Reloading BS thread

6.5gr hs6 38sp case
8.5gr hs6 357mag case

Both under a 158 coated hard cast bullet. (SNS cast or bayou)

 

Here is my work space, although it has never looked this clean since the day i started using it.

 

If we want to raise the dead, 21.0gr h110 357mag under a 158gr FMJ.

 

Got a bottle of BE86, only bullets they had were premium (hollow point) bullets and some berry's like I already have.
They were almost out of primers, all they had were a few hundred federal primers, all out of CCI (my preferred brand).

 

If you are shopping for cast bullets online, I buy almost all mine from here: http://rimrockbullets.net/
I mostly shoot heavy for caliber bullets and they have a good selection. They are great about shipping in flat rate boxes, so whenever I order I try to completely fill one up. Lots of other good bullet makers out there, but it seems I buy most of mine from Rimrock these days.

 

For cost efficiency I will be going with cast in the slower calibers (Particularly for plinking), although i do want to pick up some FMJ's for some hot 357 loads.
Thanks for the link.

From the Alliant site, I'll be using this load data to load a small batch tomorrow. Gonna start the loads at 7.4 Gr.

 

Don't overlook hard cast 180s in a WFN design for the 357. Makes it a true thumper.

 

Got 10 rounds primed and charged, 5 rounds have 11.5 Gr of 2400 and 5 have 12.0 Gr of 2400, getting ready to seat and crimp before I load up 10 rounds of BE-86.
OAL is 1.584 (Barry's recommends 1.584 so I believe we are close enough), it just looks a little funny because the round nose is such a gradual taper.
Dummy round shown, it's what I set the seating die with.

 

38 or 357?

 

357
Also per the lee documentation that came with the die set 1.59 is max OAL for 357.

 

I currently only have 357 mag cases clean, in the move we must have lost the tumbler media and I didn't feel like going and doing the DIY stuff or drive the half hour to the closest pet supply store for walnut media.

 

I always set mine as long as possible so the cylinder will still rotate. Once you load a few you can fine tune the load and OAL to what works best in your gun

 

Good to know.

 

10 rounds with the 2400 done, gonna start doing the 10 rounds with the BE-86.
It was pretty consistent with OAL (within .02) and then I used the lee factory crimp die and used a medium heavy crimp (3/4 turn after contact).

 

Yeah, OAL really depends on bullet shape and individual cylinder/chamber. It's almost always OK to seat the bullet farther out, but don't seat it shorter than the tested data. Also depends on what gun it is being shot in. Some guns have quite a bit of room between the cylinder and frame/barrel and other have almost none. If you are already at max OAL for your cylinder and a bullet jumps the crimp, it can keep the cylinder from rotating. Not that big a deal on the range, but in the field can be an issue. I always allow some extra room in my Freedom Arms because there is almost no clearance between cylinder and frame. It is such an issue with the FA that there are shorter bullets designed specifically for use in them and bullets with multiple crimp grooves to allow a shorter OAL when used in a FA or similar tight tolerance handgun.

 

Got everything loaded and went and shot them, the 11.5 Gr of 2400 was most accurate, however I was standing unsupported and the targets were about 15 yards out, i hadn't shot this gun (or really any revolver) recently (this gun has been over 3 years since I've shot it) so that may also contribute to inaccuracy.

The loading of 11.5 Gr was shot as the 3rd group.
This is the 3rd group, the 4 in the plate and the one in the top edge (12:00) is from the same group, the other (1:00) is from my 2nd group (hanging to the right of this plate).

 

Not too shabby.

 

I'm content with it, if I want to fiddle with the load for more accuracy I can but right now it's not with my time.

 

Time to move out to some distance

 

That ought to work, with a revolver accuracy comes from putting a crapton of rounds down the tube. Wadcutters running about 600-700fps work best for knockin' the centers outa targets.