.357-125gr load using Blue Dot

[BJung]

Does the .357-125gr warning using Blue Dot apply to jacketed bullets only or does it include cast bullets. I want to use a cast bullet from a 125gr mold but with the alloy, expect the bullet weight to be more.

 

[joneb]

Does the .357-125gr warning using Blue Dot apply to jacketed bullets only or does it include cast bullets.

I don't know. But I tried Blue Dot in a .357 mag with 125 JHP from a 4" revolver and it was much louder than a 44 magnun.

 

[41 Mag]

I haven't used BD for many loads, but years ago before the warning actually came out it had been reported to be really sensitive with several calibers and bullet combos. I had actually contacted Hercules about the issue with 41 mag loads and was informed about it first hand. That was back in the late 80's.

Honestly there is no telling how many rounds have been loaded in the effected warning range through the years with no issues, but personally I found many powders that worked as good or better.

Probably not what you were looking for, but they usually don't issue those warnings for nothing.

I like using AA-5, AA-7, and AA-9 for most of those type loads along with 2400. Those AA powders give top end velocities as well as being able to be loaded down to very tame levels.

Hope that helps.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Does the .357-125gr warning using Blue Dot apply to jacketed bullets only or does it include cast bullets. I want to use a cast bullet from a 125gr mold but with the alloy, expect the bullet weight to be more.

As far as I can remember it only really applies to K-Frame revolvers with inlet relief cuts in the forcing cone to clear the cylinder pressure seal ring. The talk about flame-cutting top-straps and cracking forcing cones stemmed from some fairly well known handloaders hot-rodding the cartridge to get "Super-Vel"-class loads for use in S&W Model 19 revolvers. Before I started using Blue Dot in the late 80's (or was it the early 90's? - can't recall) I read up on it and the "troubles" of using it with light-weight jacketed bullets. What I learned was, Blue Dot was developed as a magnum 12ga. powder because Red Dot and Unique didn't have enough expansion for the longer, heavier shot columns of 3" and 3-1/2" shells. It's a hot powder that prefers pushing a heavy, long, wide load down a long tight tube. With that in mind, you can understand how maybe light, short, small bullets being pushed out of a short tube might have problems. I use Blue Dot mostly for bigger cases - .44Spl/Magnum and .45 Colt - but I do also use it for .357Mag with heavy crimps to delay the reaction and let pressure build. BD doesn't like to operate at low pressure or with too much airspace so keep that in mind, also.

I think with your plan, I'd size to +0.002" and run a heavy roll crimp with white wax lube or Carnauba Blue to keep the grooves greased. If you powder coat or enamel, that may do it just fine. I have less experience with those forms of lubrication.

 

[BJung]

I haven't used BD for many loads, but years ago before the warning actually came out it had been reported to be really sensitive with several calibers and bullet combos. I had actually contacted Hercules about the issue with 41 mag loads and was informed about it first hand. That was back in the late 80's.

Honestly there is no telling how many rounds have been loaded in the effected warning range through the years with no issues, but personally I found many powders that worked as good or better.

Probably not what you were looking for, but they usually don't issue those warnings for nothing.

I like using AA-5, AA-7, and AA-9 for most of those type loads along with 2400. Those AA powders give top end velocities as well as being able to be loaded down to very tame levels.

Hope that helps.

I don't have AA7 but have AA9 and used it before. According to the Lyman Manual, 2400 can be loaded with a lower chamber pressure than BD but what about AA9? Is it close to and would it work for a .357-125/130gr cast bullet load or would AA5 be better? I'm using .38-125gr LHP bullet and want to push it fast enough to expand. Why else have a hollow point? The alloy will be 3% Antinomy, 2% tin, and lead.

 

[THEWELSHM]

I use AA#9 and 2400. Great powders

Thewelshm

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I don't have AA7 but have AA9 and used it before. According to the Lyman Manual, 2400 can be loaded with a lower chamber pressure than BD but what about AA9? Is it close to and would it work for a .357-125/130gr cast bullet load or would AA5 be better? I'm using .38-125gr LHP bullet and want to push it fast enough to expand. Why else have a hollow point? The alloy will be 3% Antinomy, 2% tin, and lead.

If you want something to replace Alliant 2400 with a 125gr. cast, try Accurate 4100/Ramshot Enforcer. No.5 falls between Green Dot and PB for pressure and temperament. It's kinda its own thing. Polite and downloads well. Not a magnum powder, though. Good for .38Spl speeds.
No.9 is a slightly more polite HS-7, which is good stuff, too but I don't use it for .357Mag. It runs a little hot compared to 4100. But, it is flash-suppressed if that matters. I like No.9 for .44Spl/Mag but it gets twitchy (that's the scientific term) when it gets tight in a .38Spl case and with magnum primers. Oh, that's something you'll find out about it, if you haven't already: No.9 works BETTER with standard primers, even in a "magnum" case. I see loading data for it compressed but I've never got a good load out of it when compressed. It needs some air and downloads real well. Don't go under 50% case fill, though. A lot of folks use it side-by-side and 1:1 with 2400 but, for me, Accurate 4100 is a better replacement for 2400, especially in .357.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

 

[ColtPythonElite]

For 15+ years prior to that warning, I loaded thousands of 125 gr JHP with Blue Dot. The starting load in the manual I was using was very hot. I never went past it. I shot those rounds through one gun. Perhaps them being kinda hot is why the barrel started coming unscrewed from the frame...lol.

That warning never made any sense because Alliant provided data for 110 and 140 gr bullets.

Regardless of what I loaded prior to that warning, I quit using BD with 125 gr bullets. I switched to Power Pistol.

 

[AJC1]

You want a cooler single base powder n340 or 350 will geter done. N105 or n110 may also be worth a pound to test. I can only find 340 and 105 local, problem is I have to much to test already.

 

[Bfh_auto]

For 15+ years prior to that warning, I loaded thousands of 125 gr JHP with Blue Dot. The starting load in the manual I was using was very hot. I never went past it. I shot those rounds through one gun. Perhaps them being kinda hot is why the barrel started coming unscrewed from the frame...lol.

That warning never made any sense because Alliant provided data for 110 and 140 gr bullets.

Regardless of what I loaded prior to that warning, I quit using BD with 125 gr bullets. I switched to Power Pistol.

My guess is that data may be why they posted that warning. I've loaded them using other data that was milder without issue. But like you. I have other options.