Blast from the past 40 year old handloads

[mec]

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

The following link has a discussion of a load published in a gun magazine circa 1963. It is not a safe load and any attempt to duplicate it with similar components would not be advisable:

http://forums.sixgunner.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7462

Also of note is chronograph data from a batch of 40 year old .357 loads using the Hercules Unique of the period. Five of these rounds were disassembled and the original powder replaced by the current Alliant Unique.

 

[Grump]

Cool stuff, thanks for the post and link.

Any idea what Alliant or anyone else lists nowdays for a 146-gr LEAD pill that's not a full wadcutter.

I once shot a box of loads using more than a full grain MORE than that load of Unique, in .357, using the Speer 146-gr JSWCHP. Only the faintest dull red flash popped out when shooting bunnies at night, and only 2 out of 6 cases had slightly sticky extraction. That was from a 4-inch Model 28. IME, jacketed bullets shoot to slightly less pressure than lead.

 

[mec]

146 grain cast bullets seem to have gone by the wayside. The speer semi-jacket is still there and a good bullet too. Oddly enough my most recent speer book just mentions it as being used with one grain less powder than their 140 grain bullet and Unique isn't listed at all.

My old speer #3 lists the 146 grain cast with a maximum charge of 8 grains of unique and velocities from a 6.5" 27 of 1250. We used to top out at 7 grains and then go to 2400 for anything higher. Seemed to have leaded less with the plain based bullets.

The 47 th edition of the Lyman book goes to 7.9 grain with a 148 grain wadcutter but doesn't list it with any of the mid weight semi-wadcutters.

 

[444]

Only loosely related, but lately I have been buying old gun magazines, particularly Handloader Magazine off of E-Bay. Very interesting to see the equipment and loads used 30 years ago.

That is a nice looking bullet. I would like to get a mold similar to that. What I would really like is a Lyman #358156 Ray Thompson bullet in a hollow point, but Lyman stopped making it in HP configuration. I saw one on an auction site recently but was foolishly outbid in the final seconds. After the fact I would have gladly raised my bid to whatever it took to get it (within reason).


" jacketed bullets shoot to slightly less pressure than lead."
I thought the opposite.

 

[mec]

this is my favorite all time hp bullet. Of course, they don't make it anymore either. I cast it out of chilled shot for convenience. It has a rather narrow range of expansion - like 1050- 1200 fps above which it tends to fly apart in meat. I like that just fine. Its the 358429 hp. The front driving band is less than the full diameter reducing the overall bearing surface. It gives somewhat lower velocities with a given charge than a 158 grain with a full diameter driving band.

 

[Gewehr98]

Wow! That vintage AL-7 load moving 1600fps has me thinking...

Another load to try in my .357 Desert Eagle! (gas-checked, of course)

 

[mec]

Its the one that was doing 1745 has me worried. That and the way the primers leaked around the edges.