Hi,

I am starting to work with HS-6 for figuring out mid range loads. I read I need to get to upper pressure range of it. I use standard/large CCI primers, not magnum. Could I get some feedback from you all's previous experiences. I would much appreciate it. Thank you.

Gun: SW 25-2 6.5''
45 Auto Rim, 200 Dardas SWC
HS-6 6.4 gr: Not accurate (4.7 gr W231 is my goto here) and lots of unburnt powder, I will go higher to 7 and 7.5gr.

SW model 57 6''
41 special starline cases, 210 sierra JSP
HS-6 6.4gr: Very excellent accuracy but some unburnt powder, will go to 7 and 8 gr next.

SW model 29 6.5''
44 special: Nosler 240 JSP
HS-6 planning to use 8 gr and 9gr.

SW model 28 6''
38 special & 158gr Sierra JSP
HS-6 planning on 5.5 and 7.0 according to Sierra book.

It will be a learning experience but you should understand that the 45 and 38 are low pressure rounds as compared to the 41 and 45. I'd urge caution when trying to make this powder "do all".

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Dave

My experience using HS6 has been it really benefits using a magnum primer . For what you are asking I would not use any powder slower burn rate than Unique . Unique , HP38/ W231 will do fine , use less powder and they work well with std. primers . I realize this isn't exactly what you are asking but it is my recommendation . Good luck

Try CFE Pistol.

It has a burn rate similar to HS-6 but is a lot easier to ignite and burns cleaner.

I get much better accuracy with CFE Pistol than I ever did with HS-6.

I like HS-6 and use it in my 9mm & 45 acp.

It seems to like a heavy bullet , 147 gr in the 9mm & 230 gr in the 45 acp ,, with a max or near max load..

Thanks you for the comment. I am using 2400 for large bore magnums w standard primer and like that a lot but that is a slow burner. I just got the recommendation to try HS-6 to bridge the gap between fast and slow. I think HS-6 has that potential. I do not like to fill very large e.g. 44 mag cases with light charges of say bullseye. If I go too high in grains with a fast burner I am worried about peak pressure rising to high especially on a relatively large sized heavy vast bullet.

I chose that stuff because it was recommended by a factory technician who loads factory ammo. It seems to have a wide envelope. As you said. I would be on the upper spectrum on the 38 (shooting in a 357 magnum gun) and lower end in the 41 and 44 mags. The 45 I have is a special case. The gun has large cylinder throats and I use a 0.454 cast bullet. That builds up pressure too high I feel with the fast burners so I wanted to dial in a mid burner to get the bullet out and speed it up right.

Out of all the powders available, HS6 is not the best choice for the 45ACP or 38 special. As mentioned they are low pressure rounds so why use a slow powder.?

Faster powders like Bullseye have been the staple for years in the 45 and 38.

Why try to make one powder do everything??

https://www.hodgdon.com/wp-content/u...-2015-2016.pdf

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Still Running Against the Wind

I went down that path;looking for a powder that would do a good to great job for upper end .45 Colt and .38Spl and lower end for the 3 magnums;tried a few but went back to good old Unique.
Qc

ok, I get it. Let's leave 38 and 45 alone.

Reason I bought HS-6 was for light 44 and 41 magnum loads.

I see differing info on primers:

Use standard CCI 300
or CCI 350 magnum primers?

Thanks again for the help as I am trying to reduce mistrials leading wrong.

Only real way to answer your primer question is to load both and test.
Loading without a chronograph is like flying blindfolded.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Also note that going with too light a charge of a slow powder can cause a "Kaboom". (Worse/ equal to using too much powder.) I have no experience whit HS6 so can't gauge the risk. I sense you are new to this so throw this out as a FYI. Stay within manufacturer published loads and you should be OK.

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Dave

Yes, try it and shoot many groups using a variety of charges. Try magnum and standard primers.

General comments on HS-6 based solely on my experience... I've tried it in all the cartridges mentioned and then some, except for the .41. I may have tried it with jacketed bullets at some point, but I've seldom used anything but cast in years in handgun cartridges. Like Power Pistol, it's a "niche" powder. Works very well and produces accurate loads in a narrow spectrum. I've tried the recommended magnum primers and also standard primers; don't recall much if any difference between the two.

I've developed accurate loads with HS-6, but have developed a greater number of accurate loads with other powders, even if I have to sometimes give up a little velocity.

In small arms-NO.

Bruce

No need to toss the 158gr 38 special out the window........

Just that when you get to 7.0 grs of powder it might be a 105%
load is some weapons.........

It was too hot for my J frame snub nose but did 989fps in my K frame 6" with a Lead 158gr bullet.

6.7 grs. might be your weapons maximum?
Stay safe.

Thanks, 6.4 was the starting load in some books then going towards 9gr and ending there for most calibers I searched up but I am thinking on a N frame I have some wiggle room.

Thanks Dave, appreciate it. I have read about that problem. I have been loading lots of 38 with Bullseye as well as W231. I am new to loading magnums.

Have used HS-6 and found it to work well for upper end 9mm, rather hot 45acp and mid range 357 and 44 magnum. Didn't see a reason to try magnum primers. Around here I haven't seen it in stock for quite a while and have switched to CFE-P. I'm about to use what HS-6 I have left for 9mm with 124gr. Speer gold dots.
If you look for a plinking powder try WST. Works great in 9mm, 45acp and 38spl.

I use HS-6 extensively as a midrange load in 44 Mag.
10.5g under a 240g LSWC gives me about 1000 fps from a 7.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter. Accurate and easy shooting.

I use a Winchester LPP, a 'hot' standard primer. I don't remember the spread offhand, but I think it was in the teens - I can see no need for a magnum primer in this load.

Hodgdon calls for 10-12gr HS-6 for a jacketed 240g, but I don't use jacketed in handguns much, preferring the economy (and fun!) of casting my own.

Go under 10g, I would get sooty cases - indicating low pressures.

Try the HS-6 in the 44 Mag, you'll like it.

HS-6 is most suited for Magnum loads. Most slow powders burn less completely under low pressure. For warm loads a medium powder like Unique, Acc #5 or any of a dozen other will do a good job.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I have loaded a lot of HS-6 and I highly recommend using a magnum primer. 2400 is a totally different powder and performs better with a standard primer but not HS-6.

I use HS-6 for loading .38 Special +P ammo, 45 Colt, midrange .357 Magnum and the 9mm.

I can load all my handgun ammo with 3 powders, W231/HP-38, W540/HS-6 and W296/H110 and do it very well. I do use other powders but I only need those 3.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I've never developed much fondness for HS6. Currently loaded some upper end 41 mags, haven't run group paper target yet, but at least I'm on the falling plate rack at 50' now.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

I have nearly 30 yrs. experience handloading cartridges for handguns. HS6/HS7 (Win 540/571) is a medium slow powder. It has found great favor with people handloading their ammo to achieve major power factor in USPSA/IPSC compensated race guns using 9mm ammo. To make major power factor 125gr jacketed 9mm bullet must chrono at a minimum of 1,320 fps. This is a VERY high pressure compressed load which will occasionally blow up a gun. I have personally witnessed a shooter's gun blow up during a competition(no one was hurt; gun was toast).

HS6 performs very well as a full case load under high pressure and not nearly as well with light and medium loads. It does not burn efficiently in a cartridge with lots of air space.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

ArchAngel is VERY knowledgeable about HS-6. His statements on HS-6 should be given serious consideration.

Rumor has it he sprinkles it on his Cheerios every morning.

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Reg. Magnum wants/Rossi wallet

Brian Pearce of handloader magazine has published some good loads with hs6 in some articles on loading 44 mag. Do a google search or load data .com search. I shot some yesterday in on of my 44s and they shot well with a 250 grain Keith . Can't remember the exact charge , I would have to look.

If your gun has oversize cylinder throats I don't know why you think the 0.454 bullets would "build up pressure too fast with fast burning powders". The bullets are the correct size.

On older smiths with so called oversized throats, those throats are bigger than the inside barrel.
The bullet needs to fit the cylinder diameter precisely for accuracy to enter the forcing cone and then needs to get swagged down to the barrel diameter which takes time and force and in my mind (and I can feel it in my hand as well) build a pressure spike. More so on a fast burner I would expected compared to a medium/slow powder which keeps building pressure while the bullet is already well in the barrel.

In revolvers, peak pressure is reached when the the bullet is still in the cylinder with both fast and slow burning powders. The pressure required to swage a bullet down a couple of thousandths of an inch in the forcing cone and barrel is trivial compared to the total pressure. Although the powder is still burning and the bullet is still accelerating, the volume of the expanding gas behind the bullet is rapidly increasing and the pressure is falling as the bullet moves down the barrel.

An early Speer manual tested the effects of bullet diameter on pressure in the .38 Special and found no significant difference in pressure going from 0.352 to 0.362 inch diameter bullets.

Very insightful. Thank you.

I have loaded a lot if HS-6, it is one if my three favorite powders. Together two are W231 and W296.

No matter what you hear HS-6 performers best at the upper end of the pressure range. It also should be used with a magnum primer. I feel its required but that's me and my personal experience.

I do not like it for the 45 ACP or standard pressure .38 Special. I do use it for the 45 Colt, .38 Special +P, .357 Magnum and a few others. It will also work well with the .41 and .44 Magnum.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I just finished up a shooting session of several days . I had decided to make it a " HS-6 " shooting session as i have quite a bit and really hadn't given it a good thorough trial in multiple calibers . In the 357 magnum , 41 & 44 magnum I used cast bullets I cast myself . In the 357 using a 158 gr swc cast bullet 9.0 grs worked well . In the 41 mag using 220 gr swc cast bullet I used 11.0 , in the 44 magnum using 245 gr swc cast bullet I used 13.0 . I was very satisfied with all 3 loads in their respective fire arm , S&W 28 , 57 , 29 . I used " full " magnum primers for all 3 calibers , none of the " in betweens " like winchester LPP in the 41 and 44 . I don't have a chronograph but feel I have great upper mid range magnum loads . So there you have it , 357 , 41 , 44 magnums ---9-11-13 grs respectively . Regards , Paul

I'm not trying to change the topic here but I want to digress a bit for a moment . I also tried 15 grs of Blue Dot with the actual " Keith " bullet , H&G 503 . It has a shorter shank than your std 240 gr swc . That load in a 4" 29 has quite a bit of power . It was down to freezing and below so I had to keep them in my pocket because of the " inverse temp/pressure " problem Blue Dot has . I have shot 44's for many a yr but never loaded the actual Elmer Keith load using his bullet and 22.0 grs of 2400 powder . I just never felt that I needed that much power . I will tell you that it was substantial recoil . I chose to use my S&W 29 with a 4" barrel just like Elmer Keith used . After about a half dozen rounds I was becoming accustom to it . I will state that I would not feed my 29 a steady diet of that load . It's just too much for even the newer Smiths in my opinion . I would use a Ruger . I'm not speaking poorly of a Ruger , I have 2 . They will take a steady diet of that load for a long time before requiring servicing . Regards , Paul

Sounds like you've done well. I tried HS-6 in a variety of cartridges ... low pressure/high pressure ... never got the accuracy I was after. If you want to run it in your .45, go for it ... there's certainly published data for it. I push 250 gn XTPs with Longshot from a 4" XD, light 'em off with WLP primers, and they reign supreme, so slow powders can and do work. Best of luck!

Never found accuracy to be a problem with HS6. Shot a LOT of HS6 in the .475 Linebaugh -- much cleaner than A2400 with loads in the 1,100 + fps range.

Keep working on load development with each cartridge.

Also in the 500 JRH -- here is a target I shot at about 52 yards, rested over the toneau of my truck with a 5" Freedom Arms 500 JRH conversion using a 4x Leupold. Only 3 shots with each bullet to minimize recoil induced fatigue and target clutter.



This is the gun:



FWIW,

Paul

Just one thing, that 158gr LSWC .357 Magnum load, I got great results with 9.2gr HS-6. I'm not telling you what to shoot, only what I found to work well.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Not HS6 but I loaded some Titegroup in the .44 mag. If it hits the high of 11 . I test the 12 rounds that are loaded 250 grain SWC standard primer and 6 grains of powder. This is a real powder puff load we'll see later today.

AA , I appreciate the input . I might give that 9.2gr load a try next time out . I wonder if .2gr would make much difference . All loads (357-41-44) gave great accuracy . It got me up into magnum territory and had " zero " signs of over pressure . I actually bought it yrs ago because of your many posts . Thanks for the recommendation .
I am very pleased with the performance and accuracy . HS-6 will definitely be a powder I will keep around . Regards , Paul

It’s been years since I used HS6 in anything except 9mm and 10mm, where it is my favorite for most guns. I did experiment with it some in .44 Magnum and I didn’t have much luck with it in target-level loads. I am not a ballistician and I have no pressure testing equipment, but I remember having the impression that HS6 seemed to work best in the .44 when loaded above 20,000 PSI, and 25,000 might be a better number. Of course we all know how much “impressions” can be worth.

I have never found a midrange .44 load that shot as well as I think it should - and the chronograph seems to agree with me, even though extreme spreads a bit above 50 FPS may not be all that critical in short-range handgun shooting.

thank you, M29, what load do you use for 9mm, 5.8 grains sound about right?