Shooting Stance: standing unsupported

9mm 115 grain JHP with 4.5 grains Bullseye. Federal SP Primers
Weapon used: Glock Model 43X
extremely accurate at 3, 7, 15, and 25 yards. Recoil: moderate.

.357 Magnum 180 grain Hornady XTP JHP with 3.5 Bullseye Federal SP Primers
Weapon used: Ruger SP-101 2 3/4" barrel
extremely accurate at 3, 7, 15, and 25 yards. Recoil moderate
** fired primers slightly flatten

.40 Caliber 180 grain FMJ with 5.8 grains Unique. Federal SP Primers
Weapon used: Glock Model 27
extremely accurate at 3, 7, 15, and 25 yards. Recoil moderate




.

Glad to see that you are getting out and doing some shooting and testing
out different powders, bullet weights and calibers.

Must be nice to have sunshine and not have to dodge, snow flakes and rain drops, while shooting.

Don't forget a hat and the sun blocker.

When I woke up the other day it was a balmy 29*

Nice report!
I find it surprising that your .357 load was flattening primers because that is a light load. Must be those heavy bullets.
Sounds like a good time was had, though!

Realize that with a 180 jacketed bullet with only 3.5 grs of Bullseye you are going to see VERY low velocity. With such a light load you are risking a bullet stuck in your bore. I would strongly suggest you not fire such a load in a gun with a longer barrel. It’s hard to believe that you will see that load recommended in any manual.

I checked my manuals and your load of 3.5 grs of Bullseye with a 180gr jacketed bullet is WAY below anything listed in manuals. Where in the world did you come up with that? Not from Hornady, that’s for sure. Hard to believe you didn’t stick a bullet in your barrel. Have you cleaned your gun? Any rings in the bore? Your bullets must have barely made it to 25yds. Look for elongated holes in your target.

Well done, Jimmy! When I started reloading, my first two powders were Bullseye, for low velocity target loads, and Unique for higher velocity, but less than magnum level loads.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA

With just 3.5 grs of bullseye in that long 357 case............

you might be lighting off the top 50% of the powder in the case, instantly
versus the bottom of a load that takes more time to burn........
maybe causing a higher pressure ?

Flattened primers with that load is weird.
It would be interresting to see what a chrony would print out on the loads ES figures, as well as the fps.

High pressure signs could come from firing a shot with a bullet stuck in the bore. Real Alliant data listed one load of Bullseye with a 180 gr jacketed bullet. 6.3 grs with a Federal 200 primer. Velocity listed is irrelevant because it was from a one piece pressure test barrel. 3.5 grs with a Federal 100 primer in the .357 case is a gross under load. I doubt velocity would chrono at 300 FPS out of a snubby. A real possibility of sticking a bullet in the bore from a useless handload.

Next batch I will try 6.0 grains Bullseye

jimmiyj if you insist on using 180 jacketed bullets in your short barreled revolver for SD for some unknown reason why not follow the common reloading manuals and use a heavy charge of slow burning powder like 2400? But if you must use Bullseye then do use at least 6.0 grs with a magnum primer. Alliant used Federal 200 primers with ALL loads in the tall .357 case. Winchester SPM primers or SR primers are my favorites for .357 loads. Be safe.

I like to play with light charges of power in my .38, .357, 9mm and rifles
but not usually when I get loading the biggest, heaviest bullets, in a short barrel.

You can get away with mistakes with the lighter bullets but, just the size and
length of the heavier bullets going down the barrel with "MORE" resistance
due to the exta surface friction , makes a person "Suck it up" when they
want to start "Playing games".

Go Get um !!

jimmij FYI I checked my manuals again and saw the following loads,

Alliant 6.3 grs Bullseye, Federal 200 primer, 180 jacketed bullet 1135 FPS from their one piece test barrel, 34,000 psi
Same but with 12.5 grs of 2400, 1300 FPS, 32,700 psi

Hornady, 12.6 grs of 2400, same primer, 1300 FPS, from an 8 3/8” S&W model 27
Even at 6.0 grs of Bullseye you are going to probably see no more than around 750 FPS out of a 2 3/4” barrel revolver. Better than nothing but in any case a 180 gr JHP is a poor choice for a SD load out of your revolver. I would use the 12.5 grs of 2400 if I were you and use the hottest primers you have. A better choice would be a 125 gr JHP or a 158 gr cast SWC but it’s up to you.

Hi:
The reason I tried a 180 grain bullet is my weapon prints low from POA.

You may be anticipating recoil by pushing forward on your gun when you pull the trigger. The only way to really judge accuracy and POI is to shoot from a rest. Shooting standing and firing double action only tells you about yourself instead of the gun and load. If you gun is really shooting low you can always file down the front sight. If it were my gun I would use 6.8 grs Bullseye, 7.0 grs of 231 or 7.8 grs of Longshot with a magnum primer and a 158 gr cast SWC for 1050-1100 FPS out of the short barreled revolver. That gives you an effective and controllable load and maybe enough recoil to bring POI up. Getting good velocity with jacketed bullets in .38 spl and .357 loads is much more difficult than in the .44 magnum. Probably because of the friction of bullet jacket material relative to bore diameter. Hate to be critical but a 180 jacketed bullet for a SD load in your revolver is probably the worst choice you could make. Good luck.

You can get flattened primers with light loads, not just heavy ones.

In my J frame snub nose with a lead 158 gr bullet a full load of Unique
shoots hight right for me.

I have loads with Red Dot, Blue Dot and HS-6 that shoot at or close to point of aim with +P speeds, from 800 to 851fps.

If the 180's don't pan out..........

for SD work the 130 to 158 might be a better choice if you can find some.

Ed: did you ever work up any of those Federal 130gr JHP-WC (their HST 38 Special +P bullets) in 357 Magnum cases? Getting them to 900fps should be both pretty easy & insure expansion...

Cheers!

Loaded your recommend load of 12.5 grains of 2400 with the 180 grain JHP and a standard SP federal primer.
Great accurate. I think this will be my load for defense against jealous husbands and boyfriends.

If you’re happy then I’m happy for you jimmy. And if you can still get jealous husbands and boyfriends coming after you at 84 I have to congratulate you

Only in my dreams.
Jimmy

I did not test this bullet in a .357 case......
since this bullet was designed for a "Micro" barrel in 38 special.

However;
with NO loading data for this bullet, I did test three "Full loads"
that my little pea picking brain came up with to test with in a 38 case
in my nice "Safe" big 686, 6" revolver to see what my first six test loads would produce.
Here is a picture of my first test with a J frame and L frame with the 38 special case.
Being unsure of pressures, I started with a long OAL of 1.22"
instead of the factory 1.18"

That (full) Unique load looks to be pretty hot! Might just work in my K-frames as well?

Thanks, Ed!

I found out with the deep seating of this bullet in a 38 case if going to seat
the bullet at a OAL of 1.18" that is close to the factory setting, that one needs
to seat the bullet very slowly, and upright and as straight as possible, to prevent
the case from any sign of bulbing, if possible, being a copper jacket and not
a soft lead bullet that might slide down the case, a little easier?

In my test load #4 in the 686 revolver, I had one load that would not fully chamber
due to a slight case bulge, from seating the bullet too fast and off center ?

Have fun.

Seating any really long (i.e., w/c) bullet slowly works quite often. The LEE FCD can sometimes correct this as well. Hornady seating dies seem to help in that they guide the bullet to the center by design.

Occasionally one can find bullets (or brass?) that vary to the point that they actually bend, bulge or otherwise create unusable rounds...

Bring out the bullet pullers!

Cheers!

Red Dot is one of my favorite powders. Amazing accuracy and it has a wide range of uses. I can especially be found in older reloading manuals and I used it for heavy bullets with light loads.

Unique is a go to powder. I've tested loads with very heavy bullets in .38 cases that would print 1 inch at 25 yards.

Hopefully you can get to use a chronography when working up loads. They aren't that expensive and will tell you a lot about your consistency.

Good luck. Your test targets show potential.