Opinions and suggestions please.
I'm in the process of developing a load in .357 for protection against 4 legged predators that I could encounter on my property in northern Minnesota. Mainly black bear and wolf. The purpose is to protect my dog, or God forbid, me or one of my family members. I really don't worry too much about any of us being attacked but my dog is another thing as there are many instances of dogs being taken by wolves.
So anyway, here is what I want to do. I want to load a dozen hard cast 158 gn LSWC's with 2400 powder as I think that powder will fit the bill best.
The bullets I have are Brinell 18 from Missouri Bullet. Here is my question. Can/Should I load the rounds to a point near max even though I know they most likely are not meant to be pushed that hard? I'm not too concerned about leading as they would not be used for my normal shooting/plinking, but I want the best velocity if I run into one of those big Minnesota bruins.
For those that have loads for similar purposes, what did you do?
Thanks, Gary
I'm in the process of developing a load in .357 for protection against 4 legged predators that I could encounter on my property in northern Minnesota. Mainly black bear and wolf. The purpose is to protect my dog, or God forbid, me or one of my family members. I really don't worry too much about any of us being attacked but my dog is another thing as there are many instances of dogs being taken by wolves.
So anyway, here is what I want to do. I want to load a dozen hard cast 158 gn LSWC's with 2400 powder as I think that powder will fit the bill best.
The bullets I have are Brinell 18 from Missouri Bullet. Here is my question. Can/Should I load the rounds to a point near max even though I know they most likely are not meant to be pushed that hard? I'm not too concerned about leading as they would not be used for my normal shooting/plinking, but I want the best velocity if I run into one of those big Minnesota bruins.
For those that have loads for similar purposes, what did you do?
Thanks, Gary