357 mag XTP's...what powder?

[badguybuster]

I emailed hodgon regarding the loads for lil gun and h110 for the 195's. Waitin to hear back

 

[parabarbarian]

Last fall I did a bit of testing with Alliant Power Pro 300MP and 158gr XTP's.

What primers did you use? I tried my 17.7 gr loads with small pistol primer from a 686 w/3" bbl and there seemed to be quite a bit of unburned powder in the barrel. The same load in the Marlin was clean.

 

[Buckey08]

Plain old CCI. They seem to light 300mp just fine.

 

[Buckey08]

I stand corrected, I was using Remington small pistol.
Sorry, I'm getting old and it's almost 8PM,time for bed.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I load 357Mag for a Marlin 1894 for the wife. She is pretty accurate with it all the way out to 100 yards, as witnessed here:

The top 3 shots are from a 44Mag Encore that I was sighting in. The 5 smaller holes are from her and her gun. The one on the farthest right was a sighting shot and after moving the scope, she shot the 4 shot group. She was pretty happy.

Then, we set up a hedge apple @ 50 yards with the same load and produced this: (Click on the picture to watch video)


The load is a 158gr XTP over a load of Lil' Gun. The load can be found in Rifle Magazine #226 - July, 2006.

From my wife's 20" octagon barrel with Ballard rifling, we are getting 2016fps from that load. At that velocity, it puts the 357Mag at the very bottom of the 35Rem performance. Not bad for the little carbine and it is legal for deer here in Indiana where the 35Rem really isn't.

FWIW

My load for a revolver is NOT going to have Lil' Gun in it. Barrel/forcing cone erosion has been a problem for some BUT, my load for the 357Mag comes out of on older manual and utilizes SR4756 as a propellant. I get around 1300fps with a cast 160gr LSWC from my 6" guns.

Hope this helps.

 

[badguybuster]

It amazes me how much easier the 357 mag is too reload than the 50 beowulf I learned on. I cannot imagine why anyone who shoots 38 or 357 doesnt reload. Its a breeze

 

[andyo5]

I have been loading 14.5 g of 2400 with the 158g XTP, and also with the Sierra 158g JHC. My 627 Pro shoots them both well, especially the JHC load. Flash is significant but the N frame absorbs the recoil to the extent that this load is not punishing at all.

 

[parabarbarian]

Did you ever do any follow up testing?

From yesterday (Saturday 04/28/2012)

Temperature was 89F
Humidity was 24%
Firearms was a Marlin 1894C w/18.5" bbl

Charge:   18.0  18.2  18.4

V1:      1,846 1,849 1,841
V2:      1,836 1,859 1,854
V3:      1,839 1,844 1,854
V4:      1,836 1,854 1,870
V5:      1,836 1,859 1,851

Average: 1,839 1,853 1,854
SD:          4     7    10
Max:     1,846 1,859 1,870
Min:     1,836 1,844 1,841
Spread:     10    15    29

The maximum load Alliant recommends is 18.6 gr.

 

[DEG]

I prefer W296 because I usually have an 8lb jug on the shelf for loading 410.

 

[jibjab]

For 357 magnum with 158gr XTP I have had very good results with AA#9 with standard and magnum primers. This has worked well for me with 2.75" and 4" barrels.