I recently downloaded the Laser Cast/Oregon Trail manual to replace the print copy lost in The Incident.
It shows a .357 Magnum MAXIMUM of 15.3 gr of No 2400 with any style of their 158 gr extra hard cast bullets.
This got them 1460 fps from a real 6" revolver.
Strange that AA9 and H110 are well below that.
Ya, their 180gr bullet was even worse, bluedot smoked WW296 by 100fps in a 6" bbl'd firearm.
A couple of things come into play, namely crimp/alloy hardness/bullet base.
4227/H110/WW296 need a good solid heavy crimp. The crimp grooves on the laser cast bullets aren't the deepest.
The alloy's wayyyy to hard, bluedot did as good as it did simply because it has the highest short start pressure. It sealed the base of that rock hard bullet faster/less blow-by/less loss of pressure.
The beveled bullet base allows pressures to slide by a lot easier then a gc base or a plain based bullet. Loss of pressure ='s a loss of velocity.
A good example of bullet bases and how they affect pressures is to look at the lyman reloading manual.
358156 ='s a gas checked swc bullet +/- 155gr max load 14.0gr 2400 41,900cup
358477 ='s a plain base swc +/- 150gr max load 15.0gr 2400 41,400cup
358311 ='s a plain based rn bullet +/- 158gr max load 15.5gr 39,700cup
The 358311 bullet is the heaviest but yet it has the largest max load. This is because the base of that 358311 bullet is the thinnest. The thicker base of the lighter 358477 bullet seals the bbl better taking less powder to make the same pressure. The gc'd 358156 takes even less powder to make the same pressure/seals better than the bigger based 358477 & smaller based 358311. When you see the laser cast bullet using 15.3gr of 2400 that's telling you it isn't doing a very good job of sealing anything considering it has a huge bullet base. Some different bullets for the 357's, huge difference in the bullet bases.
4227/WW296/H110 need longer bbl.'s to get the most out of them. Awhile back I did a little testing with the top row 2nd from left bullet & the top row 4th bullet from left. I used 2400, H110 & MP-300. I tested the max loads with those 2 different bullets in firearms with 2 1/2", 4", 6", 8" & 10" bbl.'s. At the end of the day over a chronograph setup 10" from the muzzles:
The 2400 out performed the H110 & MP-300 in the short 2 1/2" bbl. 1 test bbl
The H110 & MP-300 started to pull ahead of the 2400 in the 4" bbl.'s 2 test bbl.'s
The H110 & MP-300 easily outdid the 2400 in the 6" bbl.'s. 2 test bbl.'s
By the 8" bbl the 2400 wasn't even in the race. 1 test bbl
The 10" bbl was giving me 1650fps+ with both the H110 & MP-300 compared to the 1500fps & change from the 2400. 1 test bbl
Anyway if you get odd #'s or low #'s from a H110/4227/WW296/MP-300 load try using a softer alloy. The velocities should increase, if not look at the crimp.
