Range Report - 180gr + Lilgun = Win!

Beladran was nice enough to send me a sample (super sized) of his cast 180gr .38/.357 bullets. I made up a sample batch of 10 as:

1. Reloading is rather new to me (600 rounds of .38/147gr with Titegroup)
   
   The powder "LilGun" is new to me (first time)
   
   180gr bullet is new to me
   
   .357 is new to me

The formula was:

• 180gr cast bullet
  .357 win Shell
  13.1 gr LilGun
  Tula small pistol primer

The listed FPS is a smidge over 1200.


The results were great! I am well pleased and plan on moving forward with the rest. One note however is the gun/shroud used; One certainly performed marked better than other with regards to felt recoil and accuracy. Though I dont have any documentation to back up the accuracy.





















As you may well guess the bottom gun was much easier to control. But what you cant see is that not only is the shroud different between the two, but the barrel is as well . The bottom gun not only has a much heavier shroud, but also benefits from a 1/12 twist versus the 1/16 of the top gun. The 1/16 twist rate made it feel like I was holding a snake with the gun not only recoiling more, but also twisting in my hand. Still a very shootable round that does the .357 Magnum name proud!

Will you be hunting with this combo?

jbpmidas: This is a big ole heavy slug with a flat nose. If it were copper jacketed ... one is suppose to get up to 1500FPS. I would hunt with that. My intended use of this is knocking down plates at range.

I was at a friends house to shoot and we all just shot at the one target. I know I was shooting low, But I would need to get off by my self, take my time and not share a target to get a grouping on it.