[Monkeybear]

Anyone had expierence loading these?
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=553891

These will be the first bullets I load and after having read Lee's Reloader Second Edition, I find I am unable to locate the BHN of these bullets online and so I am unable to decide what a safe pressure load for these would be. Orginally I decided to use 12gr of Herc 2400, but I would love to hear any advice offered on loading 158gr LDSWC in a 4inch GP100.

[Monkeybear]

Forgot to ask if anyone had an opinion about a .357 powder that meters well in a Lee PPM.

Thanks in advance!

[Doug b]

Monkeybear no experiance with that particular bullet ,but it appears to be a dry lube bullet.Keep an eye on the build up in your seat die ,it can get nasty.2400 is a very good powder for mag.cartridges,12gr. is a good start to work your way up and you probably will want to with this powder.I personally prefer blue doe with a cast bullet in the .357 rem. and it seems to meter well in my Hornady measure.

[Monkeybear]

No seat die to clean, spent 13$ on the lee classic loader and about 150$ on everything else; calipers, scale, hand primer, misc small tools, and a Lee PPM.

I figure with the lee classic loader I will have an very close relationship with all the aspects of reloading and once Im confident enough to work a little faster Ill decide if I need another press.

Thanks for the advice Ill take a better look at blue dot load info. :)

[Doug b]

And blue dot really smells good.:D

[akashooter]

is they're lube on those bullets?

like doug b siad the alliant powders smell good

[Steve C]

These Remington bullets are a relatively soft swaged type and if you drive them much over 1,000 fps you'll get quite a bit of leading. You can use the fingernail test on them and you'll see they're easily dented while a hard cast bullet would suffer no mark at all. Regardless they do make for fine accurate target loads though I'd use a faster powder than 2400 like Unique or W231 mostly because you get 2x the number of loads per lb from a faster powder and at lower velocities a slower powder isn't needed.

Your load of 12.0 grs of 2400 should run the bullet out the muzzle of you 4" pistol to the plus side of 1,000 fps and in a new pistol with a rougher bore you may wind up with leading. If you do get unacceptable leading then drop your charge down .5 grs. You don't need a magnum primer with 2400 and a standard primer helps reduce pressure with this powder so I'd suggest you use a standard pistol primer.

[Monkeybear]

thanks for all of the helpfull comments, I have alot to think about.

aka shooter, its a dry lube that is caked on the bullets, of all the reviews Ive read about them on multiple sites(online stores) its "messy to handle but shoots clean).

I had decided on 2400 because it seemed to me, going off of the pressure limits lead not velocity theory, I decided that if I get(according to richard lee) 33000cup with 2400 at 1600fps and 340000cup with Unique at 1300fps then a moderate 2400 950-1050fps load would have a lower pressure with 2400 than Unique, espceially if I seat the bullet a little bit higher. Everyone seems to be telling me here and at the firing line that 2400 isnt a good powder with lighter loads and to use unique.

Which meters better, unique or blue dot?

Im not gonna ignore everyones advice, Ill get one of those to start and try my 2400 expierment later, once I am confident in my ability to make safe bullets Ill worry about testing theorys.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I wouldn't shoot those bullets much faster than .38spl velocity. They are pretty soft and will lead your bore fast. I use bullseye for all my reduced loads in .357 mag.

[Monkeybear]

purchased a bottle of Unique today, thinking about starting with 6gr, if only I had more confidence in that Lee PPM and the Lyman scale Im using.

Anyone have any expierence with the Lyman 500?

[Master Blaster]

The folks at the line are right, use Unique, 231, or the best for lead bullets Trail boss.

Slower powders like 2400 are for high velocity loads. If you check the load data from a reputable source, the minimum load may say "do not reduce."

Thats because slow powders need a certain amount of pressure to burn completely, load it too low and you will be telling us about all the unburned powder, and how the bullet got stuck in the bore of your gun.


I would recommend you get some trailboss for those 700-900 fps loads with lead bullets, you will get excellent accuracy, no lead fouling, and the case will be full so you eliminate the chance of a double or triple charge.

[bouis]

I've shot a lot of those remington bullets, and though they're soft, they shoot with no leading about 900 ft/s.

[Monkeybear]

thanks for all of your help guys, I still have alot to learn.

What load do you use bouis?

[bouis]

I usually shoot the 158 gr. remingtons over 5.4 grains of power pistol. It makes a nice bang and shoots really well from all my .38 specials.