Hodgdon Lil'Gun in .357 Revolver

Don't see why you wouldn't. I use H110 for my M&P360, and Lil'Gun couldn't be much different.

While Lil Gun is an excellent powder and you can make up some shootable loads , I think you would be better off with a faster powder in a short barrel ! It will give a heck of a fireball when fired ! Kevin

I wont use lil gun in 357 any more.
I got wild scary pressure spikes especially in cold weather.

Velocity was good but accuracy was nonexistent

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I have blown up a lot of 38 specials.
One I reamed out to 357 mag and work up from the maximum 158 gr 18 gr LIL GUN to 26 gr, but it did not blow up.
It is very hard to get that much powder to fit.
It kicks very hard and makes a lot of noise.
I was proud of myself for getting so much power and not splitting the cylinder, like I have on so many other 38 specials.
But when I shot it over a chronograph, the more LIL GUN, the more recoil and noise, but the velocity goes down. All the extra energy went into the fire ball.

Colt Police Positive 38 Special 4" barrel:
1) cheap commercial 38sp reloads mixed brand brass 158 gr. JHP, 830 fps
2) 18 gr. LIL'GUN 158 gr. XTP 1.59", WSPM, 1173 fps
3) 23.5 gr. LIL'GUN 158 gr. XTP 1.59", WSPM, 1155 fps

I realize that is not the full 26 gr I shot a number of times earlier, but 23.5 gr is much easier to squeeze in there.

Since I recorded that velocity in 2003, I have never shot LIL'GUN in a 357 mag since.

I am back to H110/296 because is smells better.

THere have been reports of Lil' Gun producing more top strap flame cutting and forcing cone errosion then other magnum class powders.

Something to consider in a J-Frame I think.

rc

rcmodel said:

THere have been reports of Lil' Gun producing more top strap flame cutting and forcing cone errosion then other magnum class powders.

Something to consider in a J-Frame I think.

rc

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Yep....I don't use Lil' Gun in any of my revolvers anymore. It never gave me the performance of H110/W296 anyway.

I also agree with using a faster powder for a lot less muzzleblast. I have always consider L'il Gun a bit on the slow side for the .357 Magnum and prefer the slightly faster burn rate of AA#9 and Ramshot Enforcer. But in this case I would go faster yet with either AA#7 or Vihta Vouri N350 or 3N37. I have had very good results using them with 3" barreled revolvers. That's about as short as I can handle in .357 Magnum!

I'm not prone to believing Internet rumors but I will not use Lil'Gun in revolver ammo any more. It does increase flame cutting and makes the barrel VERY hot. I do like it with heavy bullets for .357 Magnum ammo meant for my Carbine though. With 170gr and 180gr bullet the velocity increase over W296/H110 is ~100 fps. (in the Carbine)

Clark, you're a madman.

"I'm not prone to believing Internet rumors but I will not use Lil'Gun in revolver ammo any more. It does increase flame cutting and makes the barrel VERY hot. I do like it with heavy bullets for .357 Magnum ammo meant for my Carbine though. With 170gr and 180gr bullet the velocity increase over W296/H110 is ~100 fps. (in the Carbine)"

ditto. Very rapid flame cutting in top strap of 32 mag revolver (although highest velocity with best ccuracy 100 jhp). Very accurate with highest velocity in 357 lever with Rem 180 sjhp, or Speer 170 gd, Wish i could find more of the Speer 170 gdsp's.

I limit my use of Lil'Gun to .357 Magnum ammunition loaded with 175 to 185 grain bullets intended for my Marlin Carbine. It works best with heavy bullets, giving me 1,710 fps average with a 185 gr. RNFP-GC cast bullet over the chronograph from my 1894 Marlin. The accuracy is very, very good, too.

It does produce a lot of flame when shot in handguns, so I don't use it for that purpose, since that can't be good for the top strap, etc. For those loads I use mostly Winchester 296/H-110, which work fine.

Hope this helps.

Fred

disregard

ReloaderFred said:

I limit my use of Lil'Gun to .357 Magnum ammunition loaded with 175 to 185 grain bullets intended for my Marlin Carbine. It works best with heavy bullets, giving me 1,710 fps average with a 185 gr. RNFP-GC cast bullet over the chronograph from my 1894 Marlin. The accuracy is very, very good, too.

It does produce a lot of flame when shot in handguns, so I don't use it for that purpose, since that can't be good for the top strap, etc. For those loads I use mostly Winchester 296/H-110, which work fine.

Hope this helps.

Fred

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Using a 180gr Cast Performance bullet I'm getting an AV of 1547 fps using H110 and an AV of 1657 fps using Lil'Gun from my Marlin 1894C. What charge weight of Lil'Gun are you using to get those higher velocities or maybe you have a tighter Carbine than I do. I'm charging 14.8gr Lil'Gun under that 180gr Cast Performance bullet. (very accurate load too)