Not sure if this belongs in this forum or the reload but here goes. .357 model 94ae win. i have serveral reload books, but was looking for some favorite loads for pistol cartrige comp. I have not reloaded hand gun caliber before. Any comments will be appreciated.

Here is a most interesting article with loads from the great Paco at Lever Guns http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/3...literature.htm

__________________
"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

I am loading for a Rossi .357 with ~ 150 grain home cast RNL bullets ( my experience is lever guns like RN bullets ) . I am loading QQ # 9 , starting load 13 grains .

God bless
Wyr

QQ #9 ? That a new powder ?

Must be AA # 9 as the QQ keys are adjacent to the AA keys.

__________________
"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

I don't load for .357, but there is rifle data available at Handloads.com. I know 158 gr is a pretty common size guys use for deer sized game. 8) Good luck there are different bullet weights in the pull down if you want to see others.

http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=357%20Magnum&Weight=158&type=rifle&Order=Powder&Source=

Yes , AA # 9 . Sorry for the typo . :-(

As I said , I am starting at 13 grains and working up .

God bless
Wyr

It depends on what you're doing with it, and I don't understand what you mean by, "for pistol cartridge comp." For example, if you're shooting a SASS match there is a maximum velocity of 1200 fps with an all-lead bullet required. My SASS load is 3.1 grains of clays under a 122 grain lead round nose flat point. That's a mouse fart load.

On the other hand, if you're hunting deer that won't be enough. I'd use a SWC or jacketed soft point, heavier, and more powder. But since I don't have a load manual in front of me I won't say how much more powder!

I am trying to decide on a different load with Unique . For ~ 150 grain RNL . I have found data , all over the place . :-( I am leaning towards 7.5 grains .

This will not be as hot as the load with AA # 9 , but more economical .

God bless
Wyr

I checked Load Data and it appears the following load came from Handloader magazine Sierra 150 JHC (? - that is acronym listed) 8.5 grains of Unique for 1,308 out of a six inch barrel. So you should be good to at least 8.5 accoring to Load Data. Should work with a hard cast bullet and gas check.

__________________
"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

i use 8.2gr of unique under a friendswood bullet 158gr rnfp good load for target shooting, coal of 155.30 works perfect in the rossi rifles and is very accurate.

Do you not own any actual load manuals ?

Yes .


The data in the books was all over the place . More so than normal / usual .

So , I asked for advice .

God bless
Wyr

If you have some older and some newer load books, that might explain it. SAAMI has changed the MAP for the 357Mag as well as the 44RM, meaning some of the older books have loads that are considered too hot, today. I found this out with my 44, the hard way.

I went to a small bore (.22lr) silouhet competition last month. They also had a pistol caliber rifle comp. (lever action) imidiatley following. They let me compete w/ my .22 The targets for the pistol cal are much heavier and difficult to knock over w/ the .22 @ 100yrds. anyway i had such a great time and have wanted a pistol cal. levergun for some time. So i bought a new winchester mod. 94 AE in .357 cal. I intend to load for this gun primarily for the comp. shooting which is NRA sanctioned. i have not seen any restrictions on bullet wt. in the rules. I also have quite a few reload books, but the data is for actual pistols not rifle in this cal.

Pistol- rifle, the load info is the same. You can gain some velocity by sticking with the slower burning powders (I.E. H110, W296, AA#9, IMR 4227) To take better advantage of the extra barrel length. All the manuals I have list the 357 in the rifle sections, but the maximum loads are the same as pistols.

I am pretty sure the Lyman is the book in my collection that has ridle data for the pistol caliber lever guns ?

God bless
Wyr

They may want you to stay below a certain muzzle velocity to avoid damage to the targets. The last match (well the only one to be honest) that I attended had a rule. I was shooting with a borrowed rifle as the one I brought was keyholing bullets. So, for me, someone else had already solved the load problem in advance. Anyway, the manuals, if they show velocities in a rifle, may be helpful. The loads don't change, per se, as far as what is safe in regards to pressures. The velocities do though, sometimes by quite a bit.

Good luck.

__________________
MikeG

I have a Marlin 1894css in .357 magnum. I use Doubletap hardcast 180 grn wfngc
(wide flat nose gas check) very potent and very accurate.

If you're doing the Cowboy competition, less is likely more when it comes to developing an effective load for lead bullets of any kind. Rifles can easily hit velocities that lead badly even in a very smooth bore, and accuracy over a day of shooting can fall off quite fast. Cast bullets that won't lead above 1000fps are an art I never got to myself, and even better grades of commercial bullets seem to be a problem much past 1200fps.

Unique and similar powders with moderate charges works well, I prefer faster powders like Red Dot, my favorite, or 700X.