Help me with 125 gr cast load

[Mr_Flintstone]

I’ve found myself with a lot of 125 gr coated MBC 38 Special Cowboy #2 bullets. Not wanting to let them go to waste, I’d like to shoot them in my Henry. What would be a good powder to combine with these bullets in .357 cases? I don’t want them so fast that they’ll lead, but I don’t want popgun loads either.

[dannyd]

HP-38,W231,Trail Boss,Bullseye,Unique they all work and that's a fun bullet to shoot. Look at the web sites for the data.

[FredBuddy]

My Marlin 1894c prefers the Lee 125, powder
coated with 7.0 Unique.

I gotta make another batch!

[dverna]

Lots of data...no need to ask. I have shot 125-130 gr for over a decade.

I doubt they will lead but no way of being sure. If they are sized to .358 you should be fine. You will be at about 1400-1500fps with starting loads of HP39/W231 or Universal.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle

[Misery-Whip]

My Henry likes the Lee 125rf in 357s with a starting load of 2400.

[Mr_Flintstone]

I know there’s lots of data for loads. I was just concerned with how those loads would perform in a rifle since the data sources only give revolver velocities. I was afraid of going too high, but on their FB page, MBC says their bullets should be OK in sub-2000 FPS applications.

[bedbugbilly]

I have a Henry but haven't tried 120 ish grain boolits in it. What i have is the Lyman/Ideal 358-242 and a NOE mold that casts similar. If you didn't reload, you'd be buying store bought ammo loaded for Pistols. It's like nothing else - start at the minimum load and work your way up to what shoots the most accurate out of your rifle. If you don't have a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook - it's a good investment. I used to have a 357 Handi Single shot rifle - I tried many boolit weights and a variety of powders in it - Bulls Eye, Unique, Red Dot, Green Dot, etc. I always came back to Red Dot which wass good for me as I have an 8 pound jug of it that i got during the powder shortage. I'm sure there are lots of other good powders to try. I have never used
trail boss jus because I could never get any to try as it sold out as soon as it hit the shelves. If you have powders on hand that would work, google the powder manufacturer site and see what data they have for a 120ish grain lead boolit and start with the recommended minimum load and work up from there.

[Mr_Flintstone]

Well, I’ve narrowed my powder choices to Bullseye, 231, Titegroup, and Unique. I’ll load a few of each, and see which is best.

Another powder that intrigued me is AutoComp. Has anyone ever used that with cast or coated bullets from a rifle? Just wondering.

[dannyd]

Well, I’ve narrowed my powder choices to Bullseye, 231, Titegroup, and Unique. I’ll load a few of each, and see which is best.

Another powder that intrigued me is AutoComp. Has anyone ever used that with cast or coated bullets from a rifle? Just wondering.


For me I keep in mind it's a long barrel revolver and use any of the 38 short, 38 long 38 special and 357 magnum loads that I would use for a Ruger Blackhawk.

[yeahbub]

I had a box of 140gr Hornady swaged/knurled/dry lubed RNFP cowboy bullets I coated in Ben's Liquid Lube and shot them from a Rossi '92 with good results. The combination of the dry lube and Ben's LL worked well in the carbine barrel. The load was 7gr of Universal. With 125gr, that could be a place to start. I'm not familiar with MBC. I take it these have some kind of dry lubricant impregnated in them? Accurate #2, Red Dot, Green Dot, 700X, Bullseye, Herco and others would be suitable for this application. The Lee load manual and the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook have data for these.

For those with a Lee mold - they may be heavier than advertised. My Lee 125gr RNFP mold drops WW boolits at 133gr. When I size. lube and swage for a gas check, they come out at 135gr, which deserves consideration in what load data to use.