Oregon Trail Laser-Cast .41 mag, 215 SWC

[reinert]

I'm thinking on shooting my .41 Mag. Ruger NMB with cast bullets; never done that before. Along with the Ruger, I have a Marlin M94 carbine in the same caliber that I'll no doubt want to try the cast bullet loads in, also. I have a box (500 count) of Oregon Trail laser-cast, lubed bullets (215 grn. SWC .412" dia.) that I've had stashed for a few years, and they say "Silver Bullets" on the box (good for werewolves?). Good looking slugs. I've got a good supply of large pistol primers, mag primers, too, and a real good supply of H110, which I'll use exclusively for this project. Plenty of brass, too.

I just called the Oregon Trail folks to verify the data they have available online, and it shows 21 grns. of H110 as the minimum charge they recommend, but there's no data for a max load, and they verified that as the case, too. I'll be exploring "new ground" going over the 21 grns, cautiously, for sure, if I find I do need to raise the bar a bit. They also said to load the same for use in both pistol and rifle, which I had planned to do anyway, and they also said the bullets should work well with the micro-groove rifling in the Marlin. I do have a load I use with jacketed bullets (Speer 210 grn. GDHPs) for both firearms, and they shoot good. I Just want to try out the cast stuff I have, just because, and I have the supplies to do it.

Using the H110, and using the Oregon Trail folks' reloading data for the bullets I've mentioned, it states using H110 -DO NOT REDUCE-21.0 (grns.) but it doesn't have any max. data at all.

Without getting too hot with a charge, does anyone looking at this have a safe load using that bullet and possibly an idea of what a max, safe charge might be?

Thanks for any info anyone might give to shed light on the project.

 

[GeauxTide]

You'll get a lot less leading with loads around 1100fps. I've used 8-10gr of Unique with 215s for many years. One hole accuracy.

 

[mikejonestkd]

H110 / W296 have a very very narrow window between start loads and max loads. I checked on the powder manufacturer site and they listed a max of 20 gr for a 220 gr jacketed bullet, and a max of 22 gr for a 210 gr Hornady XTP
I have used it for 41 mag with 210 grain plated berrys bullets and IIRC I used 19.5 or 20.0 grs. They were as hot as I would ever want to push a 41 mag.

I am not sure I would want to push lead that fast, as GT mentioned above.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'd avoid H-110/WW296 for cast bullets in general.

I tried using 296 with hard cast bullets in both .357 and .41 Mag and my results weren't what I had hoped for.

I got a LOT better results with cast bullets in both cartridges when I switched over to AA 7.

 

[HiBC]

I don't have a 41 mag. I have a 44 mag Ruger SBH. I bought it in the 70's. Wheel weighs were easy then. We went through a LOT of cast bullets.
I always loaded max or near max with H-110.
A lot of ammo went through lever guns,too.
Between my shooting buddy and I,we had NO issues with leading. Accuracy was just fine.

I'm not questioning anyone else's experience,but I know mine. Right now today,with components short,I would not hesitate to load 500 rds of cast bullet 44 mag loads using H-110. I'd use a magnum primer,a strong roll crimp,
And my bullets would be groove dia +.001

I've also shot a couple of thousand Laser Cast. IMO,its a darn good product. I would buy .431 bullets for myself.

I loaded H-110 for pistol and rifle with excellent results.

Now,My brother decided to try LaserCast 200 gr SWC's in his 1911. I don't know what powder. He did not slug his bore.and made no effort to fit his bullets. "Buy them and load them" Whatever was on the shelf. He was loading falling plate loads. No +P,just target loads,someplace 800 to 900 fps.

He did get throat leading. Drove him crazy. I suspect his bullets were undersize to the bore. AND,maybe bullets cast that hard are not so good for 45ACP. I do not know.

I'd concur H-110 min loads are very near H-110 max loads. I'd compare the LaserCast data to the online Hogdon data and then make a decision. I'd lean toward that LasrCast starting load. Load 50 and shoot them. See how they do.
Don't solve problems before they show up. They might not show up.

If you get black,dirty cases,bump your charge up maybe 0.5 gr, but remember Min to Max is a narrow window. Heed published max. If you get ANY sticky extraction,stop and reduce charge.

 

[reinert]

Thanks HiBC; read you post before I sent this one off. Appreciate it.

Back in the 80's I shot my Ruger NMB using the Speer 220 grn. SPs quite a bit, and they were really good, accurate bullets in my pistol. I used H110 exclusively (19grns.) and had planned on using it for hunting. Though I did hunt with it some, I never killed anything with it; was after mulies and goats, and limited my range to 50 yds. and maybe a little beyond. Though I was quite confident with a shot at that range, I just never got into a situation that allowed that shot (looking for good bucks back in those days). Then, Speer quit making those bullets, and I kind of got out of handgun shooting anyway, so the ol' Ruger pretty much got tucked away in the drawer (nightguard duty...always has been). I still have a couple of dozen of those good ol' Speer 220grn. bullets ratholed, though...and look at them from time to time.

After I got the Marlin, I started using the Speer 210 grn. GDHPs in the reloads, and found they shot really well in the carbine. So then, just a couple of years ago, I supplied up on H110 and the Speer bullets when all the stuff was available (glad I did! Lessons do get learned...) and also got a deal on the 215 grn. Oregon Trail bullets I mentioned earlier. BTW, I got the Marlin off of gunbroker near 20 years ago, and it was quite near NIB (yup, box too; believe I got the rifle for 700 bucks; thereabouts) and knew I had something good, as finding a Marlin in that caliber, let alone in that shape, was rather hard. When I got the gun, I took it out and shot a group (Ha!) at 50 yds. off the bench and had shots scattered in a 10" pattern and figured right there why I found the gun for sale. Took it home for an aggressive cleaning, and started pulling strings of lead from the bore, smiled, and once I had it cleaned up, took it out and shot a 5 shot group "close" to an inch at the same 50 yds., and then smiled again. Micro groove rifling; kinda known not so good with cast bullets...found out first hand.

I started this thread with the idea of using H110 as propellant, as it's the only pistol powder I have at present. And after calling the Oregon Trail folks, and running it by you guys, I will give the H110 a try with those cast "silver" bullets to see what gives. I'm quite certain they'll work at least o.k. in the Ruger, but it will be interesting to see what the bore tells me in the Marlin. I will start my loads using the 21 grns. of H110 as my data shows from Oregon Trail, and what my phone visit confirmed with using that charge. The Oregon Trail guy said it should work just fine for both rifle and pistol. Don't know when I'll get to the bench to work this load, but I'll get back after an outing if any of you fellow reloaders would want any report. If anyone has a helpful comment on the H110 usage, I'd be very glad to hear/read it.

Merry Christmas, and hoping 2021 will find reloading components AT LEAST a bit more availalble for everyone. As my wife says, "Hope springs eternal."

 

[HiBC]

Try cycling a few dummy rounds for length through the lever gun. A little too much LOA with a SWC and they get cranky.

 

[reinert]

"Special Loads"

Yeah, I certainly get the cycling test for the Marlin. Have some 265 grain, gas checked bullets from Cast Performance Bullet Co. (Heat Treated Solids) I had to mess with to get those long ones to cycle through the Marlin. Got them to work just fine, nonetheless. They're special rounds for when camping in the Far West part of Wyoming in the big bear country (lots of them over there these days). Hope I never have to use them, and after visiting with the bullet company, and using the charge of H110 they suggested in my loads (seemed a bit warmish), I found them to shoot very well, indeed. As far as I could see, the gun worked fine, the spent cases looked just as normal as any other loadings put through them with absolutely no issues in function. I shot a few of these rounds at 50 yds. from my daypack, too, with more than adequate accuracy. Recoil is a bit stout, but not terrible. Wouldn't want to put a steady diet of these through the rifle, either. And though they fit just fine in the Ruger, I've never tried them, and probably won't. The Cast Performance folks said the loading is plenty safe in either of my .41s.

Just out of curiosity, but mostly to make sure they cycled as they should, I put up a standard sized paper plate at 15 yds. and fired 5 shots, offhand, just as fast as I could lever them through, and made a fair enough group, all in the plate. 'Bout the size of a big bear's head...good grief, what a thought.