Hi All -
I inherited my grandfather's .348 (1930's vintage) and would like to use it in the CA lead-free zone. Been looking for leadfree bullets for a while but couldn't pry any of the Barnes off of anyone.
Cutting Edge very recently started producing some .348 lead free all-copper bullets (they aren't on their website yet, but i ordered by phone). They don't have specific load data for them, instead referring to their general statement of using "loads for like-weight bullets, start 5% low for safety".
Here's my question: The new bullets are 175gr hollow points. What load data would you use as a start? What powder would make sense and at what loads? Should I use the Hodgon data for 200gr Hornady JFP? That data should understate the load if I start at the min load and only work up to the max-load velocity for the 200gr (~2600fps)?
I have a pound of Varget left, and a few pounds of 4166. Not averse to buying more 4350 or 4895 or whatever seems to make sense. I wondered if 4895 would make more sense and start really low - like a 70% load based off of max of the 200gr load? (Since the 200gr max is lower than the theoretical max for 175gr, I wouldn't go down to the 60% starting point if i was trying to make reduced loads).
About me: I'm not an experimenter or a hot-rodder. I like lots of safety margin. I like loads to stay right in the known zone. I have a chrony and don't drive bullets faster than known loads even if i reach that before i get to the stated max number of grains. I've not used Cutting Edge bullets before, nor loaded for the .348.
Thanks
HT
