.357 magnum combo load q's.........

[Budd]

I have a leveraction and a wheel gun - both in .357 magnum.

As of recently I have been loading specific for the rifle(1894 CS- 20") - and specific for the revolver(GP100 - 4").

Load for the rifle has been 14.6gr Lil Gun - 180 grain cast bullets.

Revolver has been 6.8gr Titegroup - 125gr Golden Sabers JHP.

I also load 158gr XTP FP with the same 'Lil Gun powder charge(my cleaning round).

I have a big box of 158gr Hornady 158gr XTP JHP's that I would like to load for both the rifle and handgun - interchangeable.

Lil Gun has signifacantly lower CUP measures - while Titegroup is very high but takes much less grains to get velocity. This is my dilemna.........

Titegroup is a very fast powder - 'lil gun is slow.

Ideal scenario is a pig hunt - where a sidearm is needed for backup. Which powder do you use?

Lil-gun out of the revolver is going to be very slow - but not high CUP.

Titegroup seems as though it wouldn't work too well in the rifle - as it burns so fast with high pressure.

Any opinions?

[-hanko]

I have a leveraction and a wheel gun - both in .357 magnum.

As of recently I have been loading specific for the rifle(1894 CS- 20") - and specific for the revolver(GP100 - 4").

Load for the rifle has been 14.6gr Lil Gun - 180 grain cast bullets.

Revolver has been 6.8gr Titegroup - 125gr Golden Sabers JHP.

I also load 158gr XTP FP with the same 'Lil Gun powder charge(my cleaning round).

I have a big box of 158gr Hornady 158gr XTP JHP's that I would like to load for both the rifle and handgun - interchangeable.

Lil Gun has signifacantly lower CUP measures - while Titegroup is very high but takes much less grains to get velocity. This is my dilemna.........

Titegroup is a very fast powder - 'lil gun is slow.

Ideal scenario is a pig hunt - where a sidearm is needed for backup. Which powder do you use?

Lil-gun out of the revolver is going to be very slow - but not high CUP.

Titegroup seems as though it wouldn't work too well in the rifle - as it burns so fast with high pressure.

Any opinions?

I haven't tried lil' gun w/ 180's; yet...some bullets in the 200gr range would definitely be fun also.

I've loaded a lot of Hornady 158 jhp's with lil' gun, though. Very nice powder: With the 2 classic .357 powders, H110 & 2400, I'v gotten up to 1400fps in a model 28, same loads run around 2000 fps in an IMI timberwolf. I got to that level before noticing excess pressure warnings here and there

Switching to lil' gun gained me at least 200-300 fps more, no pressure warnings (not even a flattened primer) up to now. Recoil from the revolver is manageable, almost not noticed in the carbine. As winter gets more serious, I'm going to try bigger bullets

You'll want a 'full' crimp, I use the Redding profile crimp die. If you getting close to the top end of lil' gun, an initial trim of your cases will get you much more crimp uniformity (ya think??)...I'd recommend trimming to minimize under crimping and setback. Case length doesn't seem to change enough to matter after firing, at least from what I've seen so far.

Have fun.

-hanko

[Budd]

I use a factory crimp die for all the loads. BTW- Lil Gun excels with the 180gr bullets. Guess I will try the 'Lil Gun first in the 158gr XTP's.

Probably about 17.5gr of 'Lil gun in each.

It was literally a toss up between the two for 158gr bullets - just the CUP's of Titegroup is significantly higher.

[kurac]

Who makes lil'gun and where can I get some. I don't see it in my Speer manual so it must be newer?

Does it burn clean?

How does it meter?

[TonyM]

Who makes lil'gun and where can I get some. I don't see it in my Speer manual so it must be newer?

Does it burn clean?

How does it meter?

Hodgdon.

http://www.hodgdon.com/smokeless/shotpist.php

Meters fine in my XL650.

[Budd]

Hodgdon - meters fine. Get a manual for it.

[bruceflinch]

I shot an Unique load w/ 158 gr bullets in my GP100-6" & a Marlin 1894 lever rifle w/ decent results. Don't think I'd take 158's to a pighunt, tho.

[Budd]

I shot an Unique load w/ 158 gr bullets in my GP100-6" & a Marlin 1894 lever rifle w/ decent results. Don't think I'd take 158's to a pighunt, tho.

I am not shooting the 180's full load out of the revolver.

The 180's are the main load for the rifle - just need something that can work out of both for other situations.

[bruceflinch]

I am not shooting the 180's full load out of the revolver.

The 180's are the main load for the rifle - just need something that can work out of both for other situations.

7-8 years ago, I shot a 180 bullet for IPSC. When it was 175 power factor. A lot more comfy w/ a 6 inch barrel than you might think. Bear Creek 180 lead w/ 6.3 gr of Accurate #5.