So most things are closed up for now and only a few customers are working I have some time on my hands.

I have some nice 357s that hardly ever see full loads or factory ammo.

I have these components hanging around


I am thinking of making some boomers for them. Replicating the good old Winchester 357 Mag factory ammo or even the later Federal that had some pep to it.

Using the 357 mag brass and 158 grain jacketed bullets

14.5 grains of 2400? Speer #8 goes up to 15.5

Work up points with a M27 and a Winni 92?

I won't get to shoot these for months.

I dont have any other magnum powders, sorry no 296 etc

Whats your favorite load?

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I would say that load is "sufficient"I do not load full house loads anymore so around 12'ish grains is good for me.

2400 is "the" powder for 357 mag.

W296/H110 just lots more flash

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

When I loaded a Hodgdon 158 XTP for my S&W 686, 6" revolver

14.5 grs of IMR 2400 powder gave me a "Fac Dup" load that did 1274fps.

You can hang on for dear life if loaded up to 1340fps but a factory load
is a lot nicer to shoot.
If you have any HS-6 or BE-86 powder you can down load to 1108fps for
a light target load, with this JHP bullet.

Have fun.

Accurate #9 works well in 357 Mag also, if you have some. And I've had good success with Blue Dot in 357 Mag too, but watch it when getting close to max loads for it as I have noticed that the newer Blue Dot seems to be a little "hotter" than the stuff from the 70's and 80's when close to the max powder loads shown in the load books. And both are clean burning when at close to max loads also.

As for your 2400 load, that's getting close to max for a 158 GDHP bullet according to Alliant. They show a max load of 14.8 grains with a 158 GDHP bullet and CCI 500 primer. Proceed with caution and back off a little more, then work it up.

My Lyman book lists the following:
Bullet: 158 gr JHP
OAL: 1.590
Test Barrel: Universal Receiver 4”
Powder: 2400
Start Charge: 11.3 grs (20,700 cup) - 938 FPS
Max Charge: 14.9 grs (41,800 cup) - 1,279 FPS

So following up;

Made some 14.0 and 14.5 grain loads.

Hopefully, I can shoot them sometime soon.

I havent made powerful loads in a long time. Mostly I make 50' paper killers. All low power minimum loads, accuracy counts, fun stuff!

What to make next?

Thanks

I went to look at a used 686, owner handed it to me and mentioned he was a reloader and used H110.

First thing I did was open the cylinder. Crispy fried forcing cone. Handed the gun back and left.

A word of advice on 'working up' maximum loads. I would think that you would want to be able to load a few, say three each, go to the range and try them for accuracy and a reading of just how the brass and primer are holding up with that particular load. If you aren't being allowed to go to a shooting spot and actually shoot, you will be guessing at just how that load suits you, the brass and your handgun. I made the mistake of taking for gospel the load data being published by Elmer Keith. I loaded a box of 50 and only then went to my shooting spot. That load was an over load for my Highway Patrolman. I shot two and took the remainder home to dismantle. My assumption was unnecessary and unsafe on my part and I only had 1 1/2 mile to get to the range. ..........

If you live far enough from other people you might use a "Try Barrel". You can use a 55 gal. drum 3/4 full of water. Some put a 1/2" piece of plywood floating on top to stop backsplash. The best is to use playsand to fill the barrel about 1/2 full. Of course with the sand it is much more work to move, store, etc. At the custom rifle shop I would stand on a three step stool and shoot almost vertically downward. Even the 7mm mag rifles we mostly built would not come close to penetrating 20" of playsand.

You are correct. I only made a dozen of each.

I am too far from and everything is shut down.

Interesting idea for a backstop...

Built into the sloping ground, a heavy plywood box, lots of sand behind might be a doable thing.

...I would never start near the top maximum loads as you had. I work up incrementally beginning at the starting loads. When I didn’t have a chronograph, I would stop at 90% of maximum listed load in my magnums (357, 41 and 44) ...usually that had adequate power and good accuracy.

well yes and no...

I have used this can of 2400 for 41mags years ago. I looked back and the old recipe for that with a 215 grain bullet, well let us say more than 16 grains of 2400 for a stout load.

With the Speer book showing 15.5 max, -10% rounded off to 14?

Also, the 14 to 14.5 gain seems to be an extremely common load. I'm not cutting a new path with this.

While I favor H110/w296,I admit that your load is a good one.
A bargain poped up lately to me and I bought 10#s of 800X.I started playing around with it at the rate of 8.1gr of 800X under a 162gr cast RN.The darn thing is as accurate as my favorite H110 load(15.3gr with 166gr SWC Thompson+gc).While my H110 load gave me 1304fps out of a 6''bbl,I haven't had a chance to chrono the 800X load but its kick suggest it might be well in the 1200fps while pressurewise I've got some room to spare.
But 800X meeters soooo bad,I don't know if I'll ever take the time to load some more.