Hi-Tek Coated Bullets load development

[Sevens]

Whew, exhale.

With all of that said... scores of handloaders long before me have had great experience with Red Dot in handgun rounds. Promo is (likely?) a smarter choice than Red Dot if Red Dot is what ya wanna use in handgun rounds.

I have made more .45 with Promo in the last 4-5 years than 90% of American gun owners would shoot in a decade and this load has worked very well. Even still, I am giddy at the prospect of finally finishing the bitter end of this one single 8-lb jug of Promo and never buying another. God willing, this will happen in 2017.

These thoughts and experiences are 100% my own.

[Morne]

More data:

59 F, 62% RH, 30.02" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.44 Mag 240-gr Coated FP, CCI-350 LPP(m), Accurate #7 Powder, 1.597-1.613" COAL
Taurus 44 Tracker with 4" ported barrel
15.1-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1001 fps - ES = 26.4
15.6-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1048 fps - ES = 32
16.0-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1099 fps - ES = 95
16.2-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1090 fps - ES = 35

Hardly speed demons but they were OK. Certainly adequate for magnum practice rounds. Still slower than the website data from Accurate Powder that shows a range of 1180-1341 fps for this powder weight range behind a 240-gr lead bullet (out of 8.275" barrel for that data). I think that 15.6-gr load will make a fine recipe for future use.

[Morne]

73 F, 61% RH, 29.89" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.44 Spl 240-gr Coated FP, CCI-300 LPP, Accurate #5 Powder, seated to cannelure
Taurus 44 Tracker with 4" ported barrel
6.3-gr powder - AVERAGE = 604 fps - ES = 10.0
6.6-gr powder - AVERAGE = 646 fps - ES = 10.1
6.8-gr powder - AVERAGE = 664 fps - ES = 17.5

I was very impressed at the low amount of ES on these loads. That heaviest load is probably a fine practice recipe.

[Morne]

59 F, 80% RH, 30.07" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.357 Mag 130-gr Coated RNFP, WSP(m), IMR PB Powder, 1.564-1.571" COAL
Taurus 66 with 6" barrel
4.6-gr powder - AVERAGE = 855 fps - ES = 59.6
5.2-gr powder - AVERAGE = 930 fps - ES = 80.5
5.7-gr powder - AVERAGE = 979 fps - ES = 83.2

At least I FINALLY found a safe load to use to burn up that pesky jar of IMR PB powder I have laying around. The 4.6-gr load is only moving at .38 Special velocities but what the heck.

.357 Mag 130-gr Coated RNFP, WSP(m), HS-6 Powder, 1.554-1.570" COAL

Taurus 66 with 6" barrel
11.1-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1305 fps - ES = 55
11.3-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1388 fps - ES = 75
11.6-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1365 fps - ES = 123
12.0-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1416 fps - ES = 73

Now THESE were some stiff loadings. I don't know why the 11.6-gr load had such a wide ES (5-shot strings all) compared to the others. Still, any of the others would make excellent practice .357 Magnum loads, which is all I expect out of my handloads.

Notice that these were very similar to some 125-gr copper plated loads I used and yet got a LOT more velocity with the coated bullets.

[Morne]

More data:

61 F, 76% RH, 30.03" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.44 Mag 200-gr Coated RNFP, WLP LPP, IMI SR-4756 Powder, @1.560" COAL
Rossi Ranch Hand 44 with 12" ported barrel
14.8-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1621 fps - ES = 58

Decided to try that fast/tight load in my 12" barreled Rossi Ranch Hand. It was SMOKING FAST!