In a Light Handgun Load: More Powder = Better Accuracy?

[Rick O'Shea]

The details:
I am working up a soft plinking load for .357 Magnum. I am basically using .38 and .38+P data in a .357 case.

I have switched from W296 (BOOM!) to W231 (Bang!), and have made a test run of about 50@ at 4.2 gr., 4.5 gr., 4.7 gr., and 5.0 gr..

At 7 yds, only the 4.2 gr load was noticably less accurate.
I moved out to 10 yds, and cannot seem to shoot consistently enough to tell what's going on.

My shooting buddy says to rest the gun, and he's probably right.

I just wonder if the 5.0 gr. load is going to be inherently more accurate due to the additional velocity than the other loads without my going through all these gymnastics.

Obviously, this is low-power pistol plinking, not high-power rifle, so I'm not worried about exceeding the stability limits of the bullet.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Rick

 

[Jim Watson]

Your buddy says to rest the gun?
And you are not?
Unless you are about a 2600 club bullseye shooter, you are not going to tell much about the accuracy of a given load by shooting it handheld.
And the difference from one to the other will be insignificant at 7 or 10 yards anyhow.
I'd say to load up a few thousand of the 5 grain load and practice for a while. Learn handgun benchrest technique and then see what is going on at 25 yards minimum.

 

[Grapevine]

Bullit weight?

What kind and how heavy of a bullit are you using?

 

[Cherokee]

I use 3.5 gr 231WW with 125 to 150 gr bullets and get good accuracy in several 357's. Shot thousands of them.

 

[LAH]

Good advice from Jim.......Creeker

 

[Rick O'Shea]

Grapevine, sorry, forgot to mention that; 158 gr. bullets, jacketed SP for now, switching to lead when they run out.

Jim, I totally agree with the concept of resting the gun, but all I've had the chance to do with these loads lately is pop off a few at a time after work at an indoor range.
If I get a chance soon, I'll definitely get out to a 25 yd range with a rest, an afternoon to kill and preferably my buddy's chronograph.

In the meantime I was just wondering if there were any basic ballistic principles that might guide me regarding this.
As you say, with this small amount of variance, handheld, at these distances, probably not...

Thanks for the replies,
Rick

 

[trickyasafox]

i've had some guns go both ways. some people find a high SD to be a sign of poor ignition, sometimes upping the charge slightly will cure this.

our g17 likes warmish loads, about 1200 fps with 115gr bullet, sometimes a bit under that. not barn burners, but moving along fairly well.

our g30 on the otherhand, likes the powder puff stuff. 200gr LSWC over 4.2 grains of bullseye groups great! (feeds reasonably well, but the LSWC profile really isnt great in a g30)

 

[Kamicosmos]

While not as noticeable with handguns versus rifles, I think this 'proof' still applies: Higher Velocity does not always equal Better Accuracy. (Just wait till you discover that More Powder does not always equal More Velocity!!)

But, in load development, you do need to rest the gun. Try to eliminate as many varibles as possible, so that you are testing The Load and Gun, and not The Shooter, The Wind, etc. Also, try to only change one component at a time. Change your powder charge, test. Change bullet crimp, test, change brass type, test. etc etc.

 

[ChristopherG]

You've got some good advice already, but I think it is possible to state something like the reloader's 'principle' you're looking for.

Usually, a given powder/bullet combination will be at its most accurate closer to the max charge than it will farther away. This is why, if you want an accurate target load, you select a fast-burning powder that achieves its maximum pressure with a small charge.

Anyway, keep practicing and experimenting, as already stated. W231 is an accuracy champ in .38/357.