AA #5 in a .357 Mag. with 160 gr. cast

[Jim22]

OK, an hour with the chronograph revealed this. This time I used powder coated boolits because I had more of them:

AA#5: Velocity avg:
9.0 - 1021
9.2 - 1031
9.4 - 1036
9.6 - 1076
9.8 - 1073

AA#7
9.1 - 907
9.3 - 934
9.5 - 936
9.7 - 974
9.9 - 1007

None of the above loads were sticky to extract and none had flattened primers.

Then I chronographed a few Buffalo Bore Heavy .357 Magnum 158 grain JHP. They surprised me. I fired four rounds and got the same velocity three times. The load also has a lot more recoil. If I take one of the three duplicates and the other non duplicate and average them I get and avg of 1338 fps. The 3" barrel didn't achieve the advertised 1475 fps but 1338 is nothing to sneeze at. Very surprising to me. But the brass was sticky to extract. From what I have seen so far I should be able to go heavier than I have so far. I don't want sticky extraction. Actually, I am quite happy with the progress I have made so far with Accurate powders.

YMMV.

Jim

[Kosh75287]

9.2/AA#5/158 gr. FMJFP gave me 1197 f/s from a 4" Ruger Police Service Six, and 1253 f/s from a 6" S&W M28. I suspect that cast or PC'd projectiles would be launched faster.

[Jim22]

9.2/AA#5/158 gr. FMJFP gave me 1197 f/s from a 4" Ruger Police Service Six, and 1253 f/s from a 6" S&W M28. I suspect that cast or PC'd projectiles would be launched faster.

Thanks, Kosh. I would have thought so as well but my 3" SP101 doesn't quite do it. I'm gonna try above 9.8 grains AA#5 and some higher loads with AA#7. I don't know why but in my gun I am able to substantially exceed max loads from Accurate Arms. I wouldn't try them in lighter build revolvers. Maybe that's what AA was thinking when they called them Maximum. Seems to me I had similar findings when loading for my Ruger Redhawk .44. That gun would swallow loads that I couldn't put in the same room with my M29. Ruger builds tough guns.

Jim

[T-Bird]

Hey GW did you ever try the 8.0 gr #5 loads?

[bsev81]

I have been a fan of No. 5 for years but never tried it in 357 until now. Dad asked me about a medium power plinking load for range days.
I recently got the NOE HTC358-154-RF, got some powder coated and tried them in my 6.5" 686. CCI 500s with 9.0gr No. 5 averaged 1140fps which fits the bill for this purpose..
Next i'll have to see how the NOE HTC 173 mold does with it.