Hello all: Last week a friend bought a chronograph and we headed to the range to record some ammo. I had some recent reloaded .357 Magnum ammunition loaded with 13.0 grains of 2400 behind a coated Missouri Bullet co 158 grain semi wadcutter. I also had a box of .44 Magnums that I wanted to shoot. These were 235 grain LSWC linotype bullets ahead of 20 grains of 2400 that I had loaded in 1986.
This ammo was shot with a Model 27-2 5 inch S309xxx and a Model 629 7 1/2 inch Light Hunter Plus with a red dot sight.
.44 Mag 20 gr. 2400 235 cast
average 1349 fps SD 20.9 fps; spread 54 fps
.357 Mag 13 gr. 2400 158 coated LSWC bullet
average 1157.3 fps, SD 7.6 fps; spread 22 fps
I was pretty please with the .44 Mag loads that have sat around and been moved several times in the last 29 years.
The .357 Mag loads are a pretty nice load, but I was using a the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th edition from 2010 which lists a maximum load of 13.5 gr. of 2400 for 1275 fps. Now, the confusing part here is that checking other loads shows a maximum of 13.5 gr. of 2400 for 1242 fps for the 170 gr. bullet and a maximum of 15.5 gr. of 2400 for 1344 fps for a 160 gr. rn bullet. That is 2 gr. more powder for the 2 grain heavier bullet
The Complete Reloading Manual for the .357 Magnum, which lists loads from several manuals lists a max of 15.3 gr. of 2400 for 1620 fps for a LSWC bullet. That is 1.8 gr.more powder for the same bullet. Alliant, strangely, lists very little information on 2400 powder in .357 and .44 loads.
Would like some comments on the .357 2400 load information.
The black line on the barrel was from the photo shop edit trying to resize so that it would upload.
This ammo was shot with a Model 27-2 5 inch S309xxx and a Model 629 7 1/2 inch Light Hunter Plus with a red dot sight.
.44 Mag 20 gr. 2400 235 cast
average 1349 fps SD 20.9 fps; spread 54 fps
.357 Mag 13 gr. 2400 158 coated LSWC bullet
average 1157.3 fps, SD 7.6 fps; spread 22 fps
I was pretty please with the .44 Mag loads that have sat around and been moved several times in the last 29 years.
The .357 Mag loads are a pretty nice load, but I was using a the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th edition from 2010 which lists a maximum load of 13.5 gr. of 2400 for 1275 fps. Now, the confusing part here is that checking other loads shows a maximum of 13.5 gr. of 2400 for 1242 fps for the 170 gr. bullet and a maximum of 15.5 gr. of 2400 for 1344 fps for a 160 gr. rn bullet. That is 2 gr. more powder for the 2 grain heavier bullet
The Complete Reloading Manual for the .357 Magnum, which lists loads from several manuals lists a max of 15.3 gr. of 2400 for 1620 fps for a LSWC bullet. That is 1.8 gr.more powder for the same bullet. Alliant, strangely, lists very little information on 2400 powder in .357 and .44 loads.
Would like some comments on the .357 2400 load information.
The black line on the barrel was from the photo shop edit trying to resize so that it would upload.
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