best 357mag boolit for a Blackhawk with a 4.6 inch barrel?

[45r]

Been shooting 185 grain LBT type boolits in my 1973 NM blackawk.
They're accurate but sting a little bit with H-110 loads that shoot just right in a Marlin LG.
Looking for a low recoil target type boolit that would work in the short barrel.
What's your favorite boolit from what mold.

[Ed_Shot]

For easy and cheap I'd recommend the Lee 358-158-RF over Red Dot/Promo 5.0 gr. Another fine choice is Lyman 358156 w/o gc over Red Dot/Promo 5.0 gr. These work fine in both my Ruger SS and Marlin. If you are just looking for a load for your Black hawk I'd say it would be hard to find a bad intermediate load with a 140~160 gr. boolit. My Ruger is not picky but the Marlin is a little more so.

[Thumbcocker]

The Lee 125 grn rnfp is a dandy that can do duty in 9mm as well. I have shot it in a convertible in both cylinders. 4.0 of red dot in .357 brass is an ultra economical sort load.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i use RedDot for light loads under a Lyman 358477

[c1skout]

I like the Lee 158 TL swc. The old Ideal 160gn wadcutter works good for me too..... but not for long range.

[GhostHawk]

I use the exact same bullet and load only in a Handi Rifle. Just starting to get it broken in, but it is showing promise at 100.



For easy and cheap I'd recommend the Lee 358-158-RF over Red Dot/Promo 5.0 gr. Another fine choice is Lyman 358156 w/o gc over Red Dot/Promo 5.0 gr. These work fine in both my Ruger SS and Marlin. If you are just looking for a load for your Black hawk I'd say it would be hard to find a bad intermediate load with a 140~160 gr. boolit. My Ruger is not picky but the Marlin is a little more so.

[45r]

Thanks for replies.
Went with the old RCBS 38-162-swc.
Saw a NOS one on E-bay.
Bid 35 bucks and won.
It looks like the Lyman 358156 I had a long time ago but without the double crimp.
Think it will shoot good with no check using light charges of fast powders.
With the check it should shoot anything.
I hope the bands are thick enough.
I size to .359 with a lee push through then lube in a lubri-sizer at .360 after they're heat treated at .359.

[dubber123]

One thing to note, if you have done away with any constriction/rough bore issues, you might be able to dispense with the heat treating. I am currently shooting a GC boolit of 9 Bhn, (50/50 WW-Pb), at close to 1,500 fps. from a revolver with no leading at all, and groups are in the 1" range at 50 yards. I'm getting less convinced of the need for hard cast boolits. If your gun needs them, thats fine, it might not is all I'm saying. Good score on a fine mold Btw.

[45r]

I cast some boolits with the rcbs 162 swc and they dropped at .360 with good fill-out.
Like most rcbs molds it was easy to use.
Allow was WW with 2% tin.
Lubed them soft at .360
Shot them over 5.3 grains universal.
They went 2.5 inches at 25 yards with no leading and burned clean.

[MtGun44]

358477 is a top choice, essentially duplicate of RCBS 38-150 SWC (old molds were 38-150 K).
The Lee 358 158 RF is also a real good one, although it is a BB and that can be messy with
many lubrisizers. No need for hard alloys or GCs in .357, IME.

[ejcrist]

That's very true what everyone is saying about not using hard boolits. I shoot the RCBS 38-150-SWC in my 686 with 8 3/8" barrel at 1,490 fps average and the boolits are just straight wheel weights and I get no leading whatsoever. The groups average 1 1/2" at 25 yards with open sights off a bag. My Ruger SBH was the only revolver I used to have leading issues in until I switched from Lyman #2 to 16:1 and straight wheel weights which are about the same BHN. I'm totally convinced anything above that is unnecessary unless you're shooting them in a rifle at much higher velocities, and even then I'm not sure when you consider the BP silhouette rifle shooters shoot 20:1 and 30:1.

[44man]

I shoot harder because of what I shoot and the loads. It is harder to make the inertia of heavy boolits take the turn.
But I agree softer can be shot and I have no leading with 50-50.
I ignore the leading thing because so much can be shot without leading, yet that is still not the entire answer. If I shoot 50-50 the boolits need a GC because PB is a shotgun. Yet a 50-50 with a GC still needs hardened in my revolvers because of fliers. NOT bad enough to miss deer at 75+ yards though so I don't worry. At 50 yards a 50-50 boolit can have 3 shots touching with 2 out a little.
The big problem is a 50-50 boolit can turn deer inside out, skin, gut and grind and it is because of my calibers.
Smaller calibers like the .357 should never use hard to hunt with or use a soft nose at least. Just don't over expand.
Since all I shoot is based on hunting only, I can't say much about your alloys for paper.
The worst I had was when someone sent me .44 boolits to test, I checked BHN as pure lead with a coating. I could have done better by putting a patch in the muzzle and pouring molten lead down to it. :veryconfu:bigsmyl2: Even the poop loads were terrible. Putty balls!

[45r]

I shot some more today with 5.7 grains universal and the groups went down to inch and a half at 25 yards.
I shoot PB in big bore revolver but I like GC boolits in 357mag.
They're a lot more forgiving when it comes down to leading the barrel for me.