Need a load critique - Enforcer in .357 Mag

[justindad]

Here’s the minimum load where I get a clean burn of the powder:
158 grain NOE-360-160-WFN (modified Felix lube)
13.6 grains Enforcer
CCI 550 (magnum) primer
Starline brass
1.580” OACL
1,112 fps at 5 yrds (3” barrel, revolver)
56 SD
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At 13.5 grains (1,078 fps), there’s so much unburnt powder in the cylinder that the next rounds feel gritty when I reload. Then I put in the 13.6 grain loads and everything was cleaned out. Even the barrel was easy to clean when I got home, and I had just put about 100 rounds through it.
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Ramshot data gives a max charge of 14.0 grains under Hornady XTP (1.590” OAL), giving 1,320 fps from a 6” barrel.
Lyman 49th shows a max charge of 13.8 grains under the 155 grain 358156 (1.590” OAL), giving 1,293 fps from a 4” barrel.
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What are your thoughts on a max charge of Enforcer under the 158 grain NOE-360-160-WFN, and what you you expect for the velocity from a 3” barrel?

[dverna]

I would change powder. If a .1 gr makes a night and day difference, there is something wrong.

[justindad]

I have been wondering if Enforcer is just not great for .357 Mag. I started around 13.0 grains, and I can see the amount of unburnt powder change every step of the charge work-up.

[Milky Duck]

heavier crimp perhaps??? 3" is not an awefully long way for powder to be burnt.

[lylejb]

Cast booklets typically run lower pressure and higher velocity with a given power charge.
That said, enforcer ( and even more so h110 / w296) is a slow powder suitable for high pressure full power loads.
The reason you have unburnt powder is the pressure is below what works efficiently for that powder.
Recently, I worked up some loads for a snub nose smith 357 , and found universal Clay's to be the sweet spot in this gun.
I think you'll find what you're looking for easier with a faster powder.

[Winger Ed.]

I hate to see unburned powder like that. It's like taking money out of your pocket and flushing it down the commode.

It might be hard to find right now, but in my .357 days, I always found myself coming back to Blue Dot.

[Larry Gibson]

Cast booklets typically run lower pressure and higher velocity with a given power charge. .......

I wouldn't bet on that.

That was/is the general theory/myth that has been stated and restated for years. I even thought it was so. However, I've run and extensive pressure/velocity test with numerous cartridges, numerous loads using cast and jacketed bullets and have not been able to prove it one way or the other. Best I can say after all the testing is .... "It depends [on what i haven't figured out], sometimes the psi and/or velocity is higher or lower with cast and sometimes it isn't.....like I said, it depends."

[justindad]

Large lube grooves reduce case capacity, but j-words drag more on rifling.

[justindad]

heavier crimp perhaps??? 3" is not an awefully long way for powder to be burnt.

The crimp is a design weakness in this boolit, IMHO. The cannelure is surprisingly shallow. I recently got an MP clone of the Keith SWC hollow point, so maybe the weights are close enough and I’ll look for a better result with the significantly stronger crimp on the Keith boolit.
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Could be that HS-6 or Unique work just as well, given the short barrel and weak crimp.

[Larry Gibson]

Large lube grooves reduce case capacity, but j-words drag more on rifling.

That's the theory, just can't prove it with pressure testing. In my testing I compared a cast bullet of equal weight +/- to jacketed with both having equal seating depth. I also tried to get close to the same bearing surface but wasn't always able too. However, I found no correlation with longer bearing surface to higher psi with either cast or jacketed bullets. Sometimes the jacketed bullet with longer bearing surface would give lower psi.

[Larry Gibson]

I would change powder. If a .1 gr makes a night and day difference, there is something wrong.

All powders have a certain psi level where they will burn "clean", especially ball type powders. I don't find it wrong that a .1 gr increase can boost the psi into the "clean" burn range.

But, as you suggest, perhaps another powder would be a better choice.

[justindad]

Sometimes the jacketed bullet with longer bearing surface would give lower psi.


That is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.