What's your favorite powder for full power .357 Mag?

[texgunner]

I have loaded .357 Magnum with Unique, Titegoup and HS-6. Now I wish to go above and beyond that. Can you all reccomend a good magnum powder? Please refer to the poll for the choices. Thanks.

Tex

Edit - That first choice should say W296.

 

[wally]

I like Blue Dot.

--wally.

 

[joneb]

I have a 4" .357 so I chose Blue Dot for my heavy hitter it seems fine but I'm always willing to try something new ?
Tex you left out Lil'gun and Ramshot Enforcer and I don't think W-231 belongs

 

[The Bushmaster]

What!??! You didn't list W-296...

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I'd have to go with W-296, this is the powder that Winchester loads their own 357 ammo with. Blue Dot would be a close second. I recently loaded a batch of 125 grain Rem SJHP's with 18.5 grains of 296, they were awesome! These were laser accurate and chrono'd 1400 fps out of my 4" Tracker. With the ported barrel on my Tracker, the recoil isn't even that bad.

Due to the fact that it takes 18.5 grains of 296 to load my 125's, I recently started loading with Unique and it works pretty darn good! With 9 grains of Unique behind my 125 grain SJHP's, I'm getting 1300 fps on the chrono and these are also very accurate. Don't discount Unique, its working very nicely for me.

296 x 18.5 grains of powder per case = 378 rounds/pound of powder.

Unique x 9 grains of powder per case = 777 rounds/pound of powder.

50% reduction in powder cost with Unique.

 

[Eightball]

2400, because it's what I have.

 

[Mal H]

Edit - That first choice should say W296.

Since W231 got a vote, I left it and added W296, and also Blue Dot.

Note that a vote for H110 is the same as a vote for W296, they are the same powder.

 

[Steve in PA]

H-110 always!

Some say they are the same powder, but I get different results between the two. Never liked 296 and I tried it for .357 and .44 magnum. All loads with H-110 definitely shot better than 296.

 

[Okiecruffler]

My favorite is BD, but I started playing with #9 a while back and it certainly does show promise.

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

2400.



Blue Dot is a good powder, but the large granules make for tough metering. It's a real hoot out of my 4 inch 629 though. Football-sized muzzle flame.

 

[texgunner]

What!??! You didn't list W-296...

Read my edit line. I like w231 for .45acp and it was on my mind. I intended to put w296.

Thanks for the replies, Tex

 

[shu]

BlueDot is good, but for max power 158gr loads for the carbine, i use H110.

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

19.gn of 2400 fed. Mag primer 110gn. xtp bullit. Niiice.

 

[philbo]

Just to clarify - Hogdon says that H110 & W296 are the same powder and always have been.

 

[Clark]

I can't believe we didn't get a LIL'GUN choice.

And I can't believe Hodgdon's LIL'GUN pressure data in a 158 gr 357 mag.

 

[Hobie]

You didn't list L'ilGun...

 

[Brian Williams]

Lil' Gun

 

[Walkalong]

This Lil' Gun must be some good stuff. Might have to try it, but in the .44 Mag.

 

[texgunner]

Since W231 got a vote, I left it and added W296, and also Blue Dot.

Thanks for the correction, it does improve the poll.

Tex

 

[fulloflead]

You gotta be kidding! Lil' Gun is like pixie dust in .357 Magnum, especially with heavy 180 grain bullets. Wow! You don't even (and I wouldn't) have to exceed the Hogdon load data. It's fine as published!

I've loaded up a BUNCH of 180 grain bullets with Lil' Gun and BOY am I ever happy with them! Even in K-frame S&Ws they're great!

.

 

[joneb]

Hodgdon load data ticks me off for the .357 mag there test data is with a 10" barrel whats up with that when they start getting real I will consider there powder but in my opinion AA#9 is a contender for a any bullet weight max velocity powder.

 

[fulloflead]

Hodgdon load data ticks me off for the .357 mag there test data is with a 10" barrel whats up with that when they start getting real I will consider there powder but in my opinion AA#9 is a contender for a any bullet weight max velocity powder.

That's common isn't it?
Check their pressure data. That's where the answer's are.

.

 

[CZ57]

It's common, especially among powder manufacturers. Accurate is one of the few that show pressure with their loads chronographed from 6" revolvers. The answer is in reloading manuals that list pressure data. Again, you'll find that they differ from the powder company loading guides.

SPEER does not show pressure, but they work as close to maximum as possible with a given powder, then list loads in order of greatest load density. I don't know what the current pressure level is that they're using in the #13 and newer #14 editions, but I have #11 where the pressure limit was 46,000 CUP. With nearly every weight, Blue Dot yields higher velocity than 2400, 296 or H110. For their 180 gr. Silhouette load they used the 180 gr. TMJ and trimmed the case to 1.275" and fired them from a 6" revolver (S&W 28). AA#9 was one of the powders used and 2400, 296 and H-110 don't come close. Blue Dot was not used for the 180 gr. Load and #9 was new enough at the time that it only got used for the 180 and 200 gr. loads.

If you chronograph loads that were loaded with 2400, 296 and H110, you'll find that they fall short of the manufacturers claims. I agree with WA, L'il Gun is an excellent powder, but better for the .44 than the .357 Magnum. AA#9 is nearly perfect for the case capacity of the .357. Ditto for Blue Dot and now there is Ramshot Enforcer that has a very similar bulk density and performance to AA#9. The others are slower than what it will take to get max velocity from the .357 and your chronograph will confirm it. To reach the velocities Hodgdon claims for H110 and L'il Gun, you'll need a higher powder charge and longer barrel to get it, i.e. 10" Thompson Contender.

Not everyone wants or needs higher velocity, but their are situations where you want all you can get: Knocking over Rams at 200 yards or Handgun Hunting where you want all of the kinetic energy you can safely get for a humane kill on the game hunted.

Quick answer: Formerly Blue Dot, currently AA#9 and possibly Ramshot Enforcer in the future.

 

[gamestalker]

High powered .357 mag load!

I've been loading for about 25 years and have thus become very tollerent to the high energy loads and actually only load those type loads. With that said I really like the H110 because it is so very clean and delivers a mighty punch with the 135 grain Gold Dot and 20.5 grains of H110. I use a chronograph for all my loads so I have a realistic way of knowing just how good or bad a particular load is and the above load is averaging 1493 fps consistently without any unacceptable high pressure signs, obviously your going to know your using a max velocity load, as the primers will indicate. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not punching primers or splitting cases, and this load is within the standards in my Speer manual.This is from a S&W model 66-5 2 1/2" barrel. Another big plus is this load is super accurate, even from this short barrel gun.I also wouldn't kick 296 out of bed for eating crackers as it is producing some very simular results with a slight increase in velocity @ 1507 fps average. I use 296 when I have trouble finding the H110 in this small town I live in.
gamestalker

 

[brentwal]

W296