[Cactus]

Has anyone used H110 or W296 to load 158 LSWC's in a 357 Mag.? I'm only able to find data for jacketed bullets with H110 and W296.

[Clark]

I have used H110/W296 and LIL'GUN with 158 gr LSWC.
Hodgdon says that those powders may melt lead, but I don't have any trouble with the hard cast bullets with a lube band.

LIL'GUN gives allot more velocity with less pressure than H110, with the 158 gr bullets.

[WESHOOT2]

Yes, but I quit.
Smoky.

[stans]

I flirted with loads of W-296 and H-110 under a 158 grain LSWC, but I think these powders work a bit better with jacketed bullets. Leading can become a problem when bullets are pushed past 1200 fps.

[C.R.Sam]

Smoky a biggie in defence or rapid fire target work.
Hard to hit what you can't see.

Sam

[WESHOOT2]

Glad me.

[Cactus]

The bullet I will be using has a gas check and I don't want to push it real fast so I'm not too concerned about leading. Hornady's Fourth Manual shows a starting load of 14.1 gr. of H110 with a 158 gr. jacketed bullet so I was considering something like 13.5 gr. with the cast bullet.

How does this sound?

[Blueduck]

Winchesters website has 296 loads for SWC's.

I used 14.5 grains of 296 with lazer cast 158 SWC's. Accuracy was good and leading was minimal. Quit using them just because never quite figured out what they were for...

My exp was also that it was a very smoky load.

[Dave T]

Like 296, H110 does not like being down loaded. Both of these powders work best at near maximum.
You can probably find another powder that will produce the velocity of your planned 13.5g load of H110 that will be more consistant, more accurate, and more efficient.

[caz223]

H110 works best with hot loads, jacketed bullets, and large magnum guns.
If you shoot a .357 at lower velocity, and use lead bullets, there are better powder choices that are easier to use, safer, and much cheaper to load.

I don't even use H110 in .357 mag with hot loads and jacketed bullets, I start to use H110 in my .41 mag.