these are from that slovenian mould 265 grain. They cast under that with the hollowpoint being the lightest, then powder coated.
i am going to run them through a 57, then a marlin lever to figure velocity with nine grains of unique.

i guess i should add i seated them to the crimping groove which gave them an overall length of 1.70. The almost at the end of the cylinder when loaded.
I want also to fire them through some milk jugs to see what the hollow, and others do, and as to penetration with the solid.

Beautiful revolver. I'll be interested in your chrono results for that Unique and 265 grains load.

L.W.

Very nice Ron...can hardly wait to get back down there and take a run out to the desert some time to shoot...

Just got done casting a bunch of these with the PentaPoint cavity. Not sure if I'll be running them with 21 grains of H110 or 9.0 of Unique...these will mainly for the Freedom Arms so probably the H110. Mine bare run 259 grains and 264 with gascheck and lube. Also bought the same mold in a solid nose no gascheck but have not cast any yet...





Bob

When you run the solid...make sure you use at least 8 jugs and a couple of pieces of plywood behind them if you want a chance of catching one...

mine don't have the gascheck, and i did use 9grains of unique.
I have about 30 gallon jugs to fill with water. Last fall when i was doing that with a 310graine powdercoated lee bullet it went through ten and bounced off the plywood. 44 magnum.
You should reconize the pistol, enabler, which i don't regret AT all. I couldn't sleep that night after seeing it, was down there the next day.
i am also curious as to velocity.
Next cast i will put the pentad pin there for some of those.
i put a lot of lead free solder in the mix, which makes them cast lighter. or lynotype.
i need to run a tester on one of them for hardness. Part of the powdercoating process is to bake them at 400degrees for a while. I believe that would increase the hardness. I figured with the powdercoating i would not need the gascheck design.

9.0 grains of Unique with a 212 grain MeHic Keith HP gets 1100 fps. 10.0 gets 1180 with a 214 PentaPoint in a 4" barrel. I ran them into water and the nose explodes in the carton and first jug and then the shank of the bullet went through three more jugs and then stopped at the vest insert. Kinda the best of both worlds...expansion and penetration. My guess you will get in the area of 1075 with the 6" and heavier bullet.

8.0







9.0







10.0

21gr H110 sounds like a fairly stout charge?

I think I'm running 16gr in my 57 with 220's, but I'd have to check my notes to verify that.

I bought a 357PD from a relative. This one is the 4" scandium frame gun, like the 329, but in 41 mag instead of 44.

It also came with a bunch of 250gr Cast Performance BFN bullets. I'm not terribly excited about shooting them in it.

I'm kind of jacking around with some of these projectiles. I load 41 for quite a variety of handgun/rifles. most are the standard 200/210grain pill a head of 8grains of unique.
I think any of those at about 1000fps really suffices for most anything.
I do know this a 210grain golddot at the top end puts the lights out on an elk pretty darn quick.

bob
as usual i think you have already done the work for me.
that is cool as all get out of the projectile breaking on contact and the shank penetrating through. Couldn't ask for better.
that would be applicable also i think to the 45colt version.
I wish now i had the 38/357 version.

I tried all sorts of tests with bullets, cast and jacketed. At the end of the day, I shoot nothing but hard cast bullets in my 41. Unless you do your testing at around 80 yards, you really won't replicate the actual performance a bullet has in a hunting situation. I never found any jacketed bullets that would outperform cast bullets under these circumstances. Hollow points seem ineffective at that distance as well, so a good hardcast bullet with a flat meplat will work consistently and adequately to use in a hunting situation.

I have killed deer, antelope and all sorts of small game with it and everything seemed to die with a good shot. A gopher at 15 yards may be deader with a hollow point, but I noticed the shot has to be close for you to benefit with a hollow point...

Nice looking bullets and handgun RoninPhx!! I run 265 GC Cast Performance bullets in my 357PD and use 8.0 grains of unique - ALOT more comfortable to shoot (more "pushing" than the quick "snap" of lighter bullets/factory loads that often jump crimp!) and do not think I am loosing anything to 210 grain bullets at max. velocity .

PennDog

Have to agree with shrapnel...out past 50 yards most handgun bullets become nothing more than a hole punch...but since most of my deer shooting is under 50 yards it is interesting to play with home cast HPs...

tdd...I have a simple formula for H110 powder...fill the case till the bullet just rests on the top of the powder charge. Gets the lowest Standard Deviation, best accuracy and highest safe velocity...works for jacketed and cast. A Cast Performance 255 LBT will take 22.0 grains and get mid-1400s. A 250 CP LBT has a longer shank and shorter nose and will only take 20 grains of powder... And when shot out of my S&W revolvers the cases all eject smoothly... I would not do it with a .45 Colt but works fine in any of the Magnums...

Ron...any MeHic mold you are looking for send him PM over on the CastBoolit forums...he often has over-runs for sale. I've bought two from him that way.

Did a bunch of selling and trading last month... Finally decided I just didn't want to shoot the 357PD and 357NG anymore and sold them both...they were just unpleasant to shoot with the grips that fit my hand. Then picked up a 8 3/8" Model 57 made in 1964 to complete my collection of First Year of Production guns...so I sold off a 657 8 3/8" that I hardly ever shot and it brought almost as much as I paid for the 57...so it has been a good year...

58, 4" 57, 5" 57, 6" 57 with new 8 3/8" 57...

Interesting formula. I've been reloading a while, but I'm trying to envision how to figure the charge to do that...?

Could be that my brain isn't functioning, though. It's Monday, after all.

Hey Ron, I have a 170gr slovenian mold w/pins

well you do and don't, i am aware of where that mould is at the moment. I have a bunch of moulds for that caliber but not that mould. I mail have to email the guy in slovenia.

Rjm
another project with the 41, i dug a box of the sierra 170 grain JHC hollowpoints out of the stash.
I was looking at 2400 at 21.2 to 21.6 for between 1400 and 1450fps. Have you ever used any of these?
i read long time ago somebody loading these to pop cast iron frying pans with. Supposedly really shatters them.
Got to find out.

SAY WHAT????

There was a 5" M57? or was it modified by a gunsmith?

rjm is my enabler, i do not have an example of that one on the far right. come to think of it, i also don't have first year of production. It is humbling

Are you casting those hard or soft. Was it me I might try some with pure of nearly pure lead.

Today I loaded 15 of the 280 gr penta points from a mold much like yours and 18 of the 350 gr from the NEI mold. I home to test them next week.

I also found 130 45 auto rim and have them in the tumbler. They might be fun in the Colt for some 45 ACP range loads.

Just gotta know where to look Tex....

It is pretty easy figuring the H110... Get a dowel just a little smaller than the diameter of the inside of the .41 case. Then stand a bullet on a flat surface and stand the dowel next to it. Mark the dowel with a pencil at the top of the crimping groove. Slowly fill the case with powder and when it about eyeballs where you think it should be slowly drop the dowel down on top of the powder and see where your crimp line is. Once you get the desired level put the charge on a scale and see what it weighs. Then compare what you have in the pan and see what the loading manuals say. Back off a couple of grains and work up to your 100% volume load.

I would not use pure lead for any cast load...you are really going to lead up your barrel. The above bullets are just a mix of wheelweights, range scrap and some Linotype...

Bob

The MeHic 180 is one of my favorite .41 molds...

Solid 180...Pentapoint 178...Small HP 177...Large HP 170




Large HP and PentaPoint in the mid 1300s...




Now my official bullet with 14.0 grains of Blue Dot for the Freedom Arms 97/4.25" and also load them in .41 Special cases with 8.0 grains of Unique. Run 1130 fps in a 4" Taurus Tracker...


180 C.O.P at 1080 fps and the Large HP at 1300.




.41 Magnum COP and a .41 Special 170 Large HP in a short cylinder Tracker...

bob:
I bought a couple boxes of those cop bullets but haven't fired them yet. I really like those wings.
when i was loading today i was looking at two boxes, 30 count per box of the barnes solid copper. Too cheap yet to load them up, they are not cheap. But that cop looks a lot like what the barnes is suppose to look like.

That was a C.O.P. factory load...very mild to say the least. Great for the Tracker and AirLite Smiths...

I have one box of the Barnes also...and they are too expensive to mess with...

Bob

That makes perfect sense, thank you! I knew it wouldn't be difficult, but couldn't wrap my brain around it.

As for lead (which I know was another person's question), I have a few hundred lbs of pure or nearly pure lead (x-ray room shielding). That I guard very closely and will use ONLY for round balls for my flintlock. I have WW lead to use for bullets, and I also got close to 500 220gr hard cast with my 57 when I bought it, so I also will not run pure/soft lead through mine.

I love these bullet tests, as I was thinking of getting some XTP's for my gun, and I still might, but I loaded the cast up for hunting loads. Haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet, but I figured (and the jug testing confirms it) that stopping them will take more than a whitetail at handgun ranges.

That's quite a photo!

yesterday i loaded some sierra 170grain hollow points laying around for a long time. With 21grains of 2400. I was kind of surprised how much that filled the case. I think people often think of this caliber as just a 210grain gun. Where in reality if you handload, you can go from 170 to 300grain.
That's quite a range. I had a guy i know email about selling the nickel gun in the picture. I told him no, but if you have other .41's to sell, let me know and i will put you in contact with him.
And i got to thinking. i have a smith 45colt with the 8inch barrel. It puts a different perspective on that caliber.
Have you chrony'd any loads through a 41 with the 8inch tube?

Ron..the 170 Sierra...

26.0 H110

5.5" Ruger Redhawk......1536

6.5" Ruger Blackhawk....1650

10" TC Contender.......1875

14" TC Contender.......1980

20" Marlin 1894........2100

Looking through my notes I have never chronographed an 8 3/8"..

Bob

....and Tex...just pullin' ya leg...

A factory trained Smith smith took a badly rusted 1964 57 6" I found cheap and cut the barrel.




He was able to make it look as factory as it gets...





Is a great shooter.



I always admired the Model 29 5" guns that H. H. Harris had made up and wanted one in .41...there is ONE factory 57 5" that was made up in their tool room for a special order...it is nickel and now resides in the collection of Doc44 over on the S&W Forums..

Ron,

A few years back I posted with photos about shooting down into the top of a 55 gallon drum full of water to test some 41 bullets. Included were 170 Sierra, 210 XTP, and the 210 Berry's. 7.5 inch SBH @ point blank range.

The 170 Sierra with a top load shed its core every time, but retained most of its weight. Bob had told me that it is a good hunting bullet. My results agreed with that.

The only time I ever drew blood with the 170 Sieera was on a large feral lab retriever harrassing my cows. From the Marlin at fifty yards, it did the job. But like a typical heart shot deer, the dog ran about 100 yds before falling over.

If you want to know more, I can dig through my notes. Or perhaps I can find the original post (if the search function goes back that far).

I don't get into it as deeply as you fellas do, but I shoot 210gr RNFP hard cast over a full load of trail boss.

I added a 3 screw Blackhawk to the collection a couple months back and finally took it out this weekend. I started out shooting at 1/2 gallon juice cans, then went to regular tin cans and finally, empty .22 boxes at 25 yards; nocking them down with regular rhythm.

I have been amazed at the ease of accuracy in every .41 I shoot.

Has anyone ever have a bad one?

i just pretty much got through detailing out an early 70's three screw ruger, but haven't shot it yet.
I suppose it is possible to get a bad 41 but i haven't experienced it yet.

Strider, what velocity do you get with 210 gr and TB? Sounds like a perfect Cowboy load if it doesn't exceed 1,000 fps, and a great all-around carry load regardless.

Holy Time Warp Batman!

It has been over ten years since I did these pics.

170 Sierra 1340 FPS w/ 10 gr Unique



w/ 23.5 gr H110



210 XTP 23.5 gr H110



210 XTP w/ 21 gr XTP 1390 fps

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210 Berry's w/ 7 gr Unique

Tried some of the 180 solids in the Model 97 a couple of days ago....no complaints with the accuracy...recoil is very mild...just let one round get away from me...







The new front sight works very well...

I've been half tempted to buy a 41 Blackhawk with a 4-5/8 bbl and have my smith fit an aftermarket bisley Fram and fire control group to it..then have it cerakoted

I knew someone had beat me to the punch on that bullet. I loaded 50 of them with I think without looking 9grains of unique. I am going to have to recover some of them. I do like the way they opened up.
Little off topic but maybe not, was with a gunsmith friend of mine that tore apart a guide gun of mine to slick it up. Now i have other marlin's, including one in 41 and i saw exactly what to do and not to do on performing this slick it up operation. And a LONG discussion on the new remington builds and some of the problems with them. I think i would NOT buy any rem/marlin, and the marlin would have to have that JM on the side of the barrel.

6.5 grains will run just under 1000 fps. You might have to drop a bit, depending on what you are shooting.

Maybe it's just the frames we most typically find it in.

I can't complain about any BH I have shot, nor a S&W for that matter.

There must be some grade b revolver out there with a 2" barrel that shoots it poorly... maybe.

What load with unique or bullseye would provide 900 fps with the 170

Stay away from Bullseye in Magnum cartridges... Too easy to get a double charge and there is a widely held belief that because so little is in the case one can get flash-over detonation.

As to 900 fps with a 170 Sierra, probably in the 7.5 grain area....maybe a little less. Be careful running jacketed bullets too slow. There are instances where the jacket has stuck in the bore and the core had enough inertia to separate and continue out the bore.... The Sierra was also designed as a high speed hunting bullet...I doubt it will expand at that velocity.

If you are looking for a light recoiling target load, look around for a commercial caster who makes the 195 grain Lee. I have seen them out there for sale...

Bob

Thanks, Strider. I have a 4.5" Blackhawk, so that should be light enough.

Thanks guys basically looking for a 41 Special load for plinking