Yesterday, I stumbled across a partial bottle (maybe 1/8 of a lb) of Hodgdon's Titegroup that I've had for quite some time. Decided I should use it up. Also have a "bunch" of 125gr Win .357 JHPs. Thought this would make a good, comfortable practice load for my 340 and 360 TiSc lightweights. One of my Dillon's is setup for small pistol primers and the powder bar is set to meter 5.5gr of Longshot for use in both .327 Fed and 9mm. Dumped the remaining Titegroup into the measure, rapped the side with a screwdriver handle and threw a half dozen charges to settle things in before weighing – 4.7gr of Titegroup. Put the components in some mixed .357 mag cases and went to the range.
The intial 25 rnds were tested in the 360 equipped with Pachmayr Gripper Decelerators. The load/gun/grip combo was hitting the bone at the base of my thumb and was not only annoying, but uncomfortable.
Today, I replaced the Pachys that were on the 360 with Crimson Trace laser grips. Had a set of unused Hogue Tamers that I'd been meaning to try for several years, so I mounted them on the 340. Loaded up 30 rnds of the Titegroup loads, emptied the powder hopper and reloaded it with WST (Win Super Target). With the same charge bar setting, it threw 3.8gr of WST, so I loaded 30 .357 cases with the 125gr JHPs.
With the grip change, the Titegroup load proved reasonably comfortable in both guns, and the WST load was soft shooting and just plain fun.
My 3" M60 also came along and as you would expect was both comfortable and a lot easier to shoot accurately.
These first two trips were mainly to function and comfort test these loads and to see if the grip change made any difference. I didn't put any on paper, just got a general idea of POI on some poppers. Once I knew were to aim, I could hit the nine inch plates at 45 yds about a quarter of the time with the 360 (single action) and 80% of the time with the M60.
The Hogue Tamers really help reduce the felt recoil of the 340 – the grips cover the back strap almost to the top of the "hump". The crimson trace laser grips are a bit fuller in the web of the hand and are more comfortable for me than the Pach Grippers.
Before leaving, I shot one round of 15.0gr A2400 under a 158gr Horn XTP thru each gun. This was a good reminder as to why I've always considered the TiSc 340/360 .357s to be the most obnoxious recoiling guns I've ever shot. The Tamers did help even with this load however.
These were the guns. Sorry for the crummy flip phone picture, but it's all I had with me.
Paul
The intial 25 rnds were tested in the 360 equipped with Pachmayr Gripper Decelerators. The load/gun/grip combo was hitting the bone at the base of my thumb and was not only annoying, but uncomfortable.
Today, I replaced the Pachys that were on the 360 with Crimson Trace laser grips. Had a set of unused Hogue Tamers that I'd been meaning to try for several years, so I mounted them on the 340. Loaded up 30 rnds of the Titegroup loads, emptied the powder hopper and reloaded it with WST (Win Super Target). With the same charge bar setting, it threw 3.8gr of WST, so I loaded 30 .357 cases with the 125gr JHPs.
With the grip change, the Titegroup load proved reasonably comfortable in both guns, and the WST load was soft shooting and just plain fun.
My 3" M60 also came along and as you would expect was both comfortable and a lot easier to shoot accurately.
These first two trips were mainly to function and comfort test these loads and to see if the grip change made any difference. I didn't put any on paper, just got a general idea of POI on some poppers. Once I knew were to aim, I could hit the nine inch plates at 45 yds about a quarter of the time with the 360 (single action) and 80% of the time with the M60.
The Hogue Tamers really help reduce the felt recoil of the 340 – the grips cover the back strap almost to the top of the "hump". The crimson trace laser grips are a bit fuller in the web of the hand and are more comfortable for me than the Pach Grippers.
Before leaving, I shot one round of 15.0gr A2400 under a 158gr Horn XTP thru each gun. This was a good reminder as to why I've always considered the TiSc 340/360 .357s to be the most obnoxious recoiling guns I've ever shot. The Tamers did help even with this load however.
These were the guns. Sorry for the crummy flip phone picture, but it's all I had with me.
Paul
