Question on load data?

[ballman6711]

I was just looking at Hodgdon's site and looking at .357 magnum data I see a 158gr cast lswc as well as a 158gr "mei" cast lswc. They list completely different powder for each bullet type.

So what is the difference between an "MEI" cast lswc and a plain ole' cast lswc? Is the "MEI" a hard cast bullet, maybe 18bhn vs 12bhn? Or is it a particular brand of bullet?

Additional note: Both listings are under .357 magnum pistol loads, so I'm pretty sure one's not a designated rifle load.

Thanks,

chris

 

[Jim Watson]

I have assumed that "Mei" at Hodgdon means Meister brand bullets.
Why they address them separately from other cast bullets, I don't know. Meisters look like anybody else's machine cast bullets with blue wax lube.

 

[mdi]

I just checked tHe Hodgdon site and yep, the powders, 8 different, differ fro the "Cast SWC" (only designation) and the "MEI cast SWC". Looked up MEI cast SWC and found them to be 14-16 BHN which is a normal commercial cast bullet hardness. Unless there is some difference between the two, like in basic shape and hardness, I have no idea why the totally different powders are listed, but the velocities listed for the Meister bullets are a bit higher...

 

[Bfh_auto]

Could be a different person did the testing and decided to be more accurate in data compilation. Or the other person thought bullet manufacturer want important for cast.
I use their Mei data with MBC bullets without issue.

 

[Bill M.]

Maybe they got the data from another testing facility.

 

[splattergun]

I was going to suggest that Meister has their own loading manual and they might have shared date with Hodgdon, but their manual is for Cowboy Action Shooting. Velocities in Hodgdon's site are a tad faster than CAS AFAIK.

 

[AJC1]

If nothing else each load is tailored to the driving band surface area for that bullet. More data is gooder.

 

[splattergun]

 

[reddog81]

That’s one of the problems with load data... Even from reputable sources it can be all over the place. The MEI LSWC bullet has max pressures right around 27 - 28,000 PSI with all loads. The other cast bullet has pressures ranging from 15.000 to 33,600 CUP.

What does all that mean??? Different people using different testing methods i suppose.