[Leanwolf]

I just received some .41 Mag. 265 gr. WLNGC bullets from Beartooth Bullets. I have a S&W 57, 6" bbl. I could not find any 265 gr. loads in "Load Swap."

I want to load these bullets for that S&W revolver... but I DO NOT want to "hot rod" them. We all know that a Smith will not stand up to "hot rod" loads as does a Ruger Blackhawk. I do intend to have this load and revolver as my Black bear dissuader, for scouting, and elk/deer camp, out in the Idaho mountains.

My powders on hand are Blue Dot, H2400, WW296, H110, Unique, and WW231.

By the way, I loaded a couple of these 265 gr. bullets with 8 grs of Unique, just to see if they'd function in my Marlin 1894S .41 Mag. NOT A CHANCE! Far too long. Oh well... they will work fine in my Mdl. 57.

Many thanks for any load advice.

L.W.

 

[Scott Fox]

265 gr WFN LBT

I have tried the following powders with the 265 in my .41.
IMR4227, Unique,2400,296,AA#7,AA#9.

IMR4227 provided the best accuracy by far, 2400 came in second and Unique was also good.

I used 8.0 gr of unique for 1.25-1.5 in groups at 25 yds, 3.0 in or less at 50 yds.

15.2 gr 2400 for 1.25-1.5 in groups at 25 yds.

I used Win Large Pistol primer with unique and 2400.

With IMR 4227 I used 18.5 gr for groups of less than 1 in and 19 grain with same results. I used CCI350 mag primers with 4227 and heavy crimp. The best 3 shot group with 18.5 gr was .14 for 3 shots and with 19 gr was .4. The 4227 loads are actually quite mild, they are the recomended starting load from cast performance.

Accurate arms recomended 10.8 - 13.0 gr of AA#7 when I emailed them for data.

For a resonable midrange load with a S&W revolver I would use 15-16 gr of 2400 with a standard primer.

 

[Leanwolf]

SJF, thanks for the info. I'll give the Unique and H2400 a try. I don't have any 4227, but a LOT of H2400 & Unique.

Why do you use standard LP primers with H2400? I've always used LP Mag. primers with H2400, H110, and WW296.

LP Primers with Unique, WW231, etc.

By the way, I also use WW Standard/Magnum primers in some loads calling for LP primers, but have not used them in loads calling for LP Mag primers.

Any thoughts on the WW Standard/Magnum primers??

THanks. L.W.

 

[MikeG]

LW,

I use the Win LP primers for 'standard' or 'magnum' loads (hey, says so right on the box), and have not had any difficulty loading in .44 Mag or .45 Colt.

With 2400, I don't use the stuff so can't comment specifically, but I believe that the load data may be different depending on the primer. So that's definitely something to be aware of.

 

[Scott Fox]

Standard Primer

I always use standard primers because if you go to the newer
reloading manuals, The data for 2400 was developed with standard primers. (speer)

Also I use quite a few of the recomended loadings of Elmer Keith and they also were developed with standard primers.

Alliant also uses standard primers in the data that they publish for 2400.

I don't know how new the 2400 you have is but I have noticed that the new 2400 that is produced by alliant seems to be just a little bit quicker burning than the old hercules 2400 that I have.

I also seem to get better groups with the win Large Pistol primers with most powders and use them unless I can't get the performance that I want, then I try CCI350 as my next choice.

 

[Leanwolf]

Thanks for the advice on loads and primers, to all. My 2400 is Hercules. I've used it in .45 Colt, .44 mag., and .41 mag.

Yesterday afternoon, by telephone, I talked at length with Marshall Stanton, and he said that my starting load on his 265 gr. .410 bullet, of 11.5 grs Blue Dot, would be well within safe pressure for the S&W mdl. 57. I know that Blue Dot burns just a hair faster than 2400, which I've used in the Mdl. 57, with good results, with 215 gr. hard cast SWC. 18.0 grs, BTW.

So, I plan to chrono next week, and will post results.

L.W.