wow, I haven't been on here in quite a while--even to lurk. I did want to come back and say that what I found to work best for me was 13.8 grains of W296 (H-110) with the 180 grain MBC pugnose boolit in brand new star-line brass and a CCI-550 primer. As a bonus, this shoots to the same point-of-aim as my 158 speer deep curl J-type bullet.

Now, if I can only find a load for the 140 grain MBC TC boolit that is useable, I'll be happy.