Whats your 357mag mid load "go to" powder?

[fourdollarbill]

Whats your 357mag mid load "go to" powder for 158grLSWC with about #2 alloy bhn?

I have been using 2400 and Unique for a long time and here are the reasons I'm looking for a new powder suggestion.

2400 is good but dirty and I get allot of unburnt debris. I know I can work most of that out but I would prefer to try something new.

Unique is a fantastic powder but it is more of a pain to measure. I use a Redding 3B powder dispenser and I have to use the large diameter universal insert to help cut it and that insert makes a more erratic weight changes when using so little powder. When I use the small diameter pistol powder insert it measures just as bad and it is harder to cut. (more force needed)

What powder do you like to use for a 357mag mid load 158LSWC ?

 

[ScratchnDent]

I like Unique, HS-6, and Accurate #7.

AA#7 meters very well.

 

[Steve C]

Unique.

 

[The_Stig]

Power Pistol

 

[Black_Talon]

Winchester 231

 

[srsmith]

Viht N110

 

[Ateam-3]

Unique

 

[Walkalong]

Unique, & N340. Longshot does pretty well at reduced loads, as does AA #5. N330 does well too.

 

[Hondo 60]

Titegroup! It's clean, mild report & VERY insensitive to position in the case. And on top of all that - it's accurate for me.

And at least locally, it's always available.

 

[Walkalong]

I challenge everyone repeating Hodgdons mantra that Titegroup is position insensitive to test it. Fire 6 over the chrono with the powder back against the primer and 6 with the powder up against the bullet.

Hodgdon touts it as being position insensitive, and as far as burning clean it is, but as far as giving the same velocities regardless of position, it is average at best.

Give it a try in .357. Barrel up and then level off for 6 shots and barrel down and then level off for 6 shots. The difference might surprise you.

SR4756 is the very worst for being position sensitive as far as velocity delivered. One load I tried with a 125 Gr plated bullet that gave around 900 FPS powder back, stuck a bullet powder forward.

I have no doubt many squib loads come from powder that does poorly being away from the primer. They shoot fine until one gets popped off with the powder against the bullet, then pffft, a stuck bullet. I have done it enough testing powders position sensitivity to know it happens.

One caveat, lead is much more forgiving than plated or jacketed bullets. The PB & PF numbers will always be better with lead.

 

[Walkalong]

Check out this word document with some pasted load pages on it. It shows where I gathered PB & PF numbers for those loads. Unique does pretty well in that dept.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=6738824&postcount=12

 

[Mr.Revolverguy]

I agree with WalkAlong on titegroup and it's advertisements but it is a good powder. i have done the position testing walkalong speak of and you will be surprised of the results. Having said that, titegroup burns very hot so I have decided to only use it in semi auto handloads for me that is 40S&W, 45ACP. I have discovered it will cause flame cutting in revolvers.

 

[Gik-tal]

Imr-700x

 

[Legionnaire]

Unique for me. Trail Boss for light loads.

 

[GP100man]

If I was limited to 1 powder It`d be - - - - - not to popular with the progressive loaders because it`s a large flake powder - - - - - - does down load & upload to magnum pressures - - - - - clean burnin - - - - - availbility is good - - - - - not terribly expensive - - - - IMR 800x!!!

My Redhawk luvs the stuff under a 429421 & 8grs. in my GP with a 357446 is scary accurate shootin at a car rim across the feild 10 hits out of 2 cyls. !!!!!!
I think the other 2 went thru the hole in the center !!!! LOL , that`s my story & stikin to it !!!!

 

[zxcvbob]

How "mid" do you want it? I really like Herco for cast bullet loads, especially 158's (8.0 grains.) Herco measures about like Unique but you use more of it so that should help with your powder measure. WSF (in my experience) is a direct substitute for Herco and it measures better -- but since there is so little published load data for it, I back-off the loads just a little.

For something closer to full power, I like AA#7. AA#7 measures like water.

 

[billybob44]

If I was limited to 1 powder It`d be - - - - - not to popular with the progressive loaders because it`s a large flake powder - - - - - - does down load & upload to magnum pressures - - - - - clean burnin - - - - - availbility is good - - - - - not terribly expensive - - - - IMR 800x!!!

My Redhawk luvs the stuff under a 429421 & 8grs. in my GP with a 357446 is scary accurate shootin at a car rim across the feild 10 hits out of 2 cyls. !!!!!!
I think the other 2 went thru the hole in the center !!!! LOL , that`s my story & stikin to it !!!!

What you're trying to say, GP is that the other two missed the whole car that the rim was attached to...Right????????

 

[454PB]

BlueDot.

 

[wankerjake]

I like unique, titegroup and bullseye. Titegroup and bullseye meter better than unique for sure. Admittedly I use bullseye more for light loads but it seems to be the most accurate. I like all three though.

 

[janobles14]

HS6 or unique

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Whats your 357mag mid load "go to" powder for 158grLSWC with about #2 alloy bhn?

I use mostly HS-6 now... I've found HS-6 to be a very accurate powder when loading lead bullets.

 

[evan price]

158 lswc and 5.0 grains titegroup in my S&W 66's.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Alliant 2400 for low and mid-range loads. Top end loads I use W-296.

 

[Blackrock]

Power Pistol

 

[Kernel]

AA#5 and Unique.