.357 loads for Pistil Cartridge

[Jason]

If a 357 is that bad, I wonder what my 22 mag with ram handloads that I use in pistol cartridge is...

[glen ring]

Dang Nine
What kind of groups are you getting with your load of Unique and the 125 grain bullet? I used that load of unique with a 158 xtp and I got about a three inch group at 100 yards. I need a very accurate, but easy on the targets, Pistol cartridge load. Thanks

[Another Dang 9]

to be honest with ya I don't know! Ive been using that load for years and never actually shot for grouping. Its been good to me so far. I always shoot 30+ animals with it which is about as good as I can shoot anyway. I get nervois if I shoot more than that and start to miss!

[glen ring]

Jason

I've always wanted to try one of those Ram killer 22 magnum loads, but I confess I'm a little afraid. What kind of bullet do you use and how do you pull the bullet from the case?

[Jason]

<Insert the usual "Do this at your own risk" and "If you blow your gun, yourself, or the universe up with this, the liability is yours and only yours." disclaimers...>

I use the Federal Classic 50gr ammo. I pull the bullet with a Hornady collet bullet puller using a 25 auto shellholder. Then I replace the powder with 7.1gr of H110 and seat the bullet to factory depth using an RCBS 22 Hornet seater. Note that my Lee 22 Hornet seater won't go short enough to seat the bullets for 22 Mag, but the RCBS will. I just wrote "22 MAG" on the RCBS seater with a black Sharpie marker and leave it set for the 22 Mag ram load. I'm as careful pulling and seating these as I am pulling the bullets out of any other loaded round, wearing safety glasses and such. I don't know of any ever having any issues with it. I don't think I'd want to use one of the impact bullet pullers for the job either, but that's mostly because I don't think it would work well. I have heard of one shooter who reloaded his 22 Mag ammo using 7.3gr of H110 and blew an extractor off in 100+ degree weather in Arizona with an older Winchester 94. Most I know who soup up their 22 Mag loads use 7.2gr of H110 with 50gr bullets from what I've heard. I've never lost a ram with the 7.1gr charge. I've shot a boatload of them with this load so I see no need to go higher. I have the velocity numbers at home and can check after I get home from work tonight.

For bullets, you can replace the bullets with other bullets but I've never had a need to and I got the 50gr Federal Classics pretty cheap. As long as I'm careful with pulling the bullets, they shoot great after being reseated. A pound of H110 can make about 986 of these loads, too, so there's very little added expense per round. Those 50gr Federal Classics usually shoot pretty poorly from the factory because most 22 Mags don't have a fast enough twist to stabilize the longer bullets at factory velocities. Getting pushed faster by the replaced powder makes them shoot great for me, though. I might actually play with seating depth a bit to see if I can get a little better accuracy. I'm getting about 1.5" center-to-center for five shots at 100m using a scope and benchrest gear, though, so I'm not sure the old Marlin 57M can shoot better than that anyway.

Update: I just looked to make sure Federal was still selling their Classic 50gr 22 Mag load and now they're calling it "Game Shok" but it's still the same bullet and part number (757). Click here for more info on it.

[glen ring]

Thank You Jason. I'll try loading some this summer. I've always wondered why a manufacturer didn't load a good 40 or 45 grain spire point bullet in 22 magnum. I like the Remington 33 grain rounds, but they seem very frangible and just make a mark on most rams at 100 yards. My old Marlin 1894m is the most accurate rifle I own, when I have a scope on it. The Marlin will consistantly outshoot my Kimber 22 at 100 yards.

[Jason]

Those really high velocity 33-grain rounds are probably the worst ammo to use on silhouette targets. You want a bullet that holds together and transfers momentum well. That lightweight bullet designed to blow apart going really fast when it hits steel doesn't do the job very well at all. I've seen a couple pistol cartridge pigs take good hits from those rounds and not fall.

I just checked my logs and that 50gr ram load that I posted averages about 1775fps out of my gun 4ft from the muzzle. The CCI Maxi-Mag TMJ (total metal jacket) 40-grain round that I use for the other animals averages around 1810fps from my rifle. It shoots very accurately and holds together well, as you'd expect of of a TMJ, but has occasionally left a ram standing if hit low in the body. Federal also makes a 40-gr full metal jacket load that they list at about the same velocity that CCI lists theirs, but it didn't shoot quite as well in my gun. You might try either of those if you want to use that gun for pistol cartridge silhouette before you load up some of those ram loads. Winchester also makes a "Dynapoint" 45-gr load, but it's pretty slow. They didn't shoot well for me and just looking at the rounds you could see the inconsistent bullet shapes and poor quality control, so I don't recommend them even for replacing the powder to make the velocity faster.