Hi and Merry Christmas

I was wondering if anyone has tried some 800-X in .357 Mag?

A little background… Years ago a buddy gave me a can of some stuff called AL-8. He said it worked well in .44 Mag, but he didn’t try it in anything else.
Well, it sat around my bench for years and I finally got around to trying it in some .357 Mag with some 110gr Sierra JHPs, also sittin around gathering dust..
I put 16.0grs of AL-8 (It fills the case to the brim!) behind the 110gr JHPs with WSP primers and shot some targets.

WOW!.. This is one of, if not ‘the’ most accurate load if ever shot out of this 4†686! Three different days this load printed a nice little cluster about 2†at 25 yards.

So… How can I duplicate this performance with what’s available now?

Now I’m on a quest..
I’ve tried some UNIQUE and 2400.. close but no cigar..
I’m out of BlueDot, gotta get some more.

I started looking at 800-X thinking it was in the same ballpark as AL-8 as far as burning rate goes?

So anyway, there we are..

Thanks.

800x is a HUGE flake powder that meters poorly at best. it's unparalleled for the 10mm, bot the huge thin flakes are a PITA. is that what the other stuff looked like?

Yes, AL-8 was a large kinda square flake and didn't meter well either. I had to use the Uniflow powder measure as the largest Little Dandy rotor only threw about 14.0 grs. Even with that, I could keep them within .4 grs.
It sounds like the two are very similar. Just wondering if they perform similarly. What was amazing, I got such good accuracy in spite of the sloppy charges.

I have worked up to see how much power I can get with 800X in 10mm, 40sw, 9x19mm, 9x23mm, and 32 S&W Long.

Expect allot of velocity without over pressure.
It is amazing stuff in a class by itself.

I have heard of very high velocities with 44mag and 200 gr.

The flakes are not only a pain to meter, incompletely burned flakes blown out the muzzle can start fires or burn holes in the paint of your car

Wow.. Sounds like it would be fun to do some night shooting.. lol.

I also shoot a .40.. What did you find out?

Thanks

I like 800X, and recently used up some AL 7 and 8. Blue Dot and 800X worked well in 357 & 44 mag loads, but I use 125-160 gr bullets in the 357 and the 240's in the 44. However, I have never been able to better the velocities (easily) obtainable with 296 or H110.
My project for 2008 will be to figure out the 40 S&W, & I think 800x might work well there.