I took out my S&W M520 with some reloaded .357's that I whipped up. I'm using Winchester brass and small pistol primers, 4.8 gr. of titegroup topped off with Hunter's Supply 158 gr. LSWC's. I'm using a lee manual and a lee scale to measure the powder charge. The load data for Titegroup and a 158 gr. lead bullet calls for;
4.5 gr. @ 1028 fps.
5.0 gr. @ 1108 fps.
My Pro-Digital chrony with a ten shot string ten feet from the muzzel was reading;
Hi=918 fps. Lo=894 fps. Avg=905 fps. Es=24 fps. Sd=6 fps.
Something's not adding up. I would think I should be getting higher velocities with this charge. So, it must be either be the chrony or the scale. I tend to think it is more the scale. After shooting, the cases pretty much fall out of the cylinder when open and turned up side down which this isn't some thing I really don't remember seeing when shooting factory .357 magnum loads. Those usually take a good pop on the ejector rod to get them to start comming out of the cylinder. Any sugestions? Hodgdon's website calls for using Magnum primer's for this powder even though it doesn't list a specific load for 158 gr. LSWC's. My lee manual suggest using standard primer's unless specifically listed otherwise. There is nowhere in the .357 magnum load tables in my manual where it calls for magnum primers. I'm using a heavy crimp and am seeing a good amount of sooty residue of the gun after firing that almost reminds me of shooting my black powder revolvers. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Flip.
4.5 gr. @ 1028 fps.
5.0 gr. @ 1108 fps.
My Pro-Digital chrony with a ten shot string ten feet from the muzzel was reading;
Hi=918 fps. Lo=894 fps. Avg=905 fps. Es=24 fps. Sd=6 fps.
Something's not adding up. I would think I should be getting higher velocities with this charge. So, it must be either be the chrony or the scale. I tend to think it is more the scale. After shooting, the cases pretty much fall out of the cylinder when open and turned up side down which this isn't some thing I really don't remember seeing when shooting factory .357 magnum loads. Those usually take a good pop on the ejector rod to get them to start comming out of the cylinder. Any sugestions? Hodgdon's website calls for using Magnum primer's for this powder even though it doesn't list a specific load for 158 gr. LSWC's. My lee manual suggest using standard primer's unless specifically listed otherwise. There is nowhere in the .357 magnum load tables in my manual where it calls for magnum primers. I'm using a heavy crimp and am seeing a good amount of sooty residue of the gun after firing that almost reminds me of shooting my black powder revolvers. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Flip.