357 mag -158 gr. cast- H-110

[remshooter]

i use 2400, but a friend got out of reloading ,and gave me a full pound of H-110 .will shoot it out of an .357 mag L-frame S@W .158 grain SWCGC cast from W-W and 2% tin . every body says dont load below 3% of max cause of squib loads .what min load should i start at ? lymans cast man. says start at 14.4 min to15.9 max.hornady has no cast load for H-110 but there jsp 158 gr load starts at 15.0 min to 16.7 max. anybody got a goodload?

[felix]

Use your current 2400 load (by weight) as start load with H110. Shoot one shot. If load feels normal, but light, you are on your way in loading upwards. It always helps having a mic to measure the case expansion of your normal 2400 load, and compare that to the case from the H110 load. H110 load should measure the same or slightly less than the 2400 load to be in a good safety range for H110. ... felix

[GP100man]

I cast & loaded 13 grs. under a Lyman 357446 but got big ED across the chrony, it started settling down at 14grs .

& starts ceaning up round 15

Lyman 3rd edition Cast handbook maxes at 15.7 for the 358156

15grs. will give all the pressure my alloy will stand .

[felix]

Agreed. Should shoot for an ES of 20 or better in a revolter, 10 or less in a good running auto. Revolters very seldom have all cylinder holes the same, even when measured the same unless the timing is absolutely perfect. ... felix

[Larry Gibson]

Perhaps an "SD" of 20? Asking for an ES of 20 fps from a magnum level load in a revolver is asking for a lot......

Larry Gibson

[rintinglen]

I have shot thousands of the 358-156 boolits over 15.7 grains H-110. In my Rossi Carbine it is the most accurate load I have found. My Python is like my dog--eats anything without complaint--and also shoots this load very well. I'd start at 14.5 grains and work up until I hit the top or accuracy stopped getting better. This powder works better for me in 357 loads than 2400, though the opposite is true in my 44 loads.

[felix]

You are right as rain, Larry! Stated goals, not objectives. Getting an ES of 20 day in and day out would be close to a miracle for a revolter. Jim, the 44man should tell us what his long range rounds do with his best gun. ... felix

[357Mag]

Remmie -

Howdy !

My favorite .357Mag load:

14.5gr WW296 ( H-110, same thing ) and a SP Magnum primer under any Lyman lead SWC of 158 - 172gr.

With regards,
357Mag

[MtGun44]

Not a fan of GC boolits in handguns. Not necessary.



Bill

[Larry Gibson]

MtGun44

I see your loads are upwards of where mine are (over current max loads in most manuals these days). I do favor GC'd bullets with my magnum loads as I use softer alloy for expansion and usually a HP also. I use a tudge more H110 under the 358156 out of my 6" Ruger Securty Six for about the same accuracy. They run 1425 fps. As I mentioned I have not pressure test them yet as I need to cast some more.

Larry Gibson

[MtGun44]

Larry,

Note the 8 BHN notation with the load info. I dislike fiddling with unnecessary GCs. I am pretty
sure that one will expand without HP and I have the HP mold for that boolit, too.

The load is not over max, AFAIK. I believe max is 16.8 or so, do not intend to exceed published,
but perhaps I have made an error. I have used this one for a while in many guns with good
results and easy extraction.

ADDITION:
I went to Hodgdon's site and verified that a load for 158 XTP is 16.7 gr H110 max. With a Pb
boolit pressure is less, but the wt here is a touch up. My bet is that the two offset about
equally. Mine cast at 167 gr, and the HP is really close to 158. Hodgdon reports 1591 fps with
the 16.7 gr load. . . . . . . . . WOW! Have not chronoed this one, but expect in my 6" guns it will
go less, but probably makd 1400-1450, I'd imagine.

Do you glue a strain gage on the cyl or use a test barrel?

Bill

[dlviolin]

Resurrecting an old thread here...
Bill, thanks for the info on cast using H110...I wanted to try it, but wasn't sure. Just loaded some XTP's with this data and was very pleased. Nice flat trajectory. Intend to try harvesting a deer with this setup in my Colt Trooper.

My question: are you using magnum primers with this?

Take care,
Dan (the fiddle man)

[cbrick]

Agreed. Should shoot for an ES of 20 or better in a revolter, 10 or less in a good running auto. Revolters very seldom have all cylinder holes the same, even when measured the same unless the timing is absolutely perfect. ... felix

Perhaps an "SD" of 20? Asking for an ES of 20 fps from a magnum level load in a revolver is asking for a lot...... Larry Gibson

You are right as rain, Larry! Stated goals, not objectives. Getting an ES of 20 day in and day out would be close to a miracle for a revolter. Jim, the 44man should tell us what his long range rounds do with his best gun. ... felix

Kinda surprised about those comments from two whose opinion I respect and value. Revolvers are capable of good consistency, both SD, ES and accuracy as the following results from crimp testing I did a few years ago shows. 50 shots, various brass, sizing and crimping w/extreme spread of 18, SD of 8.6 and an average velocity of 1526 fps.

All chrono tests 10 shots, RCBS 180 Silhouette @ 188 gr from COWW +2% Sn HT to 18 BHN, H-110, CCI 550. Didn't want to post the charge lest someone tries it in a Colt or something, in an FA it is perfectly safe & sane.

1> My normal profile crimp, second firing of WW brass, Carbide die sized
E.S. 30
A.V. 1518
S.D. 9

2> Roll crimp, second firing of WW brass, Carbide die sized
E.S. 30
A.V. 1520
S.D. 9

3> No crimp, second firing of WW brass, Carbide die sized, very slight bell
E.S. 30
A.V. 1528
S.D. 9

4> Light profile crimp, virgin WW brass, not sized, not expanded, slight bell only
E.S. 26
A.V. 1532
S.D. 8

5> My normal profile crimp, virgin WW brass, not sized, not expanded, slight bell only
E.S. 26
A.V. 1536
S.D. 8

Rick

[fecmech]

Cbrick--Can you get those es and sd figures with the lighter 158 cast bullets and H110?? I've noticed with both 296 and Blue Dot in the .357 that es and sd numbers are generally a touch higher with the 150-158 cast as opposed to my 358429 173 ger bullet.

[cbrick]

Cbrick--Can you get those es and sd figures with the lighter 158 cast bullets and H110?? I've noticed with both 296 and Blue Dot in the .357 that es and sd numbers are generally a touch higher with the 150-158 cast as opposed to my 358429 173 ger bullet.

Dunno, I have never used such light weight bullets in this gun. This is my long range revolver (silhouette) and the 200 meter ram weighs 55 pounds, have to knock it over to score a hit. Doesn't matter how well ya hit it, if it doesn't fall over it's a miss. A 150 gr bullet out of a 357 Mag the ram would stand there laughing at ya.

I do kinda think a fair part of it is the heavy for caliber bullets though. I'm pretty much a fan of heavy for caliber bullets and the slower powders in many of my guns and so they are the bulk of my shooting.

Rick

[M4bushy]

H110 is my goto powder in my .480 Ruger. I loaded some 125 gr Remington half jacket hp in .357 HOLY ****! Having that big of a fireball at the end of my arms, no thanks! I swear it was a basketball size.... It actually melted the tip of the next bullet in the cylinder.

[cbrick]

H110 is my goto powder in my .480 Ruger. I loaded some 125 gr Remington half jacket hp in .357 HOLY ****! Having that big of a fireball at the end of my arms, no thanks! I swear it was a basketball size.... It actually melted the tip of the next bullet in the cylinder.

That is a funny story but uh, simply not possible.

Rick

[M4bushy]

That is a funny story but uh, simply not possible.

Rick

How can you say it isn't possible? The gun was a s&w 327-5 8 shot cylinder puts them kind of close together. It most defiantly did sing the soft lead on the next bullet.

[cbrick]

M4bushy,

It's simple, lead cannot melt until it's 621, a little less for Sn alloy's plus lead absorbs heat very slowly. The millisecond that bullet was exposed to the heat simply could not melt it. Not possible.

It's like people that believe that lead melts off the base of a plain base bullet. Old wives tale, if that were possible why is it that plastic shotgun wads don't melt with a much lower melting point than lead? Why don't paper shotgun wads burn with a much lower flash point than the melting point of lead?

Funny story but not possible. You might have gotten it dirty but you didn't melt it.

Rick