Years ago (more like decades) I tested bullet/load combo's for the snubnosed 38spl's. There's new bullets out and new powders along with new data. Figured it was time to break out the chronograph and do a little testing.
Powders:
There's way too much urban legend/internet myth about using slow burning powders in short bbl's. So I decided to do test loads with 5 different common powders along with using 1 load for every bullet. The loads are up there but not excessive by any means. I am not telling anyone to use these loads, I'm simply stating these are the loads I used/tested.
Bullseye: 4.4gr
Be-86: 5.7gr There isn't allot of data out there for this powder. I feel this load was on the light side. But I went with the published data that is available at this time.
Power pistol: 6.2gr
Unique: 5.5gr
2400: 11gr
I used 10 different bullets, some are common others are not so much. The bullets:
358439, this is the hp version of the lyman "keith" bullet. It weighs 157gr.
358156: Lyman's "thompson" design, this hp version weighs 148gr I didn't use any gas checks with this bullet. No need with these low pressure loads.
H&G #51: Another classic "keith" swc this hp version weighs 146gr
Cramer #25A: Called the "hunter", it's a version of the lyman 358250 but it heavier and weighs 158gr with the hp.
Cramer #26: It's cramer's version of the lyman 358477. The 2 cavity mold I have casts a 130gr hp and a 150gr hp. I used the 150gr hp in these tests.
Mihec hbwc: A 148gr hbwc I turned backwards to make a huge hp and seated the bullet in the top lube groove not flush.
Mihec 640: A 158gr rnfp hp bullet
358431: Lyman's hollow based version of the 358429. I also hollow pointed this bullet. The end result is a 145gr hb/hp swc.
Raphine rnfp: This is a hollow based bullet that I hollow pointed. The end result is a 145gr hb/hp rnfp bullet.
Swaged hp: This is the only jacketed bullet I tested. It is a home swaged bullet made from a lead core and a 380acp case for a jacket. It weighs 150gr.
Of all the bullets I tested (in the past and for this testing) the lyman 358156 has always been an excellent performing bullet. The lyman 358477/cramer #26 does extremely well with most loads/firearms. I actually have 3 versions of this bullet.
A lyman 358477 mold that casts a 140gr hp
The cramer #26 mold that casts a 130gr hp & a 150gr hp.
The other bullet that has done surprisingly well ever since I started making/testing them is that swaged/jackets hp made from 380acp cases. I make a 170gr rnfp out of 9mm cases and a 150gr hp out of 380acp cases.
I wanted to take a look at a "fbi" bullet. FBI bullet ='s a hb/hp swc. So I used the lyman 358431 hb bullet and put a hp in it using a forster hp tool. In the past I've tested the lyman hb bullets with the round hb pins that come with them. The round pins are designed more for removing weight from the bullet rather than enhancing performance. I did these tests with a round hb pin and as in the past. The bullets just don't perform well (low velocity). I ran into the same thing when testing hb bullets (the "keith" 429422) for the snub nosed 44spl. The factory round pin/hb gave poor results. So I made a concave hb pin for that 429422 mold and ended up with 30fps more velocity just by changing the shape of the hb pin.
The raphine hb bullet has a factory hb pin that's concave and it performs extremely well.
I only did 10 test loads with each bullet/powder combo. The end result was 10 bullets x 10 loads or 100 total test loads for each powder. The end result is a 100 shot string.
I used a cheap charter arms under cover snubnosed revolver for these tests. It has a 2" bbl. All test loads were shot on the same day (ya 500 test loads in a snubnosed revolver in 1 day) with a chronograph setup 10ft away. I use a tripod for the chronograph that has a 3-way bubble in it's base and levels on the holding plate for the chronograph. So the chronograph is level, all's I have to do is shoot level with the chronograph.
And yes I know a 10-shot string with a bullet doesn't mean much. This to me is nothing more than initial testing of different bullet/powder combos. So if anyone doesn't like using 10-shot strings by all means please go out and do you own testing with 20-shot/50-shot/100-shot or whatever trips your trigger for strings. Myself, when I put together a 100-shot string using the same powder/loads and different bullets. It gives me a pretty good idea of what a powder is capable of.
Anyway now that the initial testing is done it's time to take a hard look at specific bullet/powder combo's and fine tune them.
The components were nothing more than well used range brass and federal sp primers. I used a lyman m-die to expand/flare the cases which didn't do anything for the .357 swaged jacketed bullets. The rest of the bullets were cast/coated except for the 148gr hbwc's. I have around 500 of these to burn up that were from a casting session a couple of years ago that I tumble lubed (45/45/10).
The be-86 powder was actually pretty impressive, read allot of posts about people using it and liking it. I bought a # of it last year and never got around to using/testing anything with it. I just wish there would be more data out there for this powder. I can see me burning more of it in the near future.
I didn't get excessive with the loads by any means but I did try to give unique a chance and of all the powders I tested I feel I pushed this powder harder than the rest. I looked at data from the 1967 lyman 44th edition, the lyman 3rd edition cast bullet manual (1980), the alliant 2005 manual and the alliant 2014 manual. The older manuals said 5.4gr or 5.5gr max depending on the bullet. The newer manuals said 5.2gr but were using generic terms like 158gr lswc so I went with 5.5gr of unique for these tests.
The 2400 & power pistol loads were on the tame/low side of max. I could of went up .2gr to .7gr depending on the bullet.
The bullseye powder actually made a good showing. Allot of people think faster powders do better in short bbl's compared to the slower burning powders. So I did 100 test loads with different bullets using 4.4gr of bullseye.
Everyone has their own favorite spotted pup, anyone care to speculate on which powder/bullet combo's did the best?
Or on how the different powders performed?
Powders:
There's way too much urban legend/internet myth about using slow burning powders in short bbl's. So I decided to do test loads with 5 different common powders along with using 1 load for every bullet. The loads are up there but not excessive by any means. I am not telling anyone to use these loads, I'm simply stating these are the loads I used/tested.
Bullseye: 4.4gr
Be-86: 5.7gr There isn't allot of data out there for this powder. I feel this load was on the light side. But I went with the published data that is available at this time.
Power pistol: 6.2gr
Unique: 5.5gr
2400: 11gr
I used 10 different bullets, some are common others are not so much. The bullets:
358439, this is the hp version of the lyman "keith" bullet. It weighs 157gr.
358156: Lyman's "thompson" design, this hp version weighs 148gr I didn't use any gas checks with this bullet. No need with these low pressure loads.
H&G #51: Another classic "keith" swc this hp version weighs 146gr
Cramer #25A: Called the "hunter", it's a version of the lyman 358250 but it heavier and weighs 158gr with the hp.
Cramer #26: It's cramer's version of the lyman 358477. The 2 cavity mold I have casts a 130gr hp and a 150gr hp. I used the 150gr hp in these tests.
Mihec hbwc: A 148gr hbwc I turned backwards to make a huge hp and seated the bullet in the top lube groove not flush.
Mihec 640: A 158gr rnfp hp bullet
358431: Lyman's hollow based version of the 358429. I also hollow pointed this bullet. The end result is a 145gr hb/hp swc.
Raphine rnfp: This is a hollow based bullet that I hollow pointed. The end result is a 145gr hb/hp rnfp bullet.
Swaged hp: This is the only jacketed bullet I tested. It is a home swaged bullet made from a lead core and a 380acp case for a jacket. It weighs 150gr.
Of all the bullets I tested (in the past and for this testing) the lyman 358156 has always been an excellent performing bullet. The lyman 358477/cramer #26 does extremely well with most loads/firearms. I actually have 3 versions of this bullet.
A lyman 358477 mold that casts a 140gr hp
The cramer #26 mold that casts a 130gr hp & a 150gr hp.
The other bullet that has done surprisingly well ever since I started making/testing them is that swaged/jackets hp made from 380acp cases. I make a 170gr rnfp out of 9mm cases and a 150gr hp out of 380acp cases.
I wanted to take a look at a "fbi" bullet. FBI bullet ='s a hb/hp swc. So I used the lyman 358431 hb bullet and put a hp in it using a forster hp tool. In the past I've tested the lyman hb bullets with the round hb pins that come with them. The round pins are designed more for removing weight from the bullet rather than enhancing performance. I did these tests with a round hb pin and as in the past. The bullets just don't perform well (low velocity). I ran into the same thing when testing hb bullets (the "keith" 429422) for the snub nosed 44spl. The factory round pin/hb gave poor results. So I made a concave hb pin for that 429422 mold and ended up with 30fps more velocity just by changing the shape of the hb pin.
The raphine hb bullet has a factory hb pin that's concave and it performs extremely well.
I only did 10 test loads with each bullet/powder combo. The end result was 10 bullets x 10 loads or 100 total test loads for each powder. The end result is a 100 shot string.
I used a cheap charter arms under cover snubnosed revolver for these tests. It has a 2" bbl. All test loads were shot on the same day (ya 500 test loads in a snubnosed revolver in 1 day) with a chronograph setup 10ft away. I use a tripod for the chronograph that has a 3-way bubble in it's base and levels on the holding plate for the chronograph. So the chronograph is level, all's I have to do is shoot level with the chronograph.
And yes I know a 10-shot string with a bullet doesn't mean much. This to me is nothing more than initial testing of different bullet/powder combos. So if anyone doesn't like using 10-shot strings by all means please go out and do you own testing with 20-shot/50-shot/100-shot or whatever trips your trigger for strings. Myself, when I put together a 100-shot string using the same powder/loads and different bullets. It gives me a pretty good idea of what a powder is capable of.
Anyway now that the initial testing is done it's time to take a hard look at specific bullet/powder combo's and fine tune them.
The components were nothing more than well used range brass and federal sp primers. I used a lyman m-die to expand/flare the cases which didn't do anything for the .357 swaged jacketed bullets. The rest of the bullets were cast/coated except for the 148gr hbwc's. I have around 500 of these to burn up that were from a casting session a couple of years ago that I tumble lubed (45/45/10).
The be-86 powder was actually pretty impressive, read allot of posts about people using it and liking it. I bought a # of it last year and never got around to using/testing anything with it. I just wish there would be more data out there for this powder. I can see me burning more of it in the near future.
I didn't get excessive with the loads by any means but I did try to give unique a chance and of all the powders I tested I feel I pushed this powder harder than the rest. I looked at data from the 1967 lyman 44th edition, the lyman 3rd edition cast bullet manual (1980), the alliant 2005 manual and the alliant 2014 manual. The older manuals said 5.4gr or 5.5gr max depending on the bullet. The newer manuals said 5.2gr but were using generic terms like 158gr lswc so I went with 5.5gr of unique for these tests.
The 2400 & power pistol loads were on the tame/low side of max. I could of went up .2gr to .7gr depending on the bullet.
The bullseye powder actually made a good showing. Allot of people think faster powders do better in short bbl's compared to the slower burning powders. So I did 100 test loads with different bullets using 4.4gr of bullseye.
Everyone has their own favorite spotted pup, anyone care to speculate on which powder/bullet combo's did the best?
Or on how the different powders performed?
