Good bullet to load for hot .357 out of a 20" rifle barrel.

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  • Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    FYI, if you are looking for powder, H110 and WW296 are exactly the same powder.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    FYI, if you are looking for powder, H110 and WW296 are exactly the same powder.

    Good to know thanks!
    As you can tell my loading knowledge is limited.
    I've loaded over 10k rounds of 9mm for action pistol sports plus some .38spl for plinking.
    Appreciate all the info thus far.
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    And why not? Please elaborate. This rifle is usually chambered in rifle calibers. I highly doubt it will blow up with a super charged pistol round in it.

    As Pinecone said, work up to it. Don't just dump another 5 grains and expect good results. Do you have a cronograph?
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    One other option, bullet wise, is from this guy https://www.badmanbullets.com/Onlin...and+357+Caliber+157+Grain+RNFP+Polymer+Coated I've used his bullets on everything from 32-20 to 45 Colt. The coated bullets are made with softer lead but can be driven to 2000 fps without problems. Another nice benefit is you'll get 50+ fps over the same weight lead bullets with the same powder charge.

    Interesting. I do have some coated bullets from Bayou bullets lying around.
    http://www.bayoubullets.net/38-357-158-gr-swc-100-ct/
    Maybe I'll see how they handle the same load I put behind the XTPs I just got.

    I'll work up a few of both chrono and see how accurate they are. I'll post the results and pics etc when I get a chance to get to the range.
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    Since I have next Monday and Friday off, I'll be checking speed on my coated bullet loads, too. I'm running hard cast lead and coated bullets with the same powder load through several firearms. Hopefully, one of them will be a 10mm.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    OK. Got some loads worked up with various bullets and charges. Hope to get to the range next week to chrono and test accuracy. Thanks for all the helpful info on this thread!!!

    e00jnE1.jpg
    [/IMG]
     

    Red Eye

    Active Member
    Feb 17, 2011
    118
    Hanover, Pa.
    According to my 48th edition Lyman manual.....in the rifle section, out of a 20" barrel Winchester 94.......
    starting load of H110 w/ magnum primer using a 158 gr. xtp/hp bullet.........16.3 gr = 1785 fps.........MAX load of 17 gr. = 1829 fps.

    Looks like this could be the "ticket" for a whitetail gun/load

    Closets thing I could find for the fps you want if using a cast bullet, from the same manual......

    155 gr cast bullet w/ gas check.......AA#9 powder...13.0 gr = 1628 fps.........MAX load of 14.5 gr =1785 fps.
    170 gr. cast bullet w/gas check ......H 110 powder w/mag primer.....start load 14.4 gr =1638 fps.......MAX load 15.0 gr. = 1704 fps

    good luck with your quest, safe loading !!
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    All is ready for a range trip but have been too busy to get out. Hope to have a report for you by the end of next week complete with photos!
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    How do the bullets look?

    I am thinking of ordering some for .30-40 Krag loads.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,598
    Glen Burnie
    I know I'm late to this thread, but regarding powder, I'll echo what others said about Bullseye - not a bad powder and I use a lot of it, but I wouldn't use it for a load where I wanted to drop a deer with it.

    I've got some .357 mag reloads my Dad made clear back in the 1980s (and for that matter, Dad has been gone since 1997) that he loaded with 2400, and those have a lot of punch - I'd tend to think that would be a good powder to use, and the Hornady XTP would probably be a pretty good bullet.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    Ok. So I got out for a quick trip to the range to try some of my new loads out. The results were largely disappointing, with 1 exception.
    I had picked up some epoxy coated bullets at the Timonium gun show the other weekend, and boy did they load and shoot great!
    I had my best result with those bullets and will be buying more.
    These are the bullets
    Yd8sjK9.jpg


    They shot a 5 shot group with 1 flier and 4 in 1 hole at 100 yards. (as marked in the photo of the target below.) PLUS I was able to put 19.8 grains of H-110 behind it which pushed it at 2118fps (average of 3 cronoed) this is a very respectable muzzle energy of 1574 foot pounds. And as a bonus they look freakin BADASS loaded up:
    am9BdEa.jpg


    The other loads where as follows:
    -RimRock hardcast w/gas check 180grn over 15.3grns of H-110 for 1666fps and very poor accuracy.

    -Bayou bullet polymer coated 158grn over 15.6grns of H110 for 1712fps with accuracy not as quite good as regular old federal 158grn .357mag ammo.

    -Hornady XTP 180grn Hollow Point over 15.3grns of H110 for 1623fps. And I dont know what happened here. Absolutely horrible result. The bullets seem to load easily and I dont know what I did wrong with these but as you can see from the photo its a disaster. I will load some more and try again but jeez this group sucked. The gun may not like 180grn bullets, as is mirrored by the RimRock grouping, but the Buffalo bore 180s I shot a few weeks ago grouped within 2" so it must be me.

    Here is the target. 100yrds, chilly temps with a light breeze. I felt good about 99% of the trigger pulls. I think I just need to work out some kinks in my loading. Maybe a lighter crimp? but I feel like its very minimal as it is.
    cNrq1iR.jpg
     

    Bisleyfan44

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 11, 2008
    1,758
    Wicomico
    H110 is a really slow burning pistol powder which usually requires a fairly heavy crimp to hold the bullet long enough to allow pressures to build; not a light crimp and certainly not a "minimum" crimp. If you use a heavy crimp, you're accuracy should improve quite a bit.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    H110 is a really slow burning pistol powder which usually requires a fairly heavy crimp to hold the bullet long enough to allow pressures to build; not a light crimp and certainly not a "minimum" crimp. If you use a heavy crimp, you're accuracy should improve quite a bit.

    Great tip thank you! I will try that for my next batch.
     

    6Den

    Active Member
    Feb 10, 2013
    835
    Howard County
    I've been following this thread since I have a 77/357 and also want to develop some hunting loads. Very curious if the rifle can shoot 180 grain bullets accurately. I've only experimented with factory loads, of which the most accurate has been Federal 158gr. JSP. I was planning on trying 180gr. JSP since they might be the best expansion compromise between JHP and hard cast. All this said, I wouldn't hesitate using 158gr. JSP on bambi, especially out of a rifle barrel.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    I've been following this thread since I have a 77/357 and also want to develop some hunting loads. Very curious if the rifle can shoot 180 grain bullets accurately. I've only experimented with factory loads, of which the most accurate has been Federal 158gr. JSP. I was planning on trying 180gr. JSP since they might be the best expansion compromise between JHP and hard cast. All this said, I wouldn't hesitate using 158gr. JSP on bambi, especially out of a rifle barrel.

    I think the gun shoots 180s fine. The Buffalo Bore 180 hard cast ammo I shot out of it a few weeks ago grouped 2" or better.

    Like I said above I'm pretty sure it's my loading technique that is screwing up the accuracy. I will work up some more 180s with a heavier crimp and see what happens.
     

    6Den

    Active Member
    Feb 10, 2013
    835
    Howard County
    Also since you mentioned needing the trigger improved, I recently dropped in a Volquartsen sear kit in mine and it is fabulous! Best $40 spent and easy peasy installation.
     

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