H110 with plated bullets in .357 mag

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drumstyx

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So I looked in my loading manual (Hornady) and saw 158gr jacketed loads for H110 at velocities around 1050, and being satisfied, I went and ordered up the combination from budget, and loaded 25 rounds to try out.

Now, I'm reading online that people are saying H110 is dangerous with plated bullets? It's in the loading manual at 1000-1250fps, and at a load of 13.3gr, 1050fps is supposed to be just fine with the berry's bullets that I got.

Am I really walking a dangerous line?

I've got 25 rounds here that are loaded to spec with the exception that the bullet type differs from the load data -- I figured weight would be all that mattered.

Am I going to blow my gun up with these?
 
13.3gr of h110/w296 with a 158gr bullet will not blow your gun up. i usually run 15gr with any style 158gr bullet (my cast swc's, berry's 158gr round nose, hornady and nosler 158gr jacketed hollow points, etc, etc) with no issue accept for lack of recoil lol.

the only thing is don't go do heavy on the crimp as to not cut through the plating.
 
So I've fallen for the trap of believing what I read on the internet perhaps. My plan is to check the barrel for obstructions on every one of these first shots, just to be sure. This whole 3% maximum download thing that you read on the internet (even on Hodgdon's label) is kind of crazy to me, given the wide spread in the loading data in my books.
 
h110/w296 seems to be one of those powders that has many requirements for some and none for others. some say don't go do low, others do it and don't claim to have any issues. some say to use magnum primers and some don't.

i tend to stay in the middle of the load data because the whole point of this powder is full power loads. i usually just use magnum primers because when the primer shortage happened a couple years ago no one seemed to want small pistol mag primers so i bought alot. i have used standard primers for 357mag and not had any issues but for my 500mag all i use is large rifle magnum primers.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
h110/w296 seems to be one of those powders that has many requirements for some and none for others. some say don't go do low, others do it and don't claim to have any issues. some say to use magnum primers and some don't.

i tend to stay in the middle of the load data because the whole point of this powder is full power loads. i usually just use magnum primers because when the primer shortage happened a couple years ago no one seemed to want small pistol mag primers so i bought alot. i have used standard primers for 357mag and not had any issues but for my 500mag all i use is large rifle magnum primers.
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Well, knowing what I know now, I'll probably keep my H110 for full power loads and high end bullets, and use all that as an excuse to get some 38 special type powders (when I can find it!!!!!!)
 
drumstyx said:
Do you folks load to magnum levels, or do you hold back to stay under the recommended 1200fps?
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i load to max charge or a tad bit under to save on powder as i don't see an accuracy difference with my abilities.

if you want a real booming type of load try 110gr bullets with 22gr of h110. (confirm with your loading manuals) the concussion is just awesome, most people think i'm shooting a 44mag. but beware it will wear out a gun faster with lighter bullets vs heavier slower bullets. i bought a ruger blackhawk to take my abusive loads.

drumstyx said:
Well, knowing what I know now, I'll probably keep my H110 for full power loads and high end bullets, and use all that as an excuse to get some 38 special type powders (when I can find it!!!!!!)
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unless i get a new bullet mold, the only 38spl bullets i use are 148gr hollow base wad cutters and 2.8gr of bullseye. i have a couple pounds of it and ONLY use bullseye for 38spl. tightgroup or hp-38/w231 and various other powders are for my 9mm, 45acp, light 357mag rounds.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
i load to max charge or a tad bit under to save on powder as i don't see an accuracy difference with my abilities.

if you want a real booming type of load try 110gr bullets with 22gr of h110. (confirm with your loading manuals) the concussion is just awesome, most people think i'm shooting a 44mag. but beware it will wear out a gun faster with lighter bullets vs heavier slower bullets. i bought a ruger blackhawk to take my abusive loads.



unless i get a new bullet mold, the only 38spl bullets i use are 148gr hollow base wad cutters and 2.8gr of bullseye. i have a couple pounds of it and ONLY use bullseye for 38spl. tightgroup or hp-38/w231 and various other powders are for my 9mm, 45acp, light 357mag rounds.
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Yeah that's the thing, I only need a couple pounds of it to last me ages, but it's out of stock literally everywhere! :(

Basically, I looked at all the load data I had, and cross-referenced it with the powders I could find in stock. The ONLY one I could find was H110, and ONLY at Budget.
 
Guess I'll chime in.

Using plated bullets with H110 is not dangerous, once velocities get over 1400fps the plating can peel off the bullet on it's way down range, which isn't desirable, but certainly isn't dangerous.

Also you can't compare Campro bullets to Berry's bullets, Campro using a much thicker plating and doesn't have the velocity limitations that Berry's has.
 
09outlander said:
Guess I'll chime in.

Using plated bullets with H110 is not dangerous, once velocities get over 1400fps the plating can peel off the bullet on it's way down range, which isn't desirable, but certainly isn't dangerous.

Also you can't compare Campro bullets to Berry's bullets, Campro using a much thicker plating and doesn't have the velocity limitations that Berry's has.
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Well that's good to know for the next time I buy plated bullets...campro's even cheaper...
 
09outlander said:
Guess I'll chime in.

Using plated bullets with H110 is not dangerous, once velocities get over 1400fps the plating can peel off the bullet on it's way down range, which isn't desirable, but certainly isn't dangerous.

Also you can't compare Campro bullets to Berry's bullets, Campro using a much thicker plating and doesn't have the velocity limitations that Berry's has.
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+1
And if IIRC, Berry's is plated to ~.003" whereas Campro is plated to ~.008"
 
158gr jacketed loads are not using plated bullets. Plated bullets use cast bullet data.
158 grain jacketed H110 loads start a bit over the 1400 FPS 09outlander mentions, but are about 2 grains less than the 13.3 Spawn talks about.
22gr of H110 is the starting load. Only goes to 23 though. Those are .30 Carbine velocities.
 
A buddy of mine shooting plated bullets in .40S&W right near the "speed limit" given by the maker did have issues with the jackets peeling off. As a result the groups on target were quite inconsistent. 3 or 4 would form a nice tight group and another 2 or 3 were fliers out a good 3 to 4 inches away from the rest that were closely grouped. We found shards of jacket on the floor so we sort of drew the conclusion that the jackets were shedding and making the ones that came apart wobble in flight and those were the fliers.

I take this to mean that when the makers of the plated bullets give you a speed limit that it's best to stay at least 100fps under that limit. Especially if hitting the bullets hard like you do with magnum loads or in the case of strongly loaded .40S&W like my buddy likes to use.

Is it dangerous to the gun? Not as long as the plating makes it out. I But if a lot of the plating begins being left in the bore? That might get ugly.

I use oodles of plated bullets. But for full house magnum loadings I like the idea of proper jacketed bullets over plated just due to the results I've seen from other folks.
 
I stop my magnum loads shy of Hurts My Hand levels, which turn out to be more on the mild end. But even with 5.6 of bullseye under a 158 cast I'm getting stupid bad leading with this latest batch of cactus plains bullets.

Kinda thinking something is off with this lot, cuz the bore was horrid after only 25 shots, and a previous batch ran much hotter with far less leading.

I'm also seeing snakes of lube on the floor some 10m ahead of the firing line - it's peeling off the bullets in flight in one long piece. That's not my usual experience with these.

I'm thinking too hard a lube for lower velocities. I'm going to smear some BP lube on the exposed driving band of each bullet as an experiment and see if that helps.
 
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