.357 mag, 170 gr Kieth, 2400 powder

I will look in my data when I get home. Gas checked or not? Only reason I ask is when I tried it they were bad about leading the barrel. I switched to aa7 and got better results.

OLD Lyman manual has for the 168gr, plain base # 358429 - 2400 powder -13.0 grs. Velocity is 1180 fps. As MAXIMUM.

I am loading a Saeco (158) 164 gr with 13.5- 2400, starline brass, WSPM. Not the same bullet. Shorter nose. Plain base to crimp groove about the same as your bullet. The amount of bullet shank in the case is about the same. But shorter OAL.

Make sure your OAL fits the cylinder. May not on some S&W models.

Lyman manual shows 9.7 gr start to 13.5 gr for the 358429 which is a 170 gr LSWC.

I've used between 12 and 13.5 grains of 2400 behind that bullet. I cast with wheel weights and size .359. I started with a custom cut RCBS mold and accquired the original H&G mold later on. I think I remember Elmer Keith using up to 15 grains but I recommend for safety reasons staying within published load data.

joed said:

Lyman manual shows 9.7 gr start to 13.5 gr for the 358429 which is a 170 gr LSWC.

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I have Lyman #48 and it shows 11.5 to 13.5 for the same 358429 /170 gr.

2011redrider said:

I have Lyman #48 and it shows 11.5 to 13.5 for the same 358429 /170 gr.

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I have #48 and it shows 9.7 to 13.5 gr of 2400. I've shot a lot of those bullets with the 13.5 gr load from my 28-2. I'm a lot more conservative in my mode 66-5.

Don't know what the cylinder length is on the Blackhawk but the 28-2 is short with these bullets and I have since cut back to 13.0 and crimp over the front driving band.

There must be 2 versions of the 48th, here is a copy of my page.

I couldn't find this thread. I have Lyman 47, see below.

This is the page out of my Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook for .357 mag.

I has the 170 gr and is consistent with the West Kentucky's page from his manual for 168gr.

This data is for Lynotype which is 22br and to hard to hunt deer with. The manual warns that hitting a bone will cause the bullet to shatter so with softer bullets you will have to try the load to find out.

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I shot 173gr Keith type bullets out of my ruger with 12.1 gr of 2400, and 9gr of Bluedot. I didn't find the accuracy all that great at 25yds but these are lighter loads.
I didn't spend anymore time trying to get them accurate because the bullets were to soft to really light them up to maximum load. I bought these bullets to try before I bought a bullet mold. I should have bought the mold first and used my alloy.

You may have to really crank it up to maximum load to get the bullet spinning fast enough to stabilize at 50yds. That is a long bullet and your shooting it out of a barrel optimized to shoot 158grain bullets for accuracy.

I don't know if WW lead will handle maximum load without a gas check. You will have to try and find out. You could harden up your lead.

These loads were to long for my Smiths but fit my Blackhawk and GP100 just fine.

That's my limited experience with Elmer Keith type bullets.

The ruger Blackhawk is a 1-16 twist rifling and the DA revolvers are 1-18 3/4 rifling. The Blackhawk won't have the trouble I had in stabilizing the 173 gr bullet that I had.
I will edit my post above.