X-Treme 158gn SWC Bullets (copper jacket)

[Kelly1975]

Hi folks,

Yesterday I was at a reloading supply store, got a good deal on 500 of the bullets mentioned in the subject. I had one of my reloader books with me, didn't see a recipe but in haste I figured if nothing else, I'll just choose a recipe in the 185gr category that matches the profile.

Brought them home and cannot seem to find any reliable info on recipes for a 158gn 357mag SWC. I checked several sources as well as the Accurate website (I generally use Accurate 5 and 7 for .40 and .357/38.

Am I missing something here?

 

[ericuda]

I really like those bullets. I dont have the powders you mentioned but i have pushed them pretty hard. Load up with higher end of lead or lower end of fmj. Test a few as always first at lower end.

 

[Kelly1975]

So to clarify, use a recipe from the manual for 158 gr jacketed ammo in the lower half of the weight and increase as necessary. Sounds good. Thanks!

 

[George P]

Most plated bullet companies say to limit velocity to ~1200fps. I use this bullet in 38s all the time; they shoot great.

 

[Riomouse911]

I’ve shot thousands of Extreme plated bullets as well, using their SWC, HP and DEWC bullets.

I also use loads listed for lead bullets of the corresponding style or a bit above. I am not a hot rodder at the loading bench, so I haven’t run into leading or or the issues from pushing them too hard.

Stay safe.

 

[Kelly1975]

And the COAL? It seems to follow the profile of a FN...

 

[kmw1954]

http://www.accuratepowder.com/load-data/

They do not have data for an Xtreme 357mag but they do have 2 for a 158gr bullet with both AA#5 and AA#7,

 

[Kelly1975]

http://www.accuratepowder.com/load-data/

They do not have data for an Xtreme 357mag but they do have 2 for a 158gr bullet with both AA#5 and AA#7,

Yep I saw that, they have the Lead data, not jacketed. But I could probably get away with their suggested COAL and just duplicate the powder grains of a low end plated 158gr bullet...

 

[kmw1954]

Yep I saw that, they have the Lead data, not jacketed. But I could probably get away with their suggested COAL and just duplicate the powder grains of a low end plated 158gr bullet...

That was my line of thinking.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Yep I saw that, they have the Lead data, not jacketed.

Just for clarity, the Xtreme bullets are not jacketed, they are plated

 

[Walkalong]

Load them so the case mouth lines up with the fake cannelure on the bullet, lightly taper crimp with your 9MM seater or a dedicated.38/.357 taper crimp die.

You should be able to use up to midrange jacketed #5 & #7 data with no issues. I have run them with 14.5 Grs 2400 and a heavy taper crimp. The same exact load with a 158 XTP gave almost identical velocities

I posted the info on those in a recent thread

 

[lordpaxman]

@Kelly1975 , welcome to THR!
You’ve already gotten a lot of great advice here.

I'll just choose a recipe in the 185gr category that matches the profile.

I’ll presume you twiddled the 8 and 5?
As others have pointed out, the Accurate data has 158 gr Lead SWC data for both #5 and #7. Your bullet is plated and although the X-Treme website says you can use lead or jacketed data, I would opt for starting in the middle of the lead data, not the minimum. If there were jacketed data, I’d start at the minimum. In my testing the minimum lead data for plated bullets has produced very anemic loads to the point of a squib. Good luck.

 

[Kelly1975]

Great info guys, it seems we are roughly on the same page, enough to give me a start without worrying about doing damage. Thank you all for your quick and thorough responses. Before I signed up to this forum I was concerned I bought the wrong bullets but now I'm trilled to try these out

 

[mdi]

I too use cast bullet data (not swaged lead as in some manuals). I've only tried about 1,000 in a few guns/calibers and lead data suits them fine. If I want/need higher velocity or heavier loads I'll go with a standard jacketed bullet. I have never had any problems with stripping plating at lead bullet velocities. And I don't think I'd try my Magnum or "hot" 9mm loads...

 

[Kelly1975]

So to close this up, I was able to communicate via text with a ballistics guy from X-Treme bullets. He was really cool which speaks volumes for this company I think. He most agreed with the inputs provided here.

Hi Kelly, we don't use those powders, but Speer bullets create similar pressures. Use these as starting charges and increase by 1/10 grain increments. Lower the charge if your cases begin to expand or other pressure signs become apparent. And attached was a copy of the 158 grain Speer page which I also had on hand.

Perfect, yes these loads have tested well for us in other powder types. Plated bullets at the same grain weight can be used at the lower charges of jacketed data. If you have AA no. 5 then you should be just fine. It's a slightly fast burning powder, so may be better with a short barreled revolver.

So thanks for all your inputs