2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Maximizing the performance of your Rossi firearm.
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2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Moon Tree »

In the last month I've been trying to work up a deer hunting load for my Rossi and Blackhawk .357. Of course, I'm using my backyard, redneck manner of testing.

I've read and watched YouTube videos about using wet newspaper. Problem is, I don't read newspaper. So, buying newspapers and building the forms didn't appeal to me. Plus, it's a one shot deal, then you need another couple newspaper bricks. I tried wet magazines stuff inside a garbage bag lined cardboard box. There were issues with this technique. First the garbage bag always got torn and let the water seep out. I couldn't get consistent results because the water in the box was leaking out. Second, magazine pages are wax coated and don't absorb moisture like newspapers do.

A week or so off redneck pondering, I came up with an idea. I save sawdust from my workshop in feed bags for potential gardening projects. Wet sawdust would have similar characteristics as wet newspapers. And the feed bags would be useful to hold the sawdust in place.

I soaked the sawdust in a tug of water for a few days prior to range testing. On "shooting day I drained out as much of the water as possible. Then I hand scooped the wet sawdust into the feed bags, compressing it as much as possible after every 4 or 5 inches until the bags were about 60% full. I had 3 bags of wet compress sawdust.

Ballistic gel is great. It give a repeatable measurement for potential lethal performance of a bullet. The key words here are "repeatable" and "potential". It doesn't seem, in my readings, to take into account the bullet striking a bone or multiple bones or bone density. Or in hunting situations, it doesn't take in account the hide thickness of a 6 year old buck hide compared to 1 1/2 year old doe, or the bone density between the two. So the best we can hope for is a consistent way to measure proven deer killing bullet with a new one we are developing. I think my wet, compressed sawdust does that for me.

First, I fired my Savage rifle in a .270 with a 130 grain Nosler ballistic tip bullet, a proven deer slayer, into the feed bags, It had a great mushroom and penetrated to the back of the second bag at 24". (Digging bullets out of wet sawdust is not as accurate of a penetration test as ballistic gel. But, if you do it slowly you should be able to be plus/minus 1/2") Range 25 yards. This would be my benchmark.

I changed out the bags, compressing the saturated sawdust as I refilled the new bags. In the Rossi .357 with 20" barrel, I'm shooting 180 grain XTP's, charged with 15.3 grains of Lil'Gun. This is .3 grains above any published loads. Use it at your own risk. Penetration was 24" the same as my .270. NOTE: Increasing the maximum published load of 15 grains, increased fps by 100 fps. It, also increase mushroom from .55" to .66". The weight retention was virtually the same at 155 grain. I fired 3 shots through the chrono. They were so consistent that I didn't see a need to shoot more: 1711, 1709, 1713 fps.

Being satisfied that this bullet had serious deer hunting potential, I needed to check the accuracy. At 50 yards, shooting off my elbows on the bench, a Marble tang peep sight with a Merit aperture sight, I shot 3 times and checked the target I was MOA and was pleased, but kind of disappointed. I had budgeted 2 hours of range time in my schedule to adjust my sight for this new bullet. But, it wasn't needed. So I went to the house to get my Ruger Blackhawk with 6 1/2" barrel. It would be in my shoulder holster during deer season and I haven't shot it in 2 or 3 months.

The first cylinder of XTP's at 15 yard were nothing to right home about. I did keep them all in the 7 1/2 inch circle at 15 yards--dead deer. Next cylinder, I kept in the four inch circle. OK, I need some practice with the Blackhawk, but let's switch to target loads. To keep the little ammo case at multiples of 5, it's a quirk I have :) I loaded 5 rounds and stepped off to 25 yards. My goal has been to be confident in a 25 yard with a handgun shot at deer. All the Blackhawk shot were done from a kneeling position, resting off knee.

I think I'm ready for deer season in a couple weeks. I've never taken a deer with a handgun. Maybe this is my year. Here's pictures.
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Last edited by Moon Tree on 01 Nov 2016 11:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Jaybm »

Looks like you're ready Moon.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Ranch Dog »

Great report Moon. Ready for the hunting story!
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Moon Tree »

Firearm deer season starts here on Nov. 12th. I'm taking a week vacation that week. Hopefully, there will be stories. My strategy is to hunt thicker cover with limit shooting range with the .357 in the mornings. Morning hunting with the iron sights means in will be getting lighter by the second. I'll hunt with the scoped .243 or 270 in the evening when it is getting darker by the second. The scoped rifles will better allow me to hunt right to the end of legal shooting light. I'll, also hunt more open areas with the scoped rifles.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Ranch Dog »

Sounds like a very good plan.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Moon Tree »

Michael, curiosity has gotten the better of me, so I'm asking for a favor. I'd really love the know the pressure of this bullet. I think you a program that can calculate the it.

Bullet:
Harnady .357, 180 grain XTP
BC ,239
SD, .202
Bullet length .75
Case length 1.278
OAL 1.577
Lil'Gun 15.3 grains
Primer: CCI 550

If you're busy, hunting season and all, don't worry about. I was just curious. My guess 37-40,000 cup.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Ranch Dog »

Not real sure what the pressure is as I did the calculations and QL suggests that the load is generating 47.2K PSI and 1816 FPS from a 20" barrel. There is a technique that I can use to match your average velocity of 1711 FPS (OP above) but I really need to know what the temperature was when the velocities were recorded and then I need the average H2O volume of your cases to get get closer. Just guess for the latter two specifics I come up with 31.2K PSI which doesn't sound right either. Also know the VMD of your lot of Lil'Gun would be helpful for really narrowing this down.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Moon Tree »

OH WOW I lot goes into this. Lot # of Lil'Gun 1101215
2237
Temperature was between 78 and 82

I'm not sure how to measure water volume of the case. They are Starline cases if that helps any.

I notice an error in the BC. It is .230
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by GasGuzzler »

BC error likely made the biggest diff.
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Re: 2016 bullet for Rossi .357mag

Post by Ranch Dog »

Moon Tree wrote:OH WOW I lot goes into this. Lot # of Lil'Gun 11012152237
Temperature was between 78 and 82
Do you have any of the Lee powder dippers? If so take the 1.00 cc dipper and measure a couple of charges to obtain an average grain weight. That is how you can determine the Volume Measure Density (VMD) of the powder so that you can calculate the specific gravity.
Moon Tree wrote:I'm not sure how to measure water volume of the case. They are Starline cases if that helps any.
That is easy. Weigh a empty, case that has been fired but still has the powder in it. They you fill it with water until the water is flat level with the case rim. A medicine dropper is a good way to fill the case and use a tissue to absorb and water drops on the outside of the case or wick the water dome flat that forms on the top of the column of water.
Moon Tree wrote:I notice an error in the BC. It is .230
I've never seen a published BC that is correct once it is being shot in my rifles. Some fairly close and some terribly off. The best way to check the velocity is determine it from velocities taken from two distances. Something where the screens are around 25 yards apart at a minimum. Be very specific about the distance between the screens when you shoot. Measure it to the inch. You will need software to take it from there but If you have the average velocities and the distance between the screens, I can run it on my side. You don't need to shoot two ten shot strings, just enough to were you think the velocity is being represented well.
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