I'm just curious, what are your accurate hunting loads for your BH 357 mag. I have a 357 BH with a 6.5" barrel. I'm not impressed with what I'm shooting right now! I'm shooting a 158 gr. xtp with 16.5 gr of Lil Gun.
tommy

I run a Remington 180 gr soft hollow nose over Speer's maximum charge of H110 for 1500 fps on the nose out of my 10 inch Contender. Shoots into 2 inches at 100 with a 2x glass and kills deer quick. The manual says it's for Contenders and heavy frames only so I'd be comfortable using such a load in an N-frame or a Bisley Blackhawk (if I owned either) but I don't use it in my GP-100. Which version of the Blackhawk are you using?

158 gr Sierra JHC with 15.5gr of W296

I've actually gone back to the predecessor of the .357 Mag. I load the Lyman 358429 in a .38 Special case as a .38-44 load as described by Elmer Keith.

This gets about 1,380 fps from my 6" Model 28. Definitely not a J frame load!

MS -- what is the weight of the bullet?

It casts out at 173 grains with wheelweights.

It's a new model BH.
tommy

I use a 125 FP/XTP over Bluedot at 1690 fps out of my 6" Ruger SS.

Larry Gibson

For factory ammo i use Federal hard cast 180 grn loads. Very accurate.

I've always shot 15gr 2400 with 125gr Hornady XTP's through my 357's. Dropped a mule deer with one shot and lost count of the javelinas taken.

Max 2400 hornady book load behind a 180 xtp down a 4" barrel Mod 66. Accuratecy is OK/good but pass through is only about 50% on medium bodied (Michigan) deer. Bullets only rivets, all shots at 30 yards or less. Works but not the most impressive thing I've used.

Change that XTP to a 180 grain cast Keith or LFN style bullet and you will see a vast improvement on pass throughs.

quote:

Originally posted by MS Hitman:
Change that XTP to a 180 grain cast Keith or LFN style bullet and you will see a vast improvement on pass throughs.

Amen, MS Hitman!

Haven't worked up a load for my new BH yet but if it will handle -shoot accurately I load 158 gr Rem JSP for the '94 carbine1 Also 180 gr XTP's They are stout loads so we'll see how they shoot!

I use Speer 125 gr gold dots with 20.5 gr of H110 for +/-1640 fps in my BH. Not the best deer load, but accurate in all the BHs I have tried. (It does wear the forcing cones more than most) dvnv

Worth noting is that some blackhawks suffer from a constriction in the barrel where it screws into the frame, and it kills accuracy. I have such a blackhawk and have tried at least a dozen different cast bullets and 1/2 dozen powders and 25 yd groups are 4-5". I will finally get around to cutting in a taylor throat as well as some other tuneup items.

A good .357 just needs a decent dose of 2400 and a good 158-180 gr cast bullet.