35 Whelen
Member
Smith...Good to know.
The original loading can be pretty well duplicated with a cast bullet and 15.3 grains of 2400...but I strongly advise one and all who wish to venture into that neighborhood to exercise extreme caution and approach it slowly.
I also advise against using it in a K-Frame sized revolver...and even to use it sparingly in an L-Frame. N-Frame class and New Model Blackhawks are good to go as long as the pressure signs look good. At the first sign of a sticky case...back off. You're already into dangerous territory.
Incidentally, the original ammunition used small rifle primers. Whenever I venture above 14.5 grains...which is seldom...I do the same.
Also incidentally...14.5 grains with a 155-160 grain cast bullet is about as good as it gets accuracy-wise, gives up little in velocity, and it doesn't beat up the gun so badly...but even that one comes with a caveat in K-Frames.
To wit: For need-based use only.
Disclaimer:
Use the above data at your own risk. I've never unwrapped a revolver with it, but that doesn't mean that you won't.
Funny...as a teenager I read Shooting Times magazine religiously, and especially articles and columns by Skeeter Skelton. The load I remember him mentioning over and over was 15.0 grs. of (then) Hercules 2400 and a 158 gr. bullet. So at that tender young age I loaded who knows how many of this load and merrily banged away with them in my little S&W Model 13 with ne'er a problem.
Fast forward 10 years or so and I loaded my 4" Security Six with 14.5 grs. of the same powder under a 158 gr. Remington SJHP for 1346 fps. the same charge yielded 1364 fps with a commercial 158 gr. SWC.
Five or so years more, and I was loading the full 15.0 grs. again in my 6 1/2" Blackhawk and now getting 1538 fps with the 158 gr. SWC., 1450 fps with the Remington HP, and 1456 fps with a home-cast 165 gr. Keith SWC.
35W