I just picked up a S&W 640 centennial and loaded 100 rds. with 9.0 of Unique under a 125 gr. hollow point.Been shootin' this load cause I bought a lb. of Unique when I got my 1st .357.
Little did I know how dirty this powder is.I would like a lot cleaner burning powder and the jug is about empty. For now the centennial will be a plinker gun, however, HOPEFULLY, someday, Wis. will have Conceal Carry! And when that day comes, I will already have a carry gun. I've heard from an unreliable source (we all know someone like that) that universial clays is decent, But I would like other opinions from a source that I trust. So,what load do you shoot with a 125HP?

I should mention that I "plink" with near full bore loads,but never over published book data.

Back in the day when powder was cheap, I bought 8lbs of Accurate #2. I'm still using it, a little bit goes a long way.

Try the newer Unique, slightly cleaner burning. I like it in the 357mag for med.+ loads. You could drop to a slightly faster powder like W231/HP38 but they will not be full power loads. WSF or Universal are also good candidates w/ 125gr bullets.

158gr and 2400 make a sweet combination, not brutal, but they have a nice little "pop" to 'em

My go to load for 357Mag is a 158 grain cast LSWC pushed by 10 grains of Alliant's BlueDot powder. I have tried H110, 2400, Unique, and some others and this is head and shoulders above them.

quote:

So,what load do you shoot with a 125HP?

Winchester 296 under a 125 JHP, for practice. But my carry load is factory Corbon 125's.

Back when I still owned revolvers I used 180gr hard cast bullets and Blue Dot in a 4" 686-4

ZM

Unique is one of the best pistol powders going. If you're having issues with it burning dirty, try a tighter crimp, or a bit more as any powder will be dirty if pressures aren't adequate.
One of my favorites is WW 296 when paired with Hornady's 158gr XTP -gives an honest 1370f/s. 2400 & Blue Dot are great with cast bullets. VV powders have impressed me too, but are sometimes hard to find.
Sorry, don't shoot a lot of 125's

Universal Clays will give you the same performance as Unique and is cleaner. The older Unique was dirty; I haven't heard any complaints regarding the newer stuff, and it's been around for awhile now.

Don't try downloading 296 and H-110. It's unsafe.
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Congrats on your new 640 DA snubby, I have a Taurus 605 snub, I’ve used both 2400 and Unique and found that unique was cleaner and always gave better groups. In 357 I believe I’ve gone to 8.5 with unique and 14.0 grains with 2400 using Win 125Gr hp but haven’t been able to tame 158gr bullets with this gun even with the VV 3N37 powder I primarily use for 44 Mag. Never tried H110 yet but will soon.

The best shooting that I have experienced with this revolver is 5.9 Grains of Unique with REM 110HP in a 38 +P and is a Max load.
Loved the groups and feel so much I looked at buying the S&W 638 body guard and still might grab one. I Like a full power 357 load in a medium or large frame revolver better.
IMHO I think 38 +P is good for self defense unless a perpetrator is wearing a very heavy leather coat. Then the 357 loads would probably be better suited. Below is a pic of the 110gr loads performance at 7 Yards.



Vg

LIL'GUN or H110[W296]

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
LIL'GUN or H110[W296]

I would agree for 4" & longer bbls. but in a snub, waaaay too much muzzle blast.

After reading all the replys, I'm going to stay with Unique.I was considering clays and 2400, but the comment about the crimp made me reconsider as I use a pretty light one.I'll try the Unique with a heavier crimp.

vinnyg,that is one impressive group you have there.Was that in SA or DA?(Sorry, I am not familiar w/Taurus.) I would have a tough time hitting the paper on that target at 3 yds. let alone ragged hole groups!(I see more trigger time in my future.)

Thank you all for your suggestions.

quote:

Originally posted by prplbkrr:
After reading all the replys, I'm going to stay with Unique.I was considering clays and 2400, but the comment about the crimp made me reconsider as I use a pretty light one.I'll try the Unique with a heavier crimp.

vinnyg,that is one impressive group you have there.Was that in SA or DA?(Sorry, I am not familiar w/Taurus.) I would have a tough time hitting the paper on that target at 3 yds. let alone ragged hole groups!(I see more trigger time in my future.)

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Good decision. Clays is way too fast & I think 2400 a bit slow for 125gr bullets in a snub. I use the same 9gr of Unique under a Rem.125grJHP ofr 1240fps out of my 2 1/4" SP101. Using 16gr of 2400 gives me 1175fps. I think the med. burners are more efficient in snubs w/ lighter bullets.

You might want to consider Hodgdon's Universal. It is very close to Unique in burning rate, but it seems to burn a lot cleaner, in my experience. It might not get quite the velocity that Unique can achieve, but out of a 2" barrel, I don't think the difference would be that great. I recently picked up some Power Pistol to try in the .357 and .45 ACP, but haven't gotten around to loading any of it yet.