Good/Accurate .357 Load in a Carbine?

[Tophernj]

I'm looking for a good, accurate load in a .357 carbine length barrel with a 1-16 rh twist. I have some LSWC, 158 with 12gn of 2400 and they are all over the place. Do I need to bump up/down my charge or change bullets/weight/shape. I have a s&%t load of powder in the barrel as well. No real leading, though. The rounds are all over the place at 50yds. I'm not looking for a sub MOA gun, but I'd like to be in the "zone" at 50.


Any help would be appreciated.


Christopher

 

[buck460XVR]

If you have good bullet fit to the bore, and they are hardcast and not swagged, I'd bump the charge up half a grain at a time till I hit 14 and see if accuracy improved. If nuttin was changing by the time I got to 13.5, I think I'd give up and try another combo.

 

[Tophernj]

Cool. Thanks.

C

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I get very good results with HS-6 and 158gr LSWC bullets in a Carbine is 2400 doesn't work out for you. BUT, 2400 usually works very well with lead bullets in the .357 Magnum. Are you sure the barrel is clear of fouling and lead?

 

[tyeo098]

I had good results with .358" 158gr LRN-FP on top of 7gr or Bullseye.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I had good results with .358" 158gr LRN-FP on top of 7gr or Bullseye.

Really? Bullseye is way too fast a powder for .357 Magnum rounds especially when shot from the longer Carbine length barrels.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Handloader Magazine, Issue 100 (November-December 1982) has an excellent article on loads for the .357 Magnum carbine. Ken Waters only tested three cast bullets for that article, but his most accurate load was with a 158 gr. bullet using SR 4759, but he also had good results with 2400. His most accurate load was with the Sierra 158 gr. JSP bullet and Winchester 296, which has proven to be the most accurate load in my Marlin Carbines.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[USSR]

If you have good bullet fit to the bore, and they are hardcast and not swagged, I'd bump the charge up half a grain at a time till I hit 14 and see if accuracy improved. If nuttin was changing by the time I got to 13.5, I think I'd give up and try another combo.

+1.

Don

 

[gacajun]

Are you shooting a .38sp or a .357 case?

I shoot 158gr RNFP from Missouri Bullets in .38sp for "knockdown load" in CAS and I use 3.2 gr of Clays. I shoot that in both a Marlin 1894 and a Uberti 1873 with good results.

Of course if you are shooting in a .357 case that load would not be correct.

 

[Tophernj]

Thanks for all the input.

I shoot 357 cases only as I'm too lazy to adjust the dies.

C

 

[gacajun]

I looked on Alliant's website and the load for .357 with a 158 gr Speer GDHP using 2400 powder is 14.8 gr. Now this is not the same bullet as a 158 gr. lead bullet but the bullet weight is the same. So 12 gr would appear to be too low. I think I'd start at 13.5 and work up a few and see how that works for you. If you still have unburned powder you might increase it to a little higher amount by small increments make sure you don't overcharge the case. If you don't get satisfactory results at around 14.5 I'd switch the powder to something else.

I use Clay's powder for .38 and .357 with good results. You can find Clay's loading data on Hodgdon's website.

 

[gamestalker]

If you don't get things to come together for you with 2400, you may want to consider trying 296. being that your working with 2400, your obviously wanting full tilt magnum performance, so 296 would clearly be another viable option. As with most slow burner's, just don't expect it to do well at the lower end of the table.

GS

 

[Tophernj]

Thanks again all. I will be heading to the range in the next couple of days and will be bringing some different loads with me. I will report back.

And yes, I'm looking for some fairly heavy loads to put thru the gun. However it would be really nice to be able to hit what I'm aiming at. I'm actually looking to develop a hunting load but am trying to start off with accurate loads first. Then I'll move up to heavier stuff for the season.

C