I’ve been working on developing a load my new Marlin 94 dark series in .357 likes and shoots well. It eats anything I’ve fed it without an issue, .38spl or .357 which is a nice surprise, but accuracy is less than ideal
I have a couple pounds of HS6 sitting here; I used to reload 12ga, and used it for that exclusively. The powder is still good and $100 worth of powder is worth making use of, so I thought it was worth a try. The latitude between min and max is only .5gr. So I loaded 5 sets of 5 rds, .1gr apart.
I ran them in sequence to see how they grouped at 50yds. First observation was the noticeable difference in recoil. Even .1gr difference produced a slightly high felt recoil; with such a small increase, I did not expect that. At no point is it ever more than mild, but you can feel the difference.
The 9gr. Load (lowest) was very accurate; 1.76MOA at 50yds. 9.1, .2 & .3 were all over 3MOA, then 9.4 was a Hail Mary round; 1.34MOA @ 50. 9.5 (max) was still good at 2.33MOA.
With it being a bit slower burn, it seems to take advantage to a degree the long barrel. It’s not a screaming fast load, even at max. Barely exceeded 1400fps. It hits hard with 158gr. XTP. I loaded a bunch more at .4 grains to run through today, see how they do. I’m taking along some reactive targets this time; fruit, apples, tomatoes, a couple of cantaloupe melons, and a box of canned Soda, and also loaded some 180gr XTP with 9gr. Of HS-6 which should be close to max with that weight to see how it does. 180gr. Bullets are my preference for game and predator control, so it’d be nice to get a good accurate round with it, and burn up some of this powder.
Anyone else using HS-6 for pistol calibres, 9mm, 10mm, .357?
I have a couple pounds of HS6 sitting here; I used to reload 12ga, and used it for that exclusively. The powder is still good and $100 worth of powder is worth making use of, so I thought it was worth a try. The latitude between min and max is only .5gr. So I loaded 5 sets of 5 rds, .1gr apart.
I ran them in sequence to see how they grouped at 50yds. First observation was the noticeable difference in recoil. Even .1gr difference produced a slightly high felt recoil; with such a small increase, I did not expect that. At no point is it ever more than mild, but you can feel the difference.
The 9gr. Load (lowest) was very accurate; 1.76MOA at 50yds. 9.1, .2 & .3 were all over 3MOA, then 9.4 was a Hail Mary round; 1.34MOA @ 50. 9.5 (max) was still good at 2.33MOA.
With it being a bit slower burn, it seems to take advantage to a degree the long barrel. It’s not a screaming fast load, even at max. Barely exceeded 1400fps. It hits hard with 158gr. XTP. I loaded a bunch more at .4 grains to run through today, see how they do. I’m taking along some reactive targets this time; fruit, apples, tomatoes, a couple of cantaloupe melons, and a box of canned Soda, and also loaded some 180gr XTP with 9gr. Of HS-6 which should be close to max with that weight to see how it does. 180gr. Bullets are my preference for game and predator control, so it’d be nice to get a good accurate round with it, and burn up some of this powder.
Anyone else using HS-6 for pistol calibres, 9mm, 10mm, .357?
