Thread: Reloading .357mag

There's a heap of .357 Magnum cases and some 158gr nprojectiles in Carvell's auction tomorrow. Lots 200 and 215.

Originally Posted by systolic

There's a heap of .357 Magnum cases and some 158gr nprojectiles in Carvell's auction tomorrow. Lots 200 and 215.

Thanks mate, it's incredible his stuff is still being sold! Where's the auction?

Tomorrow. 4 November. Holiday Inn Hotel by Auckland Airport.

Google gun auction. The catalog is online as a pdf.

Successful 100rds while watching the racing!! Bloody good fun, no issues and that extra flare die worked really well. Only thing I found difficult was getting consistency from the Lee powder dispenser. It was all over the place no matter how consistently I tried to run it. Ended up measuring out every load as the tolerance of the powder was 5.8-6.3gr. I chose 6gr and seated 1.58" which lined up perfectly with the crimp.

And a disagree between the uploader here and the way the photo presented on my computer again! Bloody hopeless....probably my stinking Macbook pro

Hi guys, I'm going to try some Belmont Pistol Magnum powder. The Belmont load data doesn't list a min or max load. Just a single load which I'm not sure what it is. Has anyone got access to min/max load for .357?

Cheers.

Is it safe to just use Winchester 296 load data? 15-16.7 range?

If you can't say for certain that Belmont's Magnum Pistol Powder is the exact same powder as say H110/W296 only re-branded, don't interchange the data, contact Belmont in stead.

Originally Posted by omegaspeedy

Is it safe to just use Winchester 296 load data? 15-16.7 range?

Just use 296 or H110 data.

Belmont Magnum Pistol is the exact same powder as sold by Winchester as 296 and by Hodgdon as H110. It's made by St Marks Powder in Florida.

If you follow this link to the Belmont site, you'll even see 296 in brackets after the name Belmont Magnum Pistol. Further down in the description, where they cut and pasted it, they even call it 296 not Belmont Magnum Pistol.

Magnum Pistol Powder (WC 296) – Belmont Ammunition

Originally Posted by systolic

Just use 296 or H110 data.

Belmont Magnum Pistol is the exact same powder as sold by Winchester as 296 and by Hodgdon as H110. It's made by St Marks Powder in Florida.

If you follow this link to the Belmont site, you'll even see 296 in brackets after the name Belmont Magnum Pistol. Further down in the description, where they cut and pasted it, they even call it 296 not Belmont Magnum Pistol.

Magnum Pistol Powder (WC 296) – Belmont Ammunition

Thanks systolic. On their website, the number given looks to be the max load for 296. Will start at 16.1 I think.

Cheers.

omegaspeedy invest $40 and purchase a set of lee spoons...they dont cost a cent to sit on reloading bench and are pretty darn quick to get you within 1/2grn for the times you want to tweek a load a bit or just do say 20 loads.Ive got a great powder thrower but use the spoons into scales if less than 20 rounds as its just about as quick if you take set up time into account....and they are just the ducks nuts for trail boss loads.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

omegaspeedy invest $40 and purchase a set of lee spoons...they dont cost a cent to sit on reloading bench and are pretty darn quick to get you within 1/2grn for the times you want to tweek a load a bit or just do say 20 loads.Ive got a great powder thrower but use the spoons into scales if less than 20 rounds as its just about as quick if you take set up time into account....and they are just the ducks nuts for trail boss loads.

Thanks Micky, I'm using the yellow spoons as we speak

Interestingly, the shitty old lee powder dispenser is metering perfectly on W296 unlike with AP70N. I'm impressed.

Yeah that ball powder measures like water, don't down load 296 it's recommend for max loads only, for lighter loads use 231.

Originally Posted by shooternz

Yeah that ball powder measures like water, don't down load 296 it's recommend for max loads only, for lighter loads use 231.

Yeah it's amazing stuff in the meter. Just completed 200 on the little Lee. Boy I need to get the XL650 setup for .357.

Whats your thoughts on why W296 needing to be full load? I've loaded 16.1 vs 16.7max, so .6gr short of max. I'm not anticipating any issue....hopefully.

I watched this awesome guy (Excellent channel, long vids but detailed info) and he went for 16.1 W296 out of his Henry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiC32voJd4s