cat sneeze?? 357 and 44

[indymadcaster]

ok i have several handi rifles in 357 mag and 44 mag in reading of quiet loads i tried the 190 ranch dog unsized and 2 coats of mulesnot in 357 with 3.0 grains of bullseye seated flush in the case and they hit very hard!!!!!!! but not as quiet as i wanted its a loud wooosh how far down can i go in powder charge??? i dont want to stick one in the tube any ideas for the 44???


:lovebooli

[indymadcaster]

oops and i used 357 brass i wonder if using 38 brass would help the noise?

[NSP64]

Did some fire lapping of the SBH 10.5" barrel in 44. used a pure lead lee 240gr RN boolit & 1.0gr of unique-Stuck boolit in barrel. 1.5gr bounces boolit off of 2x12 and off the ceiling (plywood floor of upstairs). So, I think 1.5gr is minimum. What you going to hit with em?

[FISH4BUGS]

...if you are not a prohibited person and your state allows them, you can get a suppressor. Thread the barrels of the Handi Rifle, buy a registered and transferrable can, and it will be so quiet that you won't even need ear protection.
Heavy bullets, subsinic speeds, but NO CAST through the can. It will have to be those terrible jacketed bullets.

[Dale53]

When you are developing "cat sneeze" loads, the drill is to reduce until you stick a bullet, then increase the powder charge enough to ensure that you won't do that with the final load. You MUST be careful that each bullet leaves the barrel. It helps to have a dowel of the right length to drive the bullets out. Cast bullets ONLY for cat sneeze loads. Jacketed bullets present too much friction for these light loads.

Some recommend round balls for cat sneeze loads but they have a bad habit of bouncing back from hard objects (even hard wood).

Paco Kelly has some good information on cat sneeze loads in his Lever Action book. His CD presents some good reading, also.

http://www.leverguns.com/store/paco_book.htm

FWIW
Dale53

[NSP64]

You MUST be careful that each bullet leaves the barrel.
FWIW
Dale53

Everyone says this but the other day loaded some 38 spl 148gr plated HBWC for SWMBO. I used min load for lead HBWC. She is a new shooter. She thought she was missing the target. Bullet 5 stuck in the barrel and locked up the cylinder. Lucky it was really lite loads. 5 bullets will fit in a 3" barrel.[smilie=1:

[sagacious]

Indy,
Dale has your drill on the cat-sneeze loads.

3.0grs Bullseye is still pretty loud in my 44Mag rifle. I use a 320gr and 400gr soft lead bullet in a 44Special case for the sneeze handloads. They do hit hard. I would suggest the 38Spec case and 44Spec case if you have them. For best and most consistent results, use unsized cases and just crimp the bullet in place.

Each gun is different, so one cannot give specific powder charge guidelines. What works great in one 44Mag carbine may (probably will) stick in another. In the course of loading these super-minimum reloads, you'll inevitably stick a bullet. Just tap it out carefully. Up your powder charge 1/2 grain, and that's your minimum powder charge.

Good luck, and stay safe. :drinks:

[steg]

I've been burning 2Gr red dot and a 195 Gr cast in .357, pretty quiet, years ago I loaded a few for my son he was around 11 years old, Ive been trying to duplicate the load again but I haven't yet, didn't keep records cause I figured I'd only need a couple, we were calling them bloopers, that's the sound they made when fired and not loud at all, but they would punch through a 67 dodge dart trunk lid at around 60 feet away, they were great, and they also used red dot and were fired out of a Puma........steg

[63 Shiloh]

Hey Indy,

In your .357, try a .38spl case loaded with 2.3gn of WST under a 110gn WC. I seat the boolit 3mm/ 0.118" below the case mouth with a light roll crimp.

Works well out of my 6" 686 and (if hundgun hunting was legal here) would be an effective cat slayer.

Mick