Factory vs. reload

[garyseven]

I finally made it to the range and bench tested 357 Big Boy with scope and various ammo. Bench tested at Fifty yards and found in general that hand loading is best by far. First the 38 specials Winchester with 130 grain loads gave pie plate accuracy, I deconstructed some and reloaded with Green Dot and only had a tiny improvement. Next I tried factory ammo from Aguila, Geco, Fiocci and Perfecta. They all grouped as big as six inches or more with GECO having the best group 3 inch. Then came hand loads, I used Green Dot powder, leftover from reloading trap shells,several years old, Winchester small pistol magnum primers because that's all the local Field and Stream store had on the shelf, 158 grain copper plated hollow point Berry's bullets because they were the cheapest and Lee Dies. I used 5.7, 6.0, 6.3 and 6.5 grains of powder

[Henry88]

Thanks for the report and some VERY impressive shooting for sure..............

[RanchRoper]

Looks like you are getting dialed in. I'd be happy with those targets.

[CT_Shooter]

Excellent range report and comparison of ammo. Thanks.

[Neon Horse]

Shooting is always more fun when reloading. I have been liking 130gr loads over the 158gr loads. Not sure why. Just like 'em!

[DAVIDF]

Very nice groups. Looks like the 6.3 or 6.5 gr loads are winners. Did you expect the fliers on those groups or were those an anomaly? I get them with some of my plated 240 gr loads. Maybe it has to do with driving the bullet too slow? But, in your case it should have plenty of velocity.

I like Green Dot based on the little that I've used it. Mostly load with Red Dot for my .44's and it works great for lighter loads with lighter cast or plated bullets. I also like Starline brass and I use Winchester primers exclusively.

[ditto1958]

That's some good shooting right there.

[garyseven]

Fliers are an anomaly, however I was not being picky about casings and weighing each bullet. My next try I will pay more attention to the smaller details. I did not clean the gun between shooting different loads, but cleaning at home did not produce any lead fouling from stripped plating or powder fouling. I also know from experience some guns will have fliers until you find the exact load it likes and that load may not group as small as you like. there are many bullet, powder, primer combos to try and there is a difference between loading for hunting and target and plinking. For me this is just fun.

[ssonb]

Just a guess on my part but it seems that Henry rifles tend to be more accurate with the lighter weight bullets. I have two BBS 44 and a CCH 45-70 and both with the heavy lead factory loads and my reloads (405 for the 45-70 and 300 for the 44), The bullet patterns look similar to the OPs, They are not horrible just larger.

[DAVIDF]

Just a guess on my part but it seems that Henry rifles tend to be more accurate with the lighter weight bullets. I have two BBS 44 and a CCH 45-70 and both with the heavy lead factory loads and my reloads (405 for the 45-70 and 300 for the 44), The bullet patterns look similar to the OPs, They are not horrible just larger.

With Big Boy's in .44, I think the lighter bullets tend to be more accurate due to the 1 in 38" twist rate. This is particularly true if you are using slower velocity loads. I particularly like the 200 gr bullets for as slow as I am driving them at only 1200 to 1250 fps. The heavier/longer the bullet, the higher velocity or faster the twist rate you need to stabilize. At least that is the theory. A 300 gr bullet in a .44 rifle would probably work better with a 1 in 20" twist rate. But, I have heard of some good accuracy with Hornady's 300 gr XTP in slow twist lever guns.

I am looking forward to see reviews of Henry's Single Shot rifle in .44 with its 1 in 20" twist rate. That should produce some fine accuracy with a variety of bullets weights and velocities.