I have a neighbor that gave me a sealed pound of HS-7. Hodgdon no longer lists .357 loads since the powder was discontinued. Does anyone have load data for 158 grain bullets, both lead and jacketed?

My Speer #11 manual lists 11.2 to 12.1 grains of HS-7 with a 158 JHP in .357 with a magnum primer.
My buddy bought 8 pounds of HS-7 when it was going obsolete and one thing we learned was it needs a good crimp and a magnum primer. He had trouble with squibs & poor ignition in .38 spl with standard primers and a light crimp.
I would recommend a google search to confirm the data if you can't find printed data for HS-7.

Hodgdon's #26 manual lists 10.0gr for both lead and jacketed 158gr bullets. Magnum primers are pretty much required with HS-7. I just bought a couple of pounds of it myself, so that is what I am doing.

Don

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NRA Cert. Reloading Instructor

If you also have some Winchester data..look at Win 571. Same powder. I have many pounds of it as I used to load it in 28 ga shotshells. I have also found it likes a good crimp and heavier bullets...Mag primers seem to work better. I more often use it in upper level 41 and 44 loads

I've used 9 gr of W-W 571 (same as or similar to HS-7) with cast in the 357. Works especially well with 358156 GC. I can't remember what source I used for this data.

Lots of variance in recommended max. Also, I've used a CCI SPM for all 571 loads in the 357 Mag.

I've used it with the 44 Mag as well, with cast, and it works OK. I finally settled on a CCI 300 LP primer and 12.5 gr. Somewhere around 10.5 and you will have smokey cases, not enough pressure to seal in the chamber. 12.5 gr will give you about 1000 fps. Increasing the powder charge and the gun will start to dance. Works best with a Gas Checked bullet. My goto is a 429434 GC, at about 225 gr, an old 44-40 rifle design. I've sub'd a 429244 @ 12.5 and at 1 gr less.

W-W 571 doesn't seem to be very kind to plain based cast, 2400 works better for that.

I don't think that W-W 571 would be my first choice for the 357, or 44 Mag. but I was given about 10#, and it works well enough for 1000 fps loads. I meters well. At 9 > 13 gr a round, I'll be shooting it for a while.

+1 to heavy crimp and magnum primer with HS-7.

I used up a couple of pounds of Win 571, which is the same powder, in 357 with pretty good results. I had originally bought it in the 80's for loading 10 gauge duck and goose loads and then they did away with lead shot for hunting migratory birds. I will also recommend using magnum primers with it too.