Yeah, still waiting for Speer and Sierra to get the word that the plandemic shortage is over.I plan to keep 3 cylinders worth of the 158 grain XTP loaded up and use the cast loads most of the time. Those XTP loads are almost as much as my 223 match loads, dollar wise.
One of my initial goals in 357 was to find a mag load that I could shoot often but still had good numbers and was cheap. 8.8 grains of true blue and a cast 158 is decently fast and cost effective. I got that powder thinking it was a lot closer to blue dot. I haven't been able to get BD but the idea at least in my mind is its the efficient mag load.... right around 10 grains is where it starts to get resource hogging. true blue goes up to 9.8 but I've never gone above start.I have a good load with 2400 and cast 125 grain bullets. It takes too much powder though. 15.8 grains. Test loads shot pretty good.
Any idea what case fill that load gives. Kinda trying to get more knowledgeable on doing that myself and then figuring out the normalizing number which eliminates powder forward/back testing. For rifle 80% seems the good point up to 95 ish but I don't have a basis to work from in pistol.I’m of a similar mind for the CFEP load and 125 grain cast. It’s right around 1200-1300 fps and shot great and was quite pleasant. The max load shot pretty well but the minimum load was great and under 7 grains, giving me an even thousand per pound of powder.
I went through the 110 grain hollow point and 21 grains of H110 phase.That seems to happen most with light bullets and slow powders. I just stay above 140 and don't worry about it.
Any idea what case fill that load gives. Kinda trying to get more knowledgeable on doing that myself and then figuring out the normalizing number which eliminates powder forward/back testing. For rifle 80% seems the good point up to 95 ish but I don't have a basis to work from in pistol.
I didn't see your load data but 2400 for 150 ish is happy between 13.5 and 14 grains.The FMJ load shot pretty good though I just tried it off hand.
CFEP didn’t do so well with this bullet. The bullets were centered but scattered around a 3” pattern. For reference a good load in this gun will shoot under 1.5”.
The 2400 loads have the most promise. The second and third increments were pretty good. The second had three shots touching with the fourth off to the left. The third increment was better but was around 2”. I think the 2nd increment was a pulled shot. I’ve done the same with other loads. Three touching and a fourth off a little.
Seating depth can make a difference as well. How much bullet is in the case will change depending on the alloy, too. Those are usually very small differences but I guess there could be a magic combination that’s way over pressure.The Lyman cast manual has a max of 14 for a 155 grain cast but 13.5 for 158. I doubt 3 grains makes that much difference but these were bullets are a little larger in diameter so they may hit pressure before slightly smaller ones. They mic at 0.359-0.360”.
I'm in a weird spot for testing because my bullet is not officially listed. The shape is 158 but the weight is 154 powdercoated. Lube and gas checks add weight and I don't so I use book maxes and leave the extra on the table as a saftey factor. I do the same with oal when I seat longer than book numbers I stick to book max.The Lyman cast manual has a max of 14 for a 155 grain cast but 13.5 for 158. I doubt 3 grains makes that much difference but these were bullets are a little larger in diameter so they may hit pressure before slightly smaller ones. They mic at 0.359-0.360”.
Well, if you know the case length and the bullet length you can subtract the case length from the overall length and then subtract what’s left from the total bullet length and that will tell you how much of bullet is in the case.The COAL is a little higher than book length but I have no idea how much bullet would be in the case. I will say for sure the recoil of the 2400 minimum load picks up where the maximum CFEP left off.
I'm guessing a universal receiver doesn't have a cylinder gap.
Well, if you know the case length and the bullet length you can subtract the case length from the overall length and then subtract what’s left from the total bullet length and that will tell you how much of bullet is in the case.
It depends on the edition. Check the alloy tested, too. Higher tin will have better fill and that can add a couple thousandths to the length of the cooled bullet vs. a lower tin alloy. Same thing goes for higher antimony alloys. The editions all have testing specifications and most include cast bullet specifications as well. Hope this helps.Right but I was thinking of the amount of the Lyman bullet in the case. Maybe Lyman has the bullet length in the manual. I’ve never looked.