Powder for magnum pistol rounds out of a carbine?

[epijunkie67]

I've got several pistol cal carbine rifles and I'm wondering what a good powder/load would be. I've got Marlins in .357 and .41 magnum and an Uberti in .45 long colt and I want to be able to take full advantage of the longer barrels, especially in the magnum rounds. Rounds that I load for these would be dedicated to the rifles only so I don't need to worry about how well they'll work in the pistols.

Currently I plan on using jacketed soft point only but I might want to try out some cast bullets in the 41 and the 45. Not sure about that yet. But I figure with a relatively large case and a long barrel I might be able to go with a slower powder than Unique (what I currently have).

Suggestions?

 

[fecmech]

You would not be able to get full magnum performance out of a handgun much less a rifle with Unique. The .357 and .41 Mag both like the slow burners for max performance. The powders you might try are 296, H-110, 2400, AA9 or even Blue Dot, they will all allow max velocities out of both short and long guns. Unique is kind of a do-all "mid range" powder. Good luck Nick

 

[Brian Williams]

I really like Lil' Gun in my 357 carbine, with 158gr SWC makes for a great time.

 

[Nhsport]

2400 has worked really well for me with cast bullets in my 44 mag carbine,don't know how that would translate to the 45 colt. Might be best to keep those loads out of any older pistols. The cast bullets have worked so well for me it just seems like wasted money to use jacketed in 45.41 or any of you guys with a 44.

 

[444]

I have played around with this stuff and have posted several threads on this subject with my own chrono data.

In a nutshell, if you simply look at a loading manual, the loads that give you the maximum velocity will give you the maximum velocity in a rifle or pistol. You will just get more velocity out of the rifle. Usually the powder with the slowest burn rate will give you the highest velocity in handgun cartridges no matter if they are fired out of a rifle or pistol. And, slower burning powders will give you a bigger boost in the longer barrels. In other words, you will get more velocity out of a rifle barrel than you will in a pistol barrel. How much more is a function of the powder burn rate. A fast powder will get more velocity with a longer barrel but not as much of an increase as a slow burning (for caliber) powder.
In .357 Hodgedon Lil Gun is an excellent powder. It gives you very close to maximum velocity AND the pressure is WAY less than other powders like H110. According to the Hodgdon website, using a 158 grain bullet, H110 will give you 1591 fps while Lil Gun will give you 1577 fps. BUT, H110 also gives you 40,700 CUP while Lil Gun gives 25,800 CUP.

All you need to do is to study the manuals. These days the data is all right here on the web. Alliant and Hodgdon are definitely on here. You also want to check out Accurate #9.

http://www.accuratepowder.com/
http://www.alliantpowder.com/
http://www.hodgdon.com/

Find the load that gives you max velocity and it will do that no matter the barrel length. FWIW, I posted a thread where I chronoed loads in .357 from a 2.5" Ruger SP101 on up to a Marlin lever action carbine.