What where you trying to seat them at for OAL.
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What did you do in the reloading room recently?
- Thread starter DW357
- Start date
Well, it's been here for a few years...no hurry!
Good luck with your re-surgery.
Good luck with your re-surgery.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Cast about 10 pound of 9mm and 5 pounds of 45
I’ll coat them tonight if I have a chance.
I’ll coat them tonight if I have a chance.
Found a source for black powder that might help out certain NESers. I have no experience with him/them.
Maine Powder House - Your Black Powder Source
Maine Powder House - Your Black Powder Source
headednorth
NES Member
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- Apr 9, 2012
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![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
Dirtypacman
NES Door Greeter
Finally set back my makeshift bench since my move years back. Sorted and checked inventory (plenty of that) Just need to start pounding em out and checking my loads again.
cjrubes
NES Member
Resized a pile of 223 brass my father-in-law gave me recently.
Been loading up some pulled M1 Carbine bullets for light .308 WIn. plinking loads in the FR-7. Also shot off some of my 200g JSWC in same.
Can't send anything to the recycle bin before putting some holes in them...
Can't send anything to the recycle bin before putting some holes in them...
Finally got around to shooting some of the 44 magnums in my avatar. I tried hard to get everything just right. This was the result at 100yds today. 10 shot group. I think that's 6 shots in a ragged hole surrounded by 4 "fliers", or maybe the bullseye shot is a double, so that would be 5 and 5. I think this is about what Henry rifle can do with the 240gr XTPs. Incidentally, the same load (22.5gr H110 + Federal LPM primers) with 240 grain Zero JSPs doesn't group as well (say 4" groups). Lighter loads with Universal and 180gr and 240gr XTPs grouped OK. I had a lot less luck with my BE-86 loads. That surprised me because my experience with it in handguns has been good so far.
Looks pretty good to me. Have you ever run cast/coated bullets in the .44? How about the FTX bullets?
There are some excellent heavyweights out there (Lee 430 310RF, Buffalo Bore, Matt's, etc.).
There are some excellent heavyweights out there (Lee 430 310RF, Buffalo Bore, Matt's, etc.).
I've shot the Hornady 44 LEVERevolution factory loads. They group very well. When I shot them I also got a high and low flier here and there (windage was always on).
I've been thinking about running some coated bullets. I shoot coated 300gr 45 Colts in another Henry, and I think they are really accurate. I say "I think" because that rifle isn't scoped, and I don't see the open sights well enough to shoot a group at 100yds that means anything. The 45 Colt Henry has a much faster twist rate than the 44 (1:16 versus 1:38), so I'm not sure about 300gr+ in the .44. I shot some 300gr XTPs once, and they didn't impress me. I should probably give them another try because that was when I was a novice at reloading. Anyway, I was thinking about running Hi-Tek coated cast bullets in the 200-240gr range for this rifle.
Gotcha. Sounds like you can have all day fun with generic 240 grainers. Enjoy!
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
I might have found a candidate for paper patching. If the 6.5 carc. Does not do well with the .264 I may paper patch to up the dia.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Paper patch is good for everything.
Size the bullet to .001” or .002” over BORE diameter. Patch to .001” to .002” over GROOVE diameter.
Shoot!
gerrycaruso
NES Member
I loaded some .308 for use in a heavy barrel model 700. Both loads used once fired Federal brass and Hornady's new 168 grain match bullet. One load used IMR 4064 and Gold Medal Match primers. The other load used Accurate 2520 and Remington 9 1/2 M primers. The 2520 loads outshot the 4064 loads at 300 yards.The 2520 drops much more consistently than the 4064 but it didn't matter in this case since every charge was weighed by hand.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
peterk123
NES Member
Finally got my hands on some Alliant 2400 for my 357 mag loads. Loaded to 14.5 grains. Nice pop and plenty accurate with coated bullets sized at .358. I like how it feels better than the BE-86. I am starting to understand the benefit of a slower powder for mag loads. Plus it burns very clean and almost fills the cartridge, so the risk of a double charge is impossible. Next is to ramp up production.
Reminds me of something that happened last time. I was testing some BE-86 loads in .44 Magnum in my Henry, 5 shots per load. I had just 4 240grain Hornady XTPs left, and I had decided to load them up with a middling 11 grains of BE-86. Those were the last of the BE-86 loads to test, and all I had left for the day were my real magnum loads with 240 grain Zero JSPs over 22.5grains of H110. So, I put some of those in the magazine tube after the BE-86 loads, intending to switch from paper to steel target after the 4 BE-86 shots. But I forgot, see, and every other test group was 5 shots. So, I'm shooting the XTP BE-86 loads trying to see how they group. They're kind of light and pleasant. I'm touching each of them off, concentrating. Then I touched of the 5th shot of the group, or what I thought was the 5th shot shot of the group. BOOM. Much louder and more recoil than before. "What was that?!" I wondered. Then I remembered: it was just a normal H110 boom. OkeeDohKee.
Indeed. You really need the magnum powders for the full-power loads.
2400 is plenty stout, but I'd think it's more of a mid-range powder. For example, 158g w/2400: 1265 fps; 158g w/Lil' Gun: 1577 fps. 170g w/2400: 1166 fps; 170g w/Lil' Gun: 1576 fps. Max. loads w/10" bbl. Company load data specs.
Have any of you used Lil' Gun? I'm intrigued by the much lower pressures in .357 magnum w/158+ grain bullets as compared to H110, w296, etc. Not so much variation in .44 Magnum.
2400 is plenty stout, but I'd think it's more of a mid-range powder. For example, 158g w/2400: 1265 fps; 158g w/Lil' Gun: 1577 fps. 170g w/2400: 1166 fps; 170g w/Lil' Gun: 1576 fps. Max. loads w/10" bbl. Company load data specs.
Have any of you used Lil' Gun? I'm intrigued by the much lower pressures in .357 magnum w/158+ grain bullets as compared to H110, w296, etc. Not so much variation in .44 Magnum.
I'd never noticed that. It's interesting. I looked at some of the other cartridges and saw a similar pattern: higher velocity at lower pressure in the smaller but not larger calibers. Perhaps the geometry of the case is more the issue than the caliber itself, i.e. long and slender gets higher velocity at lower pressure. I did some internet research on Lil'Gun and found a bit of controversy over it burning very hot and possibly damaging revolvers that way, rather than with over-pressure.
headednorth
NES Member
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Same here, the little bit of research I did came up with a lot of forcing cones eroded away. Have some but have been hesitant to use it.
Work up very carefully with Lil' Gun. It's one of those powders that spikes up in pressure with just a small amount of additional powder. I was loading S&W 460 Magnums with Lil' Gun below (but near) max. My second-to-last ladder step was .3gr heavier than the previous, and I had to knock the fired cases out of the cylinder with a dowel.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Best group of the day. .357 Magnum brass with 125gr Zero JHP Conical bullets over 7.5 grains of Universal. 5 shot group at 100 yards out of a Henry Big Boy Steel. I wish Universal metered better in my powder drop, but I do love it for light magnum loads.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
tap on the powder measure 50 or 75 times then start throwing charges. worked wonders in my dillon measure
I'll give it a try. My issue with it is that it hangs a little sometimes, I presume because a flake is wedging somewhere. Then when that happens, and I force through it to complete the drop, I worry that the load might not be as accurate. I think maybe it tends not to be, but I'm not actually sure now. Lately I've been loading straight from the Chargemaster.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
I had inconsistency issues with universal throwing heavier and heavier till it finally settled.
So I just gave it a little manual settling. I read a few other guys online doing the same thing.
Good luck.
So I just gave it a little manual settling. I read a few other guys online doing the same thing.
Good luck.
Wowza! That’s some excellent accuracy! Glad those Zero bullets are working well for you. I’ve only tried their conical bullets for 9mm not 357. But I remember the woman at Zero I spoke with said they’re suppose to be more accurate than their standard bullets. I have thousands of their standard 125 and 158 gr JHPs and JSPs which shoot very well too. Never shot them on paper before I sold my Henry 357....
Now I just got a Henry all weather 44 rifle.
I don’t know how long you’ve been reloading for but we’re very lucky the Zero bullets are readily in stock now. Up until last year, they were sold out completely (I hadn’t seen them in stock since mid-2015). Definitely a buyers market nowadays for reloading stuff/ammo/guns etc.
You using a scope or iron sights? I don’t know if I could shoot that well unless I had the rifle locked into a lead sled lol. That’s awesome.
I have a Leupold VX-1 3-9x40 on that gun. Was just using a Caldwell rest filled with kitty litter. Had to use the force. At least I know that in the rifle I can shoot those bullets much more accurately than the 158gr JSP and 158gr JHP. The same gun throws a 3-4" group with Federal AE 158gr JSPs, and my reloads of the Zero 158gr JSPs over H110 (or anything else) were only marginally better. The 158gr Zero JHPs are a little better. I was shooting 1.5 to 2" groups with those. The conical bullets mic out smaller in diameter. I forget, but I think I've measured them at under .3565", or thereabouts. I know that when I have dropped them through the chambers in my revolvers, the JHP conicals fall through without so much as snagging on the cylinder throats, whereas the 158gr JHPs are at least slowed or need some coaxing through the cylinder throats (and catch on one or two). The JSPs won't drop through the cylinder throats on any of my guns. I know it doesn't matter as much with jacketed bullets, but I was just checking. I'm not crazy about the conicals in my revolvers because they don't make neat holes, and the smaller diameter leads to low neck tension in some brass. I don't notice any more accuracy in my revolvers, not that I'm confident that I could tell.
Oh, incidentally, I was worried about the safety of these bullets in the magazines of my lever guns, so I actually put a primed case tight in drilled hole of a piece of wood, put the wood in a vice, loaded a dummy round with one of them, and used a hammer to try to set it off using the dummy round. Couldn't make it happen. The hollow point diameter is pretty much exactly the diameter of the primer pocket.
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