Power Pistol, Lead, 357 mag = ?

Unique "should" burn cleaner than that if you bring the pressure up. I load a lot of Unique and don't get those results. I use it in 357, 41, 44, and 45C and after a couple hundred rounds I have nowhere near that much residue. I don't load max but I do get kinda close. I have never used PP but IF I could find some I would like to give it a try.

Power Pistol is a slower powder than Unique so if you load it as light as you load Unique you will get just as dirt.

Power Pistol loaded correctly will do just fine if you can stand the flash and loud report. It is not a good propellent for light loads.

I worked up to 10g PP in a 357 case under a 125g TC lead boolit and averaged 1465 fps out of my 4" Ruger Service Six. Big boom, lots of flash and turned heads. Really fun load to shoot.

My "bread and butter" load is 5.0g Unique under a 158g RNF in a 38 special case. Good burn, nice recoil, but comfortable enough to shoot a couple hundred rounds without beating up your hands. Yes, you get dirty hands and the stainless steel gun looks like a blued gun at the end of the day, but it cleans up easily with Hoppes. If you want even more soot, try Bullseye. It's just as fun, but the gun looks blued after only about 50 rounds.

fourdollarbill said:

I load 6.6 unique under a .358 158 LSWC 18b. The bullet seems to bump out well and seal the barrel. I wouldn't think that is too light as to burn dirty. It's my most accurate load. Sounds like the PP is going to do the same ?

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I load 7.5 g of Unique with a 158 g SWC and get good results. I've got data that says that is close to max and data that says it's a tad over for a 158 LSWC but it works good for me

try RDot with cast slug loads.

I know this may not be what you want to hear but I load power pistol in 38 special. I load 125gr hp at 6.2gr and 158gr cast SWC at 5.5gr or 6.0 for +p.

I use 7.5- to 8 gr of power pistol in all my .357mag target loads and it's as accurate as anything else I've tried. More so than some.

I ended up settling for 8.0 gr and have been there for years. It's the most accurate load I've found with power pistol. It's a little warmer but in a 6" it's a pleasure to shoot, flash isn't bad but it's on the edge of getting pretty loud.

If I were you I would start at 7.8 and work up but check for leading for each batch you load. I've had problems with 18brn lead bullets being too hard to seal up with these lighter loads. 12brn would be a better choice in my opinion.

I'm far from an expert with lead bullets, my experience with them in ,357mag hasn't been staller. I had much better luck with 2400 and H110 with 18brn and harder lead bullets.