Want to replicate Federal Hammerdown .357

[Mr_Flintstone]

I was looking at Federal’s Hammerdown .357 ammo today, and was pondering how to replicate it at home. I think I could get to 1700 fps with H110 or Lil’ Gun from my Henry, but I don’t know where to find a bullet similar to the 170 grain Jacketed hollow points. Does anybody know of a company that sells such a bullet? The closest thing I can find is Hornady’s 180 grain XTP.

 

[AJC1]

I was looking at Federal’s Hammerdown .357 ammo today, and was pondering how to replicate it at home. I think I could get to 1700 fps with H110 or Lil’ Gun from my Henry, but I don’t know where to find a bullet similar to the 170 grain Jacketed hollow points. Does anybody know of a company that sells such a bullet? The closest thing I can find is Hornady’s 180 grain XTP.

I got 1500 fps with a 180xtp in a 16", 1700 would be a stretch.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

Yeah, I don’t think I could do it with 180 gr bullets either. Speer and I believe Sierra used to sell 170 gr hollow points, but they’ve been discontinued. The only alternative I’m seeing right now, is maybe gas checked cast bullets.

 

[AJC1]

Yeah, I don’t think I could do it with 180 gr bullets either. Speer and I believe Sierra used to sell 170 gr hollow points, but they’ve been discontinued. The only alternative I’m seeing right now, is maybe gas checked cast bullets.

I've looked to see if federal was selling the bullets as I was also interested in the same. I swear it's just the fusion line in nickle cases.... interested in your journey in any regard. I have two boxes of lazer cast 180s to play with. I'm probably going to see what blue dot does.

 

[JmacD]

Speer used to have a 170. Don’t know if they still do.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Speer used to have a 170. Don’t know if they still do.

They do. The Deep Curl. But it’s a flat soft point, not a hollow point. I use them for a 6-1/2” Ruger Blackhawk over a mid range load of 2400, 14.2gr. Speer’s reloading data online says that should be good for 1100fps but I doubt it will do that from my guns. I had chrony data on the load but lost it.
The DCSP is a good bullet. Good enough, anyway.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

They do. The Deep Curl. But it’s a flat soft point, not a hollow point. I use them for a 6-1/2” Ruger Blackhawk over a mid range load of 2400, 14.2gr. Speer’s reloading data online says that should be good for 1200fps but I doubt it will do that from my guns. I had chrony data on the load but lost it.
The DCSP is a good bullet. Good enough, anyway.

View attachment 1180156

Where do you get yours? I looked on Speer’s website, and they only list a 158 gr deep curl.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Where do you get yours? I looked on Speer’s website, and they only list a 158 gr deep curl.

EDIT: evidently they have been discontinued. Sorry

I got them from Midway three or four years ago.
Speer still lists the reloading data for it so I’m guessing it’s still part of their catalog.

 

[35 Whelen]

From www.loaddata.com and the Speer #14 manual, they loaded their 170 gr. Deep Curl to a bit under 1700 fps with Hodgdon Lil' Gun.

35W

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

From www.loaddata.com and the Speer #14 manual, they loaded their 170 gr. Deep Curl to a bit under 1700 fps with Hodgdon Lil' Gun.

35W

That’s probably not what you will get with a real handgun. A rifle, maybe. I pulled this down from the Speer site tonight:

Look at the numbers for Lil’ Gun: max load 15.4gr at 1121fps. The max load of 2400 is the fastest and that’s straight from the source: Speer reloading online.

The 14th edition was 2007 which is very new in my opinion but a lot of the content has been updated since its release.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I can’t find any of the Sierra 170gr JHC either - except on top of the safe in my store room along with a whole bunch of other obsolete, discontinued bullets and “stuff.” Glad I stocked up but that doesn’t help anyone else. Have you considered the Cast Performance 180gr WFN-GC bullets made from the LBT mold? It’s a good bullet for punching holes in things. It won’t expand but it also won’t explode so it’s worth considering.

 

[35 Whelen]

That’s probably not what you will get with a real handgun. A rifle, maybe. I pulled this down from the Speer site tonight:
View attachment 1180170
Look at the numbers for Lil’ Gun: max load 15.4gr at 1121fps. The max load of 2400 is the fastest and that’s straight from the source: Speer reloading online.

The 14th edition was 2007 which is very new in my opinion but a lot of the content has been updated since its release.

Right. But the OP, unless I misunderstood, was looking for a load for his Henry.

35W

 

[35 Whelen]

I can’t find any of the Sierra 170gr JHC either - except on top of the safe in my store room along with a whole bunch of other obsolete, discontinued bullets and “stuff.” Glad I stocked up but that doesn’t help anyone else. Have you considered the Cast Performance 180gr WFN-GC bullets made from the LBT mold? It’s a good bullet for punching holes in things. It won’t expand but it also won’t explode so it’s worth considering.

I have some 170 gr. Sierra's I loaded for my Rossi 92. Seems like they ran right at 1700 fps. I'll check that later.

35W

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

Update: I was able to locate some 170 gr .357 hollow point bullets in current production at Hawk Bullets, but they are expensive. $43 plus shipping for 50 bullets. I guess that’s still a little cheaper than the Hammerdown, but I think I’ll hold off on this project and just load up some heavy 158 gr XTP-FP loads.