.357 mag's with 140 gr. XTP's and H-110

Last night I loaded 15 rounds of .357 mag with 140 gr. XTP's and 16.5 grains of H-110. I plan to get them to the range soon and run them over a chrono with a 4" revolver, a 6.5" revolver and a Marlin lever rifle. I will report back on results, but I am wondering if anybody here has any first hand experience with the 140's and H-110?

Thank you

I only shot one box of 140 gr XTP through my 686 6"

but they did very well in the accuracy department in my revolver at 1250fps.

It also did better at lower fps target loads with faster powders, than my 110 & 125 JHP bullets.

Have fun.

Your load is slightly below Hornady's starting load. Their top load is 18.1 grs of H-110. The velocities in their manual were from an 8 &3/8" S&W model 27. You probably won't be happy with the results you get from your 4" revolver. My experience with W 296, same powder is that performance is poor with anything less than very near maximum charge weights.

alwslate said:

Your load is slightly below Hornady's starting load. Their top load is 18.1 grs of H-110. The velocities in their manual were from an 8 &3/8" S&W model 27. You probably won't be happy with the results you get from your 4" revolver. My experience with W 296, same powder is that performance is poor with anything less than very near maximum charge weights.

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Hmmm, I am away from the house right now but I remember this load being in the middle of the pack, as per Hornady's manual. I will double check when I get back home.

fishwishin said:

Hmmm, I am away from the house right now but I remember this load being in the middle of the pack, as per Hornady's manual. I will double check when I get back home.

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He's right about that powder. any time your working with that one, run smaller test batches, like strings of 5. You want to work up your load fairly quickly to save components.
Its a one trick pony ... but a good trick.

Actually, Hodgdons START load is 17.1 with a MAX of 19.0 gr for that XTP...

Cheers!

296/ H110 are powders you do not want to “under load” and as noted perform best when loaded at 90% or better

H-110/296 will be a flamethrower in a 4" barrel. Give 2400 a try, same or better velocity without all the drama in 3 & 4 inch guns.

I tried 16.5 gr H110 with 140 grain Speer JHP in a 6” 686 and averaged 1118 fps on the chronograph. I was underwhelmed with these results and did not spend any more time with this combination.

mrussell said:

I tried 16.5 gr H110 with 140 grain Speer JHP in a 6” 686 and averaged 1118 fps on the chronograph. I was underwhelmed with these results and did not spend any more time with this combibation.

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Thank you for this feedback. I would have expected 100+ more FPS. I will see how these shoot and then load some up with 2400.

mrussell said:

I tried 16.5 gr H110 with 140 grain Speer JHP in a 6” 686 and averaged 1118 fps on the chronograph. I was underwhelmed with these results and did not spend any more time with this combination.

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What did you expect loading under the minimum?

WIN 296 & H110 are powders that should be loaded within a specific range: there are plenty of other powders and loads that will produce under 1200 fps, if that's what you desire. About 6gr of CFE -Pistol should get you almost 1K in a 38 Special with a 140gr XTP!

Unlikely their load data for a 10" barrel (with Hodgdons MAX load of 19gr.) will ever achieve 1700 fps in your 4" barrel, but a bit more powder might get you into serious 357 Magnum velocities.

Fact is, it works, if... You actually wish to achieve real 357 Magnum velocities? IMHO, after about 1500 fps any good JHP ought to be sufficient for 99.5% of any "situation", 2 or 4 legged?

Cheers!

It has come up twice in this thread about 16.5 grains of H-110 being below the minimum loading for 140 grain XTP’s. My 11th edition Hornady manual calls for a range of 15.7-18.4, I am in the lower third or so of this range but not below the minimum. Are you guy’s referencing another source maybe?

M Hornady manual is an older one, 4TH edition. It calls for 16.6 to 18.1 grs. My most recent manual is a Lyman #51, 2022. It shows 17.3 - 18 grs with a Speer 140 gr JHP. H-110/296 gives poor results with reduced charges. If you are satisfied with velocities in the 1050 FPS range out of your 4" revolver you probably can achieve that with about half as much powder. Try about 8 grs of Longshot or Power Pistol. Don't expect 140gr JHPs to expand much at that velocity.

fishwishin said:

It has come up twice in this thread about 16.5 grains of H-110 being below the minimum loading for 140 grain XTP’s. My 11th edition Hornady manual calls for a range of 15.7-18.4, I am in the lower third or so of this range but not below the minimum. Are you guy’s referencing another source maybe?

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The 10th edition has the same charge range and uses an 8" Python for velocity

Have you chosen H110 because it is all you have on hand?

H110 is not the powder to be looking at for light loads. As already mentioned, it performs best at or near Max.

In a 4" Model 19 I would expect that load to be closer to 1100 FPS

Do you have other powders on hand?

Do you have a velocity goal from your 4" Model 19?

I actually love H110 and have loaded around 10,000 Winchester 125 JHPs at 21.6 grains over the past 4+ decades. Less than 1,000 are currently sitting as loaded ammunition. I still have 4,000 of the Winchester projectiles waiting to be loaded.

I began using H110 at or near MAX for my 357 Magnum Desert Eagle. DEs do not like Lite loaded ammunition and my 3 DEs (357, 41, 50) all shoot REALLY Well with the H110 loads over other powders.

I have never loaded the 140 XTP. My source for the 125 and 158 Winchesters as well as the 180 Remington SJHPs was too good to look at other jacketed projectiles for the 357 Magnum and 357 Maximum cartridges

You will love what H110 does out of your Lever Action

With the exception of the Python, T/C and my lever gun, all my chrono data is from the average of at least 2 different firearms and from no less than 3 strings of 5 rounds.

1,234 FPS from a 2 1/8" Model 640
1,242 FPS from a 2 1/2" Model 19/66
1,315 FPS from a 3 1/2" Model 27
1,496 FPS from a 5" Model 627
1,599 FPS from a 8" Python
1,780 FPS from a 10" T/C Contender
2,196 FPS from a 18" 1892 Lever

Funny, but I never brought the DE on days that I was running the Chronograph

STORMINORMAN said:

What did you expect loading under the minimum?

WIN 296 & H110 are powders that should be loaded within a specific range: there are plenty of other powders and loads that will produce under 1200 fps, if that's what you desire. About 6gr of CFE -Pistol should get you almost 1K in a 38 Special with a 140gr XTP!

Unlikely their load data for a 10" barrel (with Hodgdons MAX load of 19gr.) will ever achieve 1700 fps in your 4" barrel, but a bit more powder might get you into serious 357 Magnum velocities.

Fact is, it works, if... You actually wish to achieve real 357 Magnum velocities? IMHO, after about 1500 fps any good JHP ought to be sufficient for 99.5% of any "situation", 2 or 4 legged?

Cheers!

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At the time I loaded this and the source I used, 16.5 was the starting load. I know not to reduce H110. I was looking for magnum performance and when I got these velocities on what I showed as a starting load, I went to Blue Dot and 2400.

alwslate said:

If you are satisfied with velocities in the 1050 FPS range out of your 4" revolver

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I would not be satisfied with FPS in that neighborhood. I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 1225-1250 out of my 6.5" before bumping higher on the charge. I lost sight of the test barrel length that was used in the published data.

I appreciate your feedback- thank you!

colt_saa said:

Have you chosen H110 because it is all you have on hand?
Do you have other powders on hand?
Do you have a velocity goal from your 4" Model 19?
You will love what H110 does out of your Lever Action

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I loaded H-110 up, because I have not loaded it before (only been loading for a year) and I chose a loading that was in the middle of a published range. If what I have loaded does not fare well I will bump the charges, which is something I expect to do anyways when working up a load.

I also have Unique, Titegroup, 2400, CFE-Pist, IMR4227, HP-38 to pull from.

I was hoping to work up to 1,300 out of my 6.5" blackhawk and I am quite certain I will get a complete burn out of the Marlin.

Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it.

357 Mag,140gr Hornady JHPs

I`ve always tended to prefer the 140 or so grain bullets in the .357 as I feel that they can be pushed fast enough to expand, particularly with a 4 inch barrel. The Hornady bullet seems to have a reputation for a little more hardness so a little more "umphh" might be needed. I chrono`d the same and similar weights back in the day with my Oehler 33? (not sure I remember the model #) and a 4 and 6 inch Python. Sorry to say the 6 inch is gone but still have the Custom Gun Shop 4 inch. I used a lot of Speer 140 grain HPs for my tests so here are some of my #`s from back in the day:
19.7 H110 CCI550 140 Speer 1282 (4) 1337(6)
19.7 296 " " 1263 (4) 1319(6)

Also chrono`d Speer 146gr SWCJHPs, no longer made but still have a few squirrel`ed away. These things hump as you could really put a crimp on them! Nice round wadcutter hole.
18.5 296 CCI550 146grSWCJHP 1356(4) 1412(6)
18.0 H110 " " 1353(4) 1415(6)

Had similar #`s with 13.0 Blue Dot and CCI 500`s.

And finally the Hornady 140 JHP :
19.5 H110 CCI550 1350(4) 1378(6)

As usual, these were my loads in my guns. If they might seem high that was the way it was back in the day and the loads seem to be somewhat adjusted downward currently. The loads I used were safe in my guns but may not be safe in yours. For your info only.