Need help with Winchester 296 Powder in .357 and .44 Mag

[Rob62]

I got a 4 lb can of W-W 296 powder and now am trying to figure out what to load it in.

So far I have found out that it’s fairly limited to full power magnum loads in the .357 and .44 Magnum arena. (I don’t load for shotgun)

Also read that I need to use the Reloading manual posted recommended loads and that the powder could not be safely reduced like Unique or Bullseye.

But this is what has me stumped. All the manuals show the use of a magnum primer with powder/load data for 296.

My question is, do I have to use a magnum primer or could I get away with using a standard primer? The loads I am making will be used for plinking and target practice so am not worried to much about getting the maximum velocities I can. Basically I just need to use up the powder using the standard primers I have on hand.

FWIW these are some of the cartridge / bullet combos I am trying to load for:

.357 Magnum 158gr lead bullet, 125gr JHP bullet, 158gr JHP bullet and 180gr JHP/XP bullet

.44 Mangum 215gr Lead bullet, 180gr JHP bullet, 240gr JHP bullet

I don’t think I can use W-W 296 powder with any of the cast bullets, but if someone here has been doing that I sure would like to know.

Thanks and Regards,
Rob

 

[Ben Shepherd]

296 is a hard powder to ignite, that's why they reccomend magnum primers. You can use standard primers, but then you'll always be worrying when you're going to have one that won't ignite.

You can go down a little bit, but not much. You also need a firm crimp with this powder.

Lead slugs and 296: IF your bullets are hard cast, so they won't lead things up when you drive them hard, 296 works fine. If they are swaged or a softer alloy, they won't work, as you can't download 296 enough to get them into a speed range they like.

If you have a bunch of the lead bullets, you'd be coming out ahead by investing in some 2400 to load behind them in those 2 calibers.

 

[mavracer]

+1 to what Ben said.
you have purchased THE stomper magnum powder the only problem is thats the only way it works good.I would not use it with the light cast bullets you stated.use 180 gr + 357 and 300 grainers in the 44 and you'll find happyness.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Your lead slugs-
Are they hard cast, or are they a soft or swaged alloy?

If they are soft you need a moderate charge of unique or universal behind them. My advice about using 2400 would be wrong, as 2400 is a little too slow burning for use behind soft slugs.(unless you don't mind moderate to severe leading)

 

[Rob62]

All the cast bullets except the 215 gr SWC .44 cal are comercially cast. The 215's are mine - cast from scarp lead and wheel weights.

As originally posted, my main plan was to create some mid-velocity plinking/target practice ammo. Reading the comments here, plus what I read in my reloading manuals. I do believe that I made a mistake by getting this powder. Which brings up the axium that even if its cheap, its not a good deal if it can't be used for what you want to do with it

I think I will go back to where I got this powder and see if I can't return it or trade it out - its still un-opened. Should have stuck with what's always worked well for me - Unique or Bullseye. But these powders are costing right at $19 a lb now.

Thanks for the comments.

Rob

 

[buck460XVR]

I got a 4 lb can of W-W 296 powder and now am trying to figure out what to load it in.

ain't tryin' to be a jerk, but I was taught to decide on a bullet and a velocity first, and then get powder and primers accordingly. Investing in 4lbs of powder before knowing what you can use it for will probably mean you're stuck with it for a while......most places wont take any powder or other reloading components back opened or not......same with loaded ammo. Liability.

you have purchased THE stomper magnum powder the only problem is thats the only way it works good.

yes, it along with it's identical twin H110 are in the top three or so when it comes to Magnum loads........and that is a good thing. It throws 158/180 gr. .357s well outta my 686.....it also does a good job with 240/300 grainers outta the .460s. For plinkin' and fun with the .357, I tend to use Unique.

 

[Slamfire]

One of the problems of estate sales, is that you end up with powders that you normally would not buy. So I ended up several pounds of W296. I did a web search and found that a lot of people use 15.5 grs of the stuff behind a 158 gr bullet. That load was within recommendations of the loading manual I looked at.

The load shot well, no leading and no sticky extraction. Both of these powders gave a much bigger bang than 2400, which is my favorite 357 Magnum powder.

A friend, initials CK, also gave me over 1000 bullets he had cast. These were very hard bullets. They might have been linotype for all I know. They are much harder than the commercial cast bullets I have been using. I shot CK’s bullets with the W296 and with a known charge of AA#9. Why I have included this data is that the velocities with the harder CK bullets were infact slower than the softer bullets. Either I had instrumentation error, or the softer bullets create higher pressures.

Whatever you plan to do, W296, and the same powder called H110, are not very flexible powders. You either shoot full power magnum level loads, or you do not shoot the stuff.

I did not use magnum primers, and nothing bad happened. I have loaded up all of CK bullets with 15.5 grs W296 and plan to launch them into space as time permits.

Smith & Wesson M27-2 6.5” barrel


158 LSWC CK Hardcast Bullets 15.5 W296 Zero Cases CCI500

21 June 2008 T = 85 °F

Ave Vel = 1282
Std Dev = 35
ES = 128.1
High = 1325
Low = 1197
N = 12

No leading, no extraction issues, heavier recoil than AA#9 load


158 LSWC CK Hardcast Bullets 12.0 AA#9 Mixed cases CCI500

21 June 2008 T = 85 °F

Ave Vel = 1166
Std Dev = 99
ES = 251.8
High = 1245
Low = 993.3
N = 6

No leading

158 LRN Commercial 12.0 grs AA#9 CCI500 Mixed cases
5-Aug-06 T = 104 °F
Ave Vel = 1278
Std Dev = 34.98
ES = 117.4
High = 1344
Low = 1226
N = 27

 

[zxcvbob]

It's also a good powder for the .30 Carbine, and the .410 shotgun.

I've used 296 in .45 Colt monster loads with cast bullets. It should work just as good (or better) in .44 Magnum. Winchester WLP primers should be fine; I don't know about other non-magnum primers (I would buy some Wolf LPM primers for the .44 and use whatever brand of small rifle primers I had handy in the .357)

 

[RidgwayCO]

If you're looking for some other cartridge to stuff with Win 296, the .22 Hornet is also a top choice. My 10" T/C Contender performs well with that combo. Excellent on prairie dogs out to 100 yards or so.

 

[FM12]

ALWAYS use heavy bullets, heavy crimp and magnum primers. NEVER load .38 spls, you'll get only squibs. Trust me on this!