I know its spicy. But it should be safe right?
Define "safe"....
while this may seem a bit snarky, its actually a serious question. How do YOU define safe??
Obviously, we all use one part of "safe" the same way, if your load does not blow up or damage your gun then it is "safe".
But, beyond that, there are different levels of "safe". There is "safe in your gun" but perhaps not in someone else's. There is "safe, but not suitable" and again, this can be different with different guns. and there is "SAAMI safe" which means loaded to a pressure level SAAMI deems safe in ALL guns in that chambering.
They are not all the same thing.
(the terms are mine, not anyone's official anything, just terms I made up for ease of understanding)
Here's a story to illustrate the differences, from the dark ages of pre-internet (and even pre personal computers) where the high tech was the Chrony brand chronograph, which was new on the market at a price of about $100 which put a chronograph within reach of a lot of shooters who could never afford one before....
.357 Magnum, 125gr JHP bullet
"spicy" charge of Hercules 2400 powder (right out of the middle of the current Speer manual of the day)
CCI 550 small pistol magnum primers.
I think winchester cases but cannot now remember for certain...
Do remember it was all the same brass...not mixed headstamp cases
3 different 6" barrel handguns used to shoot same ammo over the Chrony.
None of the guns blew up or broke, so the ammo was "safe" in that regard. However....
First gun used was a S&W model 19. The owner shot it, and somehow, managed to "double" the gun. He fired two shots when he only meant to shoot once. To this day, I do not understand HOW he did it, but I was there and saw it happen. The chronograph said 1620fps.
With me so far? 6" S&W model 19, 125gr JHP, load right out of the Speer book, displayed velocity 1620fps. Blast and recoil were "stout"..
At that point, we decided to stop using the M19 with that ammo. Cylinder opened, four unfired round fell out normally, but the two fired cases (primers were somewhat flattened) could not be removed by hand pressure on the ejector rod. We did get them out, using a small hammer (and wood block to protect the ejector rod).
I'd say that ammo in THAT GUN was safe, but not suitable.
Same ammo, next gun was a 6" S&W model 28 Highway Patrolman. Six rounds fired normally (it was hot stuff) avg MV on the Chrony was 1670fps.
Cylinder open, hand pressure ejects all the cases normally. 50fps faster than the M19 and everything worked normally, nothing stuck.
Next pistol was a 6" Desert Eagle. 9rnds fired (one full magazine). Gun fed, fired and ejected flawlessly. Avg Chrony reading was 1720fps.
So we have 3 different guns all shooting exactly the same ammo and it worked fine in the huge Desert Eagle, and also fine in the N frame model 28 but the stuck cases proved it was not suitable in the lighter K frame model 19. We didn't have a J frame size gun to try, but even if we had, based on what happened with the K frame gun, we would not have used that ammo in it, anyway. We did run some of those rounds through a Marlin carbine and they clocked exactly 2200fps, with normal function.
Now this is just an example of something that happend with those guns and that ammo, that day, and it doesn't mean the same thing is going to happen with any other guns and ammo, but it does illustrate a point you need to consider, and that is, that different guns ARE different, and can do different things with the same ammo.
SAAMI sets their limits for the manufacturing INDUSTRY, and sets them to be both safe and functional in every modern gun you will likely find in each particular chambering. This includes small light guns as well a bigger ones.
SAAMI doesn't approve of "Ruger only" heavy .45 Colt loads, either, but lots of people safely use them, in suitable RUGER Blackhawks. NEVER in Colt SAAs or clones.
so, where do you define "safe"?? Is it the same place SAAMI does? or is it somewhere else??
Some folks adhere to SAAMI specs with almost religious fervor. Others are ok with "works fine in my gun and I don't give a rodent's posterior if it works in your gun or not"....
some of us are also old enough to remember a time before SAAMI lowered the .357 Mag's "acceptable" max pressure to 35,000psi....
I'm ok, with compressed loads with H110, PROVIDED you work up to them in YOUR gun.
For the .357, 2400 is my go to powder and I rarely use anything else. I have used H110 in .357 but not for a long time now.
