I've been sharing with you all my efforts to develop a factory duplicate load for my carry round: the 125 grain Remington Golden Saber (GS). It is my go-to round in all of my carry guns. Since I'm a firm believer in practicing with a round equivalent to the carry ammo, I've been experimenting with the Hornady 125 grain XTP over a variety of powders and weights. I've settled on 14.0 grains of Vit N110 in a Starline case and using a CCI 550 primer. To nail down not only group size but where it prints on the target, I ran a series of back to back targets at 50 yards using a 6 o'clock hold: the first using the Remington GS, the second using my reload. The first gun up was the 686+:



Remington GS


Hornady 125 XTP with 14.0 grains of Vit N110


Next gun up was my 28-2:


Remington GS


Hornady 125 XTP over 14.0 grains of Vit N110


I've gotten the Remington GS to print tighter groups out of my 28-2 than this target reflects, but it is what it is, even including the high shot. What I found interesting was how the reload printed to the right of center rather than in line with the other group.

Regardless, I was very impressed with the accuracy I got with the reloads, out of both guns.

Keith

Where is the bullseye on the "bad person" ?

__________________
S&WHF 366

Right between his/her eyes. But then it was a rhetorical question wasn't it?
Keith

I was beginning to worry......."n"110 not "h".
I use "h" on 125 gr Xtreme's. H takes more powder.....

At 50 yards- thats great! Did you notice the Hornady printed better? I dont know why, its my preference. Many a 110grXTP have gone! Favorite powders are 2400 and H110! Never tried the Vah....n110. I noticed it takes less powder and is a hair different than 2400 but by a bit. I like seeing cases filled but not compressing.

You were using a 3" and a 4"28? Its interesting to see, accuracy wasn't affected that much. On a rest, right?

I grip with two hands and rest the heel of my stong hand (right) on a sand bag.

In every case, my hand loads using the XTP and 14.0 of N110 have been significantly more accurate than the Remington Golden Saber.

The 686+ has a 2.5" barrel.

Keith

13.9g @ 1300 fps. Based on a 8" barrel. Bullet may be traveling slower on the 2.5"? Have you tried X-treme bullets or Barry's? Maybe if you could get a small batch and see what plated might do. At those speeds , you can run them. I run the xtp's when i know the velocities might be over 1400 fps or 1500. I run 180grXTP on my 44 mags and 110s on the .357 because i know it'll be insane powder. And those jacketed are strong stuff;they look like jewels.uploadfromtaptalk1449101029976.jpg

I've used N-105 in short barrels with good results. A little less flash.

__________________
Foster Positivity.

Why not carry XTP ammo then?

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Ooops! Misread your intended purpose. Nevermind the plated bullets. Stick to the xtp's. Handloads are better than factory !

And its cheaper to build for practice than buy 20 round boxes at 40 bucks a pop! Cheaper to build em if you develope a load. Then buy brand new, carry them and hope you never have to use them.

Looks like you have those two loads down pat............
at that yardage, it would work for me too.

Will you try that load with the standard cci500 primer ?

Good shooting.

Not really, I tend to follow the recommendations of the reloading manuals on things like that. Now, in some rifle cartridges that I reload, like 30-40 Krag, I am experimenting with which brand of primer is the most accurate for a given load. But when it comes to whether a standard or a magnum primer is called for, the guys that write the reloading manuals I think know best.

Keith

That is a good comparison.Glad you found a combo that allows cheap(er) practice than OEM.

I also use both of those bullets and can't decide if one is better than the other.
Have you tried the Rem GS component bullet Midway sells sxs with the factory? Right now the XTP are cheaper but sometimes the GS are on sale.

Unfortunately I haven't compared the two with the same powder load but from a 6" 686 I am getting 1236fps with a 125gr XTP and 7.2 N-320. With a 125 Golden Sabre I get 1233fps with 7.7gr W231. From an 8 3/8" I get 1295fps with N-320 and 1360 with the W231.

Of course your other parameters of POI and recoil pulse wouldn't be the same with my data but its just FYI anyway.

Because Hornady 125 grain XTP ammunition in 357 Magnum has a nominal velocity of 1500fps. I prefer 125 grain mid-range loads and the Remington Golden Saber and my reloads go about 1250fps. Lower recoil, less flash and less muzzle blast. I'm far more interested in control and accuracy than I am in b@!! busting power/recoil.

Keith

Well you are contradicting yourself You stated

"In every case, my hand loads using the XTP and 14.0 of N110 have been significantly more accurate than the Remington Golden Saber."

It really doesn't matter as I am sure they both will work

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Let me clarify by saying that the Golden Saber 125 was the best mid-range factory load I could find. My reloads are just more accurate. No surprise considering the reputation Hornady XTPs have for both accuracy and terminal performance.

Keith