gamestalker
Regular Member
imported post
Hi ya-all,
Its me again. The guy that doesn't know how to properly paragraph, and has other problems with his manner of posting. But I'm going to try and improve in this area with a little help from my friends on this site, thanks!
Anyway, I have been loading for my .357 revolvers for a long time, and of course, as you are all aware, I like high velocity and accuracy to mix with that. It is no secret that the .357 mag. is capable of producing some of the highest velocity handgun loads one can possibly imagine. FYI, I wouldn't personally load these type of loads in an average quality revolver. I shoot them through S&W 66-5, Taurus 608, Ruger GP100, Ruger SP101 and have had absolutely zero ill effects other than a sore wrist.
One of my favorite loads is with a Hornady 125 Grain XTPHP with a 20.5 grain load of H-110 or if I can't find that powder than I'll use W-296 with a similar charge, 20.6 gr.
I've have gotten a lot of remarks about my high pressure loads over the years ranging from stuff like," that load will never be accurate", "the pressures are too high to be safe", and "what do you need that kind of velocity for?".
In truth I guess those are all good arguments, but not exactly accurate. I've shot myrevolvers from a good rest at 20 yds. with these loads and have grouped consistently tight groups that would be considered as good as it gets with any load.A lot of super high velocity loads do suffer accuracy issues, but I think it has a lot to do with how the load is assembled. Seating depth is of great importance, powder choice unquestionably important, and bullet choice must be matched to the gun being utilized.
For my S&W I seat the bullet to 1.585" in a case trimmed to 1.290", no shorter, and no more than .002" longer as this case length is already at maximum length. For some reason if I trim any shorter than that I start to get jumping velocities that range from 1880s fps to 2160s. I haven't yet figured out the reason for this, but I suspect it has something to do with high pressure blowing back from the rear of the barrel prior to the bullet entering the lands. This might be due to free space allowing the high pressures to escape past the bullet before it enters the bearing surface of the cylinder and then of course blowing straight back to the front of the bullet. I'm also suspicious of this causing the bullet to possibly canter before contacting the lands, thus effecting accuracy as well. But when I follow the procedure for this revolver to the letter my velocity only varies +/- about 15 or 20 fps, with the average being 2122 fps.
With my Taurus its a whole different story. This revolver doesn't really have a bearing surface at the front of the cylinder to speak of. What would be thebearing surface is measuring .35755", which isn't containing much pressure during the free space travel. My S&W is supertight measuring .35690" providing a tight fit. But strange as well, is that I'm not getting the reversed pressures blowing back into the bullet prior to contacting the lands with the Taurus. Accuracy is superb as well with these high velocity loads in both revolvers. Both of these revolvers have around 2 1/2" barrels, with the Taurus having a recoil compensator.With the Taurus my brass is performing best when trimmed to 1.280" with a seating depth of 1.590". Velocity is always consistent with this revolver with less than +/- 20 fps variation, and the average being 2087 fps. I think my average is downcompared tothe S&W for two reasons. One, the cylinder bearing surface is tighter on the S&W, and two, the Taurus is compensated which might be causing some reverse pressures blowing back at the end of the barrel.
I haven't finished developing the loads for the other 2 revolvers yet, but I'm expecting to find they will be a totally different animal to load for compared to the S&W and the Taurus. Initially I'm discovering the two Rugers are seemingly less picky. But I'll start getting serious some time this weekend and see what happens.
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away!
Hi ya-all,
Its me again. The guy that doesn't know how to properly paragraph, and has other problems with his manner of posting. But I'm going to try and improve in this area with a little help from my friends on this site, thanks!
Anyway, I have been loading for my .357 revolvers for a long time, and of course, as you are all aware, I like high velocity and accuracy to mix with that. It is no secret that the .357 mag. is capable of producing some of the highest velocity handgun loads one can possibly imagine. FYI, I wouldn't personally load these type of loads in an average quality revolver. I shoot them through S&W 66-5, Taurus 608, Ruger GP100, Ruger SP101 and have had absolutely zero ill effects other than a sore wrist.
One of my favorite loads is with a Hornady 125 Grain XTPHP with a 20.5 grain load of H-110 or if I can't find that powder than I'll use W-296 with a similar charge, 20.6 gr.
I've have gotten a lot of remarks about my high pressure loads over the years ranging from stuff like," that load will never be accurate", "the pressures are too high to be safe", and "what do you need that kind of velocity for?".
In truth I guess those are all good arguments, but not exactly accurate. I've shot myrevolvers from a good rest at 20 yds. with these loads and have grouped consistently tight groups that would be considered as good as it gets with any load.A lot of super high velocity loads do suffer accuracy issues, but I think it has a lot to do with how the load is assembled. Seating depth is of great importance, powder choice unquestionably important, and bullet choice must be matched to the gun being utilized.
For my S&W I seat the bullet to 1.585" in a case trimmed to 1.290", no shorter, and no more than .002" longer as this case length is already at maximum length. For some reason if I trim any shorter than that I start to get jumping velocities that range from 1880s fps to 2160s. I haven't yet figured out the reason for this, but I suspect it has something to do with high pressure blowing back from the rear of the barrel prior to the bullet entering the lands. This might be due to free space allowing the high pressures to escape past the bullet before it enters the bearing surface of the cylinder and then of course blowing straight back to the front of the bullet. I'm also suspicious of this causing the bullet to possibly canter before contacting the lands, thus effecting accuracy as well. But when I follow the procedure for this revolver to the letter my velocity only varies +/- about 15 or 20 fps, with the average being 2122 fps.
With my Taurus its a whole different story. This revolver doesn't really have a bearing surface at the front of the cylinder to speak of. What would be thebearing surface is measuring .35755", which isn't containing much pressure during the free space travel. My S&W is supertight measuring .35690" providing a tight fit. But strange as well, is that I'm not getting the reversed pressures blowing back into the bullet prior to contacting the lands with the Taurus. Accuracy is superb as well with these high velocity loads in both revolvers. Both of these revolvers have around 2 1/2" barrels, with the Taurus having a recoil compensator.With the Taurus my brass is performing best when trimmed to 1.280" with a seating depth of 1.590". Velocity is always consistent with this revolver with less than +/- 20 fps variation, and the average being 2087 fps. I think my average is downcompared tothe S&W for two reasons. One, the cylinder bearing surface is tighter on the S&W, and two, the Taurus is compensated which might be causing some reverse pressures blowing back at the end of the barrel.
I haven't finished developing the loads for the other 2 revolvers yet, but I'm expecting to find they will be a totally different animal to load for compared to the S&W and the Taurus. Initially I'm discovering the two Rugers are seemingly less picky. But I'll start getting serious some time this weekend and see what happens.
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away!