.357 Magnum single shot
Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:24 pm
Friday was rainy & windy in northern Kentucky, but I had the day off & was chomping at the bit to work up a good hand load for my Henry single shot.
Scope is a Leupold FX-1 4x, low Leupold rings on the Henry rail. Just enough height for hammer clearance, while still providing a good cheek weld. Removed the unused front portion of the rail, so was able to keep the factory buckhorn in place. Looking pretty good, I think.
Have put a few hundred factory loads through her, but we all know that can quickly get expensive. Have loaded quite a bit of .357 before, so had all the bits & pieces. Starline brass, CCI 550 primers, new powder & bullets though. The 158 grain Zero bullets have a pretty good rep, & the price is hard to beat in a jacketed bullet. Always used Titegroup for lightish loads in the past, and it worked well enough, but seemed dirty in low charges & never was fond of how much case it left unfilled. Opted for HP-38 this time. Doesn't fill the case by any means, but takes up quite a bit more volume than the Titegroup did. May try Universal or Unique at some point, but pretty satisfied with the HP-38 as of now. Impressed by how clean it burned, and didn't have any trouble with pressure signs or poor accuracy. Worked up from the Hodgdon minimum, & while all loads shot fairly well, 6.7 grains won out. Keeps me a couple tenths below max, which I appreciate for a relatively fast burning powder.
Shot target below at 75 yards, & considering the stiff, gusty left-to-right breeze- that dog will hunt. Safe, accurate, relatively cheap, low recoil load.
Will eventually work on a heavy load. Never had much luck accuracy wise with W296, but have a little left & may give it a go. 2400 & Lil Gun are possibilities too.
- IMG_20190426_111539 - Edited.jpg (156.88 KiB) Viewed 1543 times
Have put a few hundred factory loads through her, but we all know that can quickly get expensive. Have loaded quite a bit of .357 before, so had all the bits & pieces. Starline brass, CCI 550 primers, new powder & bullets though. The 158 grain Zero bullets have a pretty good rep, & the price is hard to beat in a jacketed bullet. Always used Titegroup for lightish loads in the past, and it worked well enough, but seemed dirty in low charges & never was fond of how much case it left unfilled. Opted for HP-38 this time. Doesn't fill the case by any means, but takes up quite a bit more volume than the Titegroup did. May try Universal or Unique at some point, but pretty satisfied with the HP-38 as of now. Impressed by how clean it burned, and didn't have any trouble with pressure signs or poor accuracy. Worked up from the Hodgdon minimum, & while all loads shot fairly well, 6.7 grains won out. Keeps me a couple tenths below max, which I appreciate for a relatively fast burning powder.
Shot target below at 75 yards, & considering the stiff, gusty left-to-right breeze- that dog will hunt. Safe, accurate, relatively cheap, low recoil load.
- IMG_20190426_095901 - Edited.jpg (172.36 KiB) Viewed 1543 times
