ACME 38 cal 158 grain RNFP for 357

Wiley Coyote uses a lot of ACME products. Rarely successful.

Try the data at Hodgdon for the 158 gr cast LSWC. It's not maximum pressure data so you should be able to substitute with your bullet without issues.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

These are usually cowboy bullets for carbines. Seat to crimp groove and roll crimp. Powder charge could start about mid range for any 158gr cast bullet. Titegroup burns hot and may not play well with hy tek coatings.

gunlaw said:

Wiley Coyote uses a lot of ACME products. Rarely successful.

Click to expand...

Really inappropriate, unhelpful and stupid response to a 1st post from a new member. Makes all us here look bad.

Welcome to THR.
You can use this data, start at minimum and work up.
Good luck, feel free to ask any questions along the way. There are thousands of years of combined experience here- most know way more than I ever will.

fxvr5 said:

Really inappropriate, unhelpful and stupid response to a 1st post from a new member. Makes all us here look bad.

Click to expand...

What’s your point?

gunlaw said:

What’s your point?

Click to expand...

You owe the OP and other members a public apology, if you're responsible and mature enough to do so.

fxvr5 said:

Really inappropriate, unhelpful and stupid response to a 1st post from a new member. Makes all us here look bad.

Click to expand...

Who are you and why do you think you can scold me. My response has at least 4 likes.

Call in a moderator

gunlaw said:

Who are you and why do you think you can scold me. My response has at least 4 likes.

Click to expand...

That's just what I expected.

I’ve never used titegroup, so I can’t comment on that, but have used that bullet with a light load of w231 and mid range load of unique with good results.

I re-read the original post, sorry missed the part about wanting to use titegroup.
I have some but have never loaded 1 grain of it. Do you have published data you were planning to use or are you seeking a recommended charge weight?

I have loaded a few thousand of these but not with titegroup. I use Trailboss.

fxvr5 said:

You owe the OP and other members a public apology, if you're responsible and mature enough to do so.

Click to expand...

Cool your jets turbo it's ok to have a little fun. No personal attack was made, so just let it go.

I have been reading claims of some coatings not reacting well to some powders. Claims of higher nitro powders being worse but unique is one of the highest I've seen so that does not make sense. Others have said that if the coating was not baked or bonded properly that's the issue. I am waiting and watching for evidential posts supporting any of the problems. I use eastwood powder and have seen zero direct claims of problems with that coating. I am curious if hi tech has any issues???

Mikem1989 said:

Hi everyone,

Has anyone had success reloading ACME 38 cal 158 grain RNFP bullet for 357? I’ll be using titegroup powder. I can’t find a exact starting load because of the bullet. I’m a new reloaded so I want to make sure everything is right. I’ve reloaded 9mm but this is my first time with 357 and acme bullets.

Thanks,

Mike

Click to expand...

I have loaded quite a bit of 38 and 357 and tight group does not give me the type of case fill I would like. Unique and power pistol both are more to my liking. Tight group is a very high power density fast burning powder that I like in small cases like 9mm. I would expect high standard deviations in 357 cases with that very small powder charge. A slower powder like 2400 would be first choice if your shooting a carbine or lever action. What firearm is this for.

AJC1 said:

I have been reading claims of some coatings not reacting well to some powders. Claims of higher nitro powders being worse but unique is one of the highest I've seen so that does not make sense. Others have said that if the coating was not baked or bonded properly that's the issue. I am waiting and watching for evidential posts supporting any of the problems. I use eastwood powder and have seen zero direct claims of problems with that coating. I am curious if hi tech has any issues???

Click to expand...

I've been trying to find more info on the nitro interactions with PC as well. It was discussed on multiple youtube videos a couple years ago and now i don't see or hear anything about it. I asked a week or two ago on this forum if anyone had heard of any interactions with hi-tek coating and no one who responded had. I pulled a couple coated 158 grain rnfp i had loaded a year ago with h110 to look for anything odd (don't know of h110s nitro content) and everything was fine. I've got to believe it had mostly to do with uncured PC and maybe a formula has changed but this issue appears to be gone , resolved or never was.

My concern was the same as everyone elses, i keep a fair number of assembled rounds and try to rotate it out but inevitably you end up with 10+ year old ammo or at least i do. I've got a test running now on hi-tek, 5 different powder samples with bullets in them. Clays (im told no nitro), h110, 2400, imr4198 & trailboss. No reaction at all, ill keep it going a year or two and report. I have other powders but none that i use with coated bullets at the moment. Probably going to set up the same with PC and watch it too. I do have some unique, ill add that to the test.

Titegroup is a good way to make economical lower powered target or plinking loads for .357. I like the Acme bullets and the coating. The Hodgdon site says 4.5-5 grains, for 1000-1100 FPS. I prefer full power loads and recommend 2400 or H110 for those loads.

Hodgdon 2008 under cowboy for 158 gr. LSWC shows a starting load of 3.5 gr. Titegroup. That would be the absolute lowest I would go.

Your bullets are a BHN 16, which is hard and, even with the coating, will probably lead the bore at low velocities. I would recommend a minimum velocity of 1,000 fps., which would be 4.5 gr.

Hodgdon data 158 SWC .357
158 GR. CAST LSWC Hodgdon Titegroup .358" 1.610" 4.5 1028 19,300 CUP 5 1108 24,900 CUP
Start 4.5 MAX 5gr

.38 SP data
158 GR. CAST LSWC Hodgdon Titegroup .358" 1.475" 3.2 815 11,500 CUP 3.8 920 15,400 CUP

So between say 3.4 on the low side to 5.0 on the high side with Titegroup. (+.2 over the start .38 data to allow for the larger case of .357)

Watch it closely, it is possible to double (triple??, maybe even quadruple) charge a .357 case with Titegroup. BAD things would happen....

Not a big fan of Titegroup and in .357 cases I would prefer something with more case fill.
For less than max loads I like HP38, Universal Clays, or Unique would be a good choice. (even tough Unique does not meter as well as some other powders)

Trail Boss would be very good under those bullets.