Please - your fav cast .357 loads for levergun

[_N4Z_]

Just bought a quantity of Missouri Bullets 158gr RNFP cast for my 1894c (.357/.38)

Listed bhn of 18 and are plain base, no GC.

Curious as to what others here have found to work well, emphasis on accuracy over brute power.

I have very limited supply of 2400 on hand, some Unique, and Bullseye. Also have a pound of AA#9.

2400 is my go to, but like I said, not alot on hand. Bullseye I am thinking fast for the 18" barrel.


Appreciate any experience and input you are willing to share.

 

[Walkalong]

Only wish I had a .357 lever gun. Folks will be by soon to help out, but any good load for pistols should work well in the lever gun. I would think AA #9 and 2400 would be a good match for lead and the long barrel if you want some velocity.

 

[kelbro]

13.6gr -2400
16.2gr- Lil Gun

Both work well in my 1894C and S&W 586 with my own cast 158gr SWCs. Haven't tried any other powders yet since these shoot so well.

 

[Furncliff]

You may be interested in this...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_12_50/ai_n6275756/?tag=content;col1

 

[_N4Z_]

kelbro, thanks for the info. 13.6 of 2400 is lighter than I would have thought, or started with. I will try it for sure.

Furncliff, thank you, I have read the Taffin article, looks like good stuff. He hits on both 2400 and AA#9.
Have you used any of that information yourself?

 

[Furncliff]

Yes I have. I have been trying to get a really accurate load for my 1894c and was having rather poor results (using three different reload manuals) until I read the article and tried the Lil Gun load (18 gr?) with a Hornaday 158 xtp. I'm planning to try the 2400 when I can.

Three shots and I knew I had a winner. Haven't done any testing since that day. My shooting is on BLM land and the warm weather we've been having turned every dirt road to mud.

I've been debating a lead bullet, but some of the loads are getting up there in speed and I wasn't sure how well the lead bullets I have would work in a rifle.

 

[zxcvbob]

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.

On my short list of loads to try when the weather permits: 148 grain DEWC, 1.36" OAL, 8.5 grains of Power Pistol. (This is a little over SAAMI max pressure, but under CIP max -- it's about 39000 psi)

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Just bought a quantity of Missouri Bullets 158gr RNFP cast for my 1894c (.357/.38)

With a 158gr Lead bullet in my Carbine I like 14.5gr 2400

 

[Skip_a_roo]

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.

I use a load from Brian Pearce's article in a Rifle Magazine. He used 19.0gr of Lil' Gun under a 158gr XTP. This load pushes that bullets to 2000 +fps from our 20" Marlin 1894 CS, 20" barrel. Puts it right at the bottom of 35Rem ballistics. Accurate too.

I also have a load for my own cast 160gr LSWC from an H&G #290BB mould. It uses a load .5gr under the minimum from the Speer #8 manual for that weight of bullet with SR4756 powder. That load delivers 1280fps from a 6" M586 and 1580fps from the carbine.

Notice the disclaimer. Use current data first and start low working up to these loads.

 

[squarles67]

6 grains of Unique works well for me under that bullet and is economical to load. Gives me around 1100 fps out of a 6" bbl S&W. It feeds and shoots well in my Marlin but I have not shot them over the chrono.

 

[_N4Z_]

Follow up on some of these loads.

Tried both the 6gr Unique load suggested by squarles67, and the 13.6gr 2400 recipe from kelbro.

The Unique did just OK in both GP100 and 1894c. The 2400 load did extremely well in the revolver, but was all over the place in the rifle.

I think the poor performance of the rifle is my fault. I have been shooting nothing but jacketed rounds through the thing and I know there is residual copper fouling in the bore.

Going to give a shot of kg12 and rerun this test, along with a few other loads.

The Missouri RNFP fed like a dream in the 1894c. That is a good thing.

 

[kelbro]

Definitely clean the copper out before shooting cast lead bullets. Otherwise you will have layers of lead over powder over copper over powder over...

I should have also mentioned that my 158gr cast bullets have gas checks.

 

[ds/ks]

For plinking. 6.0 gr. Unique. Lee TL158gr SWC. Rossi M92

 

[paperpuncher49]

I typically load 125 gr Hornady XTPs. I have used as heavy a load as 20 grains of H110 and as light as 8 grains of Unique, and have used all different loads in both a revolver and a lever gun, though it is a Puma and not a Marlin. I find the 8 grain Unique loads great for practice and/or plinking.

 

[_N4Z_]

OK then, so I just got back from more testing. Sunny and cold here, blowing around 25mph... Just shocking for Okiehoma.

Big cleaning of the rifle bore (Marlin 1894c) with KG-12 copper remover the other night. Looking good.

This time around I tested the same loads as before -
13.6gr 2400
6gr Unique
Both with the MissouriBullet 158gr RNFP

And added -
14.5gr 2400
14gr AA#9
10.7gr (.70 LeeDipper) AA#9
Again with the MB 158gr RNFP
Two groups of 5 each @ 50 yards off the bench with a bag.
---------------------------------------------------------
The results-

13.6gr. 2400 - better, (12" steel plate worthy @ 100)
6gr. Unique - no that shabby this time. (12" steel plate worthy @ 100yrds)
14.5gr 2400 - shotgun pattern.
14gr AA#9 - not bad but the group poi shifted a good 4 inches left of poa.
10.7ish gr. (Dipper) AA#9 - this looks like a keeper for plinking and steel plates. Again the poi was left of poa, but only about an inch or so, and used less powder than the 13.6 2400 load.

None of these lead loads have exhibited the accuracy I have experienced with jacketed rounds. But they are cheaper to make, and some are good enough for gonging. Of course I will be trying other combo's in effort to duplicate the luck I've had with jacketed stuff.

 

[kelbro]

It was a lever-action Monday for me.

Shot my Winchester 94 30-30 first then the Marlin 357. I shot that 13.6gr 2400 load today. 100 yds with a Skinner peep sight with 50 year old eyes. Kept a 4" group for 10 shots. 8 shots were within 3".

Another one that shot equally well was a 170gr Lyman plain base SWC over 13.5gr of 2400 that I have to load in 38 cases to get it to cycle in the Cowboy Special.

It was a good day .

 

[fecmech]

With the 2400 you are up in the 1600 fps range and as near as I can tell by your posts you are using plain base bullets (no gas chk). This is really pushing the envelope for PB slugs,with gas ck no problem. Some times it works but often times not. I would suggest if looking for accuracy cut the 2400 back in the 11-12 gr range and in the 12 gr range with AA9. My best results with PB bullets has been with the Lyman 358429 170 gr "Keith" swc and 296 at 15 grs (1650 fps) or the same bullet over 9.5 Blue Dot for about 1450 fps.

 

[_N4Z_]

Yes fecmech you are correct, I am not using gas checks on these loads.

Appreciate your input.