Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading .357 Mag - H110 and 125 XTP?

I'm wanting to find a good accurate load for a .357 Mag with a 4" barrel. What charge have you found to work with H110, Starline brass and a 125 XTP?

H110 isn't a reduced load powder. I use it sometimes in .357 but, it's at higher velocity. I don't have a manual with me but, 19.0 gr. or so should be good. It's a magnum level load. If I wanted a "target load" I would go with another powder. Other guys will probably get on here with other and better loads.

And be sure to use a darn good crimp.

What they said.

To add, load to the max or close to it. I found H110 and Win 296 to burn less dirty (though still not very clean) at the upper end of the spectrum. Go below the halfway point and I got a lot more granules and soot over me and the gun. Brought a towel to wipe off the gun before putting it the case or holster.

There were some recommendations against shooting 125 gr bullets in the earlier model S&W K-frames, I believe it had to do with damage to the forcing cones. Later models were modified to fix this but I don't know when this was done. I avoided the risk by shooting 158 gr bullets in my K-frame.

Top strap cutting was the problem.

H110 is better with heavier bullets than the 125's. Is that the only powder you have?

Other powders I have are HS-6 and CFE Pistol. As a side note, I've been running 10.5 gr of HS-6 with a 125 gr RMR FMJ for plinking. This gives me 1,247 fps. The gun is a Taurus 66 4" barrel.


What powder would you recommend? Would Alliant 2400 be a better route?

I have never cared for H110/296 for lite bullets in the .357. But there are lots of other powders that work. I shoot mostly cast bullets these days for plinking loads. Unique works well enough for that purpose and I have lots of it . Some of the AA and Lovex powders work well with lighter weight bullets.

I have been using 9.4 grains of Hodgdon "Longshot" with the Hornady 125 gr XTP.

I’ve seen data using 2400 giving higher velocities then h110.

Both HS-6 and CFE Pistol would be better than N110 for the 125's . HS-6 is very linear in pressure increases. I like it for that reason. CFE Pistol has a flash suppressant. Good for a 4" .357 revolver. 2400 is an old powder that will work. Better for heavier bullets. AA No. 7 is another good one for moderate loads with light bullets.

There are a lot of powders that will work. Some better than others. I just looked. All the ones I mentioned are available directly from Hodgdon if you can't find it elsewhere.

None with 110/296, a book load of a few grains of Longshot will still give a more accurate than i'll ever be 1450 fps from my 4" barreled first gen Colt Trooper, much less flash and blast LOL.

https://loaddata.com/images/articles/burnratechartnew.pdf

This might help