Win 231 and .455 loads anyone?

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Mulletard

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I already load for 38sw with 231 for my victory. Id like to use 231 if possible for the Hand ejector in 455 I will soon aquire. Anyone have any good places to start with 231 and jet bullets 265 grn hb lead? Be using fiocci brass after I shoot those off. Seen some loads in the 3.5 to 4.3grn range.....just want some more from users on here with first hand experience.

Did some searching. Didn't dig up a ton on here with 231.
 
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Personally, I would use a much slower powder for 455 . Something in the burn range of Unique. I think thats why you won't find much loading info for 231. An ideal powder would be Vihtavoury Tin Star (32c). Its bulky like Trail Boss, but slower burning with a lower pressure curve. Just my 2 cents.
 
I don't like using the faster powders in old revolvers. Unique is quite close to 3f black in burn speed and it works across a broad range.
The S&W hand ejectors are stronger than the MKI and MKII webleys but I'd still load load a slower powder. Pass it on to the next generation of owner in as good a condition as you got it. They aren't making any more of them.
 
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Don’t give up on a WW231 load, however, unfortunately I couldn’t find one in my myriad of reloading books.
However, the 1996 edition of Modern Reloading by Richard Lee shows some very promising recipes.
Fast burning powders in pistols is always your friend. One of my all-time favourite powders is Red Dot & it won’t let you down for 455 either!
Using a 265 grain lead, 3.1grains - 3.4grains of Red Dot creates a very mild 685 fps load. Even the Bullseye recipe of 3.4 grains - 3.8 grains looks good, but I think I would start on the lower end with Bullseye, say 3.1 grains.
 
Maybe a silly question - don't you want a fast powder in a short barreled revolver or you are just blowing a bunch of unused powder out the barrel?

I do use win 231 for my 455 and the 45acp loads to use in Webleys but I'm not 100% sure it's good, I've been meaning to revisit it since I got a labRadar... I use win 231 for everything pistol and I'm reluctant to have more than one pistol powder for fear of mixing up powders...

Looked up my notes - I was using 3.9gr with a 265gr RNHB bullet from jethunter and I'd say that's on the very low safe end for plinking. My main guns for this are mk1** - one with a short and one with a long barrel - my plan is to get the labradar out at some point and up that load to the 700 fps. Don't think I'd take the mk1 and 2 that high...
 
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hatman1793 said:
Don’t give up on a WW231 load, however, unfortunately I couldn’t find one in my myriad of reloading books.
However, the 1996 edition of Modern Reloading by Richard Lee shows some very promising recipes.
Fast burning powders in pistols is always your friend. One of my all-time favourite powders is Red Dot & it won’t let you down for 455 either!
Using a 265 grain lead, 3.1grains - 3.4grains of Red Dot creates a very mild 685 fps load. Even the Bullseye recipe of 3.4 grains - 3.8 grains looks good, but I think I would start on the lower end with Bullseye, say 3.1 grains.
Click to expand...

The reason that the majority of reloading manuals don't mention 231 in 455 is because it is a really poor option. It can be done, but is far from optimal. You can load it light enough with 231 that you mimic the peek pressure of the original black powder load. So it likely won't explode the gun. And as Jethunter points out, the Hand Ejector is a pretty strong model. But the pressure curve of 231 is much steaper than the black powder used. The early steels (and iron) frames and cylinders don't cope with the shock of this high pressure curve as well as modern steels, and this can lead to cracking. Don't get me wrong, I love 231, and have used a lot of it is modern pistol cartridges, especially those with low case capacity.

My other issue is that 231 can be double and triple loaded in large capacity cases, so bulkier, slower burning powders are preferable. And since they are readily available, there just isn't a good reason to not use a more appropriate powder in my opinion.
 
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KotKotofeich said:
Maybe a silly question - don't you want a fast powder in a short barreled revolver or you are just blowing a bunch of unused powder out the barrel?

I do use win 231 for my 455 and the 45acp loads to use in Webleys but I'm not 100% sure it's good, I've been meaning to revisit it since I got a labRadar... I use win 231 for everything pistol and I'm reluctant to have more than one pistol powder for fear of mixing up powders...

Looked up my notes - I was using 3.9gr with a 265gr RNHB bullet from jethunter and I'd say that's on the very low safe end for plinking. My main guns for this are mk1** - one with a short and one with a long barrel - my plan is to get the labradar out at some point and up that load to the 700 fps. Don't think I'd take the mk1 and 2 that high...
Click to expand...

Not a silly question. When we are talking about slower pistol powders, they still burn quite fast, with the majority of the powder burned in the first inch. So all of them are quite fast burning, with powders like 231 being amongst the fastest, and powders like Unique being at the slower burning end of pistol powders.

If you used a slow burning powder intended for rifles, yes, it would puke powder out the barrel, and only partially burn it. As these are very slow burning compared to pistol powders.
 
I use 231 in a variety of cartridges and platforms.
The older guns are not among them.
In my experiences 231 is not very forgiving, small changes can make substantial differences, plus its dirty.
For me reloading has ever been “one powder fits all” and I see nothing different in this case.
It was recommended to me to consider Unique with the Jet 265 bullet and doing so I had no problem quickly working out a safe load which works great.
 
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