sniper
08-06-2008, 11:13 AM
My wife, bless her, is going to pick me up a can of 2400 today while she is in the gun emporium's neighborhood.
I have been doing some study about 2400, and am somewhat confused. My brother in law says it is the best powder he's used, but can't remember what his load was. (He's 82.) He also said he "just filled the case" , and loaded the bullet on top. (Old model Ruger .357.)
Ahhh...no thank you, old boy!:roll:
The classic Elmer K. load was 38 Spl. brass, standard primer, 172 gr. bullet, with 13.5gr. of powder. A 357 magnum load, at ~40,000 psi.
Skeeter Skelton was said to use the same 13.5gr. load in 38 Spl. brass, but with the Lyman 358156 hp bullet, seated in the second crimping groove, which also gave a 357 Magnum level load.
I don't use 38 Spl. brass, because the carbon ring causes more trouble than its worth, imo.
Other than my Lyman #46 manual, and RCBS Cast Bullet Handbook, I can't find much info on 2400/357 Mag. cases/standard primers/cast boolits, and current Alliant info only deals with jacketed bullets.
Both of my publications are old, and current information seems to be that 2400 s manufactured since the early '90s is hotter than the old formula...by about 10-15%. And, it appears the current Lyman manual contains exactly the same information as #46.
It looks to me as if you could dump the old classic load of 13.5gr. into a 357 magnum case, load with either my RCBS 162 GC or 150gr. KT boolit, and have a load that is enough below currently published max. loadings to be safe and very usable. What do you guys think?
I think I will start at about 10 gr., and work up from there.
Or, would anyone be willing to share 2400 loads using the current generation of powder that have worked in your revolvers, which have proven to be both safe and accurate? Thanks.
I have been doing some study about 2400, and am somewhat confused. My brother in law says it is the best powder he's used, but can't remember what his load was. (He's 82.) He also said he "just filled the case" , and loaded the bullet on top. (Old model Ruger .357.)
Ahhh...no thank you, old boy!:roll:
The classic Elmer K. load was 38 Spl. brass, standard primer, 172 gr. bullet, with 13.5gr. of powder. A 357 magnum load, at ~40,000 psi.
Skeeter Skelton was said to use the same 13.5gr. load in 38 Spl. brass, but with the Lyman 358156 hp bullet, seated in the second crimping groove, which also gave a 357 Magnum level load.
I don't use 38 Spl. brass, because the carbon ring causes more trouble than its worth, imo.
Other than my Lyman #46 manual, and RCBS Cast Bullet Handbook, I can't find much info on 2400/357 Mag. cases/standard primers/cast boolits, and current Alliant info only deals with jacketed bullets.
Both of my publications are old, and current information seems to be that 2400 s manufactured since the early '90s is hotter than the old formula...by about 10-15%. And, it appears the current Lyman manual contains exactly the same information as #46.
It looks to me as if you could dump the old classic load of 13.5gr. into a 357 magnum case, load with either my RCBS 162 GC or 150gr. KT boolit, and have a load that is enough below currently published max. loadings to be safe and very usable. What do you guys think?
I think I will start at about 10 gr., and work up from there.
Or, would anyone be willing to share 2400 loads using the current generation of powder that have worked in your revolvers, which have proven to be both safe and accurate? Thanks.