NEF .357 Magnum 22" barrel----optimal loads?!?

[Plainsman]

I just realized the barrel on my NEF .357 magnum is 22" long!!! I'd like to development some optimal loads for it.

Has anybody out there already done so with a barrel this long?

Any hints on where to start, i.e. which powders to consider...I'm thinking 158gr JSP/JHP...but maybe something else if somebody found something "fantastic!"

Thank you!

[Kosh75287]

Alliant 2400 > IMR4227 >> H110/W296. Ranked in order of MY preference.
I'm not a huge fan of H110/W296 in anything except .30 Carbine, but it WILL work very well in .357 magnum, when fired down rifle-length barrels.

[Hick]

My Henry rifle does very, very well with 163 grain SWC, gas checked and tumble lubed with 15 grains of H110

[Daekar]

My Henry Single Shot in 357mag has a 22 inch barrel, and it does well with everything I feed it as long as the boolits are big enough in diameter. I have gotten satisfactory accuracy from 125gr to 245gr in my rifle, with the 245gr shooting the smallest group I have ever achieved with that gun. Go figure..

If you're looking to get maximum performance out of the length, you'll want powders on the slower end of fast, like H110 and Lil'Gun... the traditional magnum powders. Traditional caveats of watching out for leading and decreased accuracy as velocity climbs, you may want a 180gr or 200gr mold.

If you are considering jacketed bullets, and want maximum performance I would still recommend you use the same magnum powders, but since your velocity ceiling is higher I would encourage you to see what you can do with middleweights like 158gr. You should be able to achieve 1900fps easily without pushing pressure boundaries at all.

[JimB..]

Does optimal mean max energy?

VV N105, I’ll leave it to you to work up loads. If not, then I agree with the above, starting with Aliant 2400.

[paul edward]

Any hints on where to start, i.e. which powders to consider...I'm thinking 158gr JSP/JHP.

I have had good luck with 2400, Unique and H-110 (same as Win 296) in heavy loads and jacketed bullets in a 357 Mag 1894 Marlin.

Also good powders for the 357 Mag in rifles are H-2447 and IMR-4227. I have used IMR-4227 in heavy loads for a 44 Magnum rifle.

Lots of load data is available from powder manufacturers and in manuals.

Single shot rifles are usually easier to please as OAL is not critical.

[357Mag]

Plainsman -

Howdy !

Congratulations on finding the gun you wanted !

I shot a Marlin M1894SC in .357Mag, and was happy w/ the results I got when shooting my favorite revolver load:

14.5gr WW296 and SP Magnum primer under a Lyman SWC of 158 - 172gr . This load shot superbly in S & W "N"-frames of 4", 5"; and 6" barrel lengths; too !

This load was the minimum recommended charge that Winchester ( OLIN ) had printed in their reloading handout pamphlet.


With regards,
357Mag

[uscra112]

Lil'Gun is your powder. It has a "fat tail" to the pressure/time curve that gets you more MV for a given peak pressure than anything else I tried. Hornady XTPs were my choice. Wish I weren't so old and dilapidated, because that's what I'd take to the deer blind.

My notes say 14.5 grains Lil'Gun and the 35780 flatnose XTP, seated .365" deep. (That matters!) Not a max load, but most accurate from my 14" barrel Contender.