Hornady 158 grain lswc-hp

[joshualee49]

So, I picked up a box of 300 of these pills....paid 15 bucks for them off a buddy. They don't have lube grooves - they are knurled. Anyone have experience loading these? I can use them for 38sp plinking loads, but would like to use them for some mid range (1000-1100fps) 357 loads as well. From the random forum perusing, it seems leading is a bit of concern with these. The firearm will be an 18" henry big boy. I currently have some hs6, h110, etr7, cfe pistol, and titegroup on hand. What are some tried and true loads in our collective experince? I do have some load data to work from, but thought I would reach out to the pro's on here for some real world feedback - especially related to leading. Thanks for your time,

Josh

 

[throttletony]

From a 18" rifle, they'll pick up 30%+ speed... so leading is even MORE of a concern.

Powder coat or gas check is a possibility???

 

[Leo]

I have shot lots of boxes of the knurled Hornady lead bullets. The coating on them does work in place of the lube grooves They are pretty soft, and I have only loaded them in low to mid range target ammo. I never had any leading with them at target speeds. I have definately used titegroup undre them often, as I have been buying that by the keg since probably 1999 or 2000.

 

[joshualee49]

Thanks for the feedback. I may work up a few in 357 and see how it goes. I'm fairly sure I can load em in 38 special with relatively low risk of leading.

 

[joshualee49]

I don't have a method to seat the gas check as far as I'm aware. Haven't studied it too much honestly. Don't you need a specific piece of hardware for that?

 

[oldpink]

As already mentioned, you'll get significantly more velocity out of your rifle length barrel than you would out of a handgun, particularly revolvers with their barrel-to-cylinder gap that vents gases.
I believe those Hornady cast bullets are pure lead, which means you'll need to keep muzzle velocities below ~1000 FPS.
H110 is excellent powder, but only suitable for magnum (.357, .44, .454 Casull, etc.) cartridges, thus totally off limits for any .38 Special loads.
ETR7 is a very unusual powder that I had never heard of before, and there is no data out there yet, so maybe it's either such an oddball powder, or so new that the publishers haven't yet tested loads using it just yet.
Your other three powders are well suited to .38 Special, so I looked them up.

A quick perusal of the Hodgdon data over on www.loaddata.com using some of the powders you have shows the following charge weights and velocities out of a revolver with a 7.7" barrel:

Hodgdon HS-6:
Starting load - 5.7 grains => 928fps
Maximum load - 6.3 grains => 1010fps

CFE Pistol:
Starting load - 4.8 grains => 960fps
Maximum load - 5.3 grains => 1048fps

CFE Pistol (with MEI cast LSWC):
Starting load - 4.4 grains => 927fps
Maximum load - 5.0 grains => 1029fps

Hodgdon Titegroup:
Starting load - 3.2 grains => 815fps
Maximum load - 3.8 grains => 920fps

Looking at the above data, I wouldn't hesitate to say that your best bet would be to go with the starting load of Titegroup, since it shows the most promise of keeping velocities low enough that you won't lead the barrel of your Henry rifle.
If you don't already have a chronograph, it would definitely be helpful to see exactly what your loads are doing out of that Henry, not just raw velocity numbers, but to see how consistent your loads are for it or any of your other guns.
If you want to shoot faster (1000+ FPS) and still use lead without worries about leading, you'll definitely need to move up to hard cast (alloyed with antimony and tin) bullets, which many vendors also sell, although I don't believe Hornady does.

EDIT: I wouldn't recommend using your 357 brass if you want to control your velocities.
You're far better off sticking with your .38 Special brass.

 

[joshualee49]

Thanks for the detailed response...I didn't realize the Hornady lswc was such a soft lead to be honest. I have loaded quite a few hard cast bullets from BK over in Peru with good results. The hornady was a new critter to me. Glad I asked about them.

 

[mac45]

Hornady's lead bullets are swaged, not cast. Then knurled and lubed.
Much simpler from a manufacturing point of view.

As said above, they're soft. So not really intended for hotter loads.
Keep 'em at target velocities and they should run fine.
I use Titegroup in my .38 Wadcutter loads, so I'll add my vote to the above for that powder.

There's no provision for a gas check on these bullets.
Gas checked bullets have a smaller base, that allows the check to be pressed on and be sized to the same diameter as the bullet.
At the velocities these are intended for, there's no need for a check anyway.

 

[Fullmag]

Isn't the Henry Big Boy a lever action rifle? I'm not sure that Semi-wadcutters will not feed well in that type of rifle. As far as gas checks, yes, there is a special device to install them.

Can you post a pic of the bullet?

 

[oldpink]

Isn't the Henry Big Boy a lever action rifle? I'm not sure that Semi-wadcutters will not feed well in that type of rifle. As far as gas checks, yes, there is a special device to install them.

Can you post a pic of the bullet?

It's possible that they could cause feeding problems, so maybe a dummy round with this bullet to test cycle through the Henry would be the way to go before loading up all of them.
Here's a closeup of this particular bullet:

 

[mac45]

SWC's feed fine in both of my M92's, but it's a fair point.
Load up 2-3 dummy rounds and make sure you don't have problems before you load a bucket full.

 

[joshualee49]

Thanks, oldpink. I'll load up a few blanks and see how they cycle. The Henry doesn't seem to mind 38sp cases which, as I understand, cause some lever guns fits. I have loaded a bunch of plated target loads. Not a bad idea to check for function with the lswc profile...

 

[lizerdking]

I use them with red dot and unique for 38spl target loads... work great for a cheap plinking round, I wouldn't try and push them in 357, I stick to jacketed for magnum loads, peace of mind and all...

 

[Sniper 79]

Shot a bunch through a Ruger 357 and a 1911 45. No leading issues under a thousand fps. I loaded with Unique using 357 brass. Nice clean loading no lube mess. Very soft so wouldn't push them very hard. No slow burning powder. They may be ok in rifle although it scares me.

See if someone has a Hornaday book with rifle specific data or shoot them a call.

 

[joshualee49]

Agreed with the general consensus...I will stick with my jacketed 357 mag rounds. I currently use 16 grains of h110 under a 158 grain Hornady xtp. Nice load and the rifle eats up most of the recoil...I'll use those lswc in 38sp cases. Just scored a pound of unique so I think I'll work up a nice soft target load for the kids and I to plink with. Better safe than sorry after all...

 

[bdybdall]

Unique has a reputation for being dirty but I love it because there are published loads for almost everything. If the SHTF you could put together rounds in almost any caliber. It has been around forever. As far as gaschecks go, the bullet has to be designed and cast for them like Lyman's 358156. The bullets are cast and then you use a lube-sizer like those from RCBS, Lyman, or Saeco to put on the gascheck, size, and lube the bullet all at one time. I don't know of any swaged bullets that take gas-checks.

 

[Cerberus]

I use them in my wheel guns, and have never had leading issues yet. The Hornady manual does not have these moving very fast in their .357 Mag section. IN fact the velocities are barely over .38 Spl. You will probably need to get some harder lead for the .357.

 

[kludge]

Hornady's lead bullets are swaged, not cast. Then knurled and lubed.
Much simpler from a manufacturing point of view.

As said above, they're soft. So not really intended for hotter loads.
Keep 'em at target velocities and they should run fine.
I use Titegroup in my .38 Wadcutter loads, so I'll add my vote to the above for that powder.

There's no provision for a gas check on these bullets.
Gas checked bullets have a smaller base, that allows the check to be pressed on and be sized to the same diameter as the bullet.
At the velocities these are intended for, there's no need for a check anyway.

This ^