MCgunner
Member
Finally made it to the range to test my Lil' Gun .357 loads for my Rossi 92 carbine. I also took along a 6.5" Blackhawk for some testing.
I loaded 10 rounds of 16.8 grains Lil' Gun and 5 rounds of 18.2 grains Lil' gun behind a 158 SWC. This represents a 1.09 bushing and a 1.18 bushing in the Lee auto disc measure. The 5 hotter loads in the rifle were impressive. They shot 1961 fps/1339 ft lbs. Now, today was rather chilly at about 55 degrees. I got a little primer puching with the hot load that I don't see in the lighter load, so I'd say I ain't goin' any hotter, want to test the lighter load when the temps get up into the 90s in a few months. I'm on hold until then as I think the lighter load will give more performance and the hot load might be too hot. We'll see. Initial testing was good, though.
I then fired the other five 16.8 grain loads from the Ruger. I got poor accuracy, about 6" at 50 yards. I normally get 2" groups at that range with a good load. Velocity was right around 1400 fps, not bad there. Just that standard deviation was high, just looking at the raw numbers. I think this powder is a bit slow for handgun length barrels, what makes it better for rifles, I reckon.
Any advice or experience comments are welcome. I'm still assessing the results.
I loaded 10 rounds of 16.8 grains Lil' Gun and 5 rounds of 18.2 grains Lil' gun behind a 158 SWC. This represents a 1.09 bushing and a 1.18 bushing in the Lee auto disc measure. The 5 hotter loads in the rifle were impressive. They shot 1961 fps/1339 ft lbs. Now, today was rather chilly at about 55 degrees. I got a little primer puching with the hot load that I don't see in the lighter load, so I'd say I ain't goin' any hotter, want to test the lighter load when the temps get up into the 90s in a few months. I'm on hold until then as I think the lighter load will give more performance and the hot load might be too hot. We'll see. Initial testing was good, though.
I then fired the other five 16.8 grain loads from the Ruger. I got poor accuracy, about 6" at 50 yards. I normally get 2" groups at that range with a good load. Velocity was right around 1400 fps, not bad there. Just that standard deviation was high, just looking at the raw numbers. I think this powder is a bit slow for handgun length barrels, what makes it better for rifles, I reckon.
Any advice or experience comments are welcome. I'm still assessing the results.