4" model 57 S&W

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sixshot

Buckeye
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
1,835
Location
soda springs, idaho
A few days ago in the reloading forum I posted a couple of photo's of my 4" model 57 S&W & the plate rack I had been shooting at 40 yds out the window of my truck. I had just received the gun that day & was sighting it in with some fresh handloads using the old 230 gr Keith & 7.5 grs of W231 powder in RP cases. I reported hitting the first 2 plates & then missed a couple of times so I moved to a 20 yd paper target & the gun was shooting a bit left so I made a correction & then ran several plates without a miss.
Today was a bit warmer & I had more ammo loaded plus I had some old loads with my standard midrange load of 8 grs of Unique, a load I've used in many 41's since the late 60's. The first loads were powder coated, my old loads were not.
This first target is 20 yds out the window using the 7.5 grs of W231, the Keith 230 gr cast, powder coated bullet & a WLP primer. Not as steady as off the bench but it gives me a fair idea of how the gun is going to shoot even in bad weather. After shooting 5 shots I made a sight adjustment to the left.

3ScV3BDh.jpg


Making a one click sight adjustment I switched to my old standby load of 8 grs of Unique, these were plain cast bullets lubed with LBT blue lube. I've shot many, many thousands of these loads over the years, they've always shot well in every 41 magnum I've ever owned. The first few shots surprised me, they scattered a bit, I think it was because I had been shooting powder coated bullets & switching to regular lubed bullets took a few shots for the gun & load to settle down.
The first shot went high, the next 3 went low, the 5th shot went somewhere in the middle. I reloaded & shot 5 more. I had to wipe my hands, arms & elbows off, clean off the side of my truck door & then run my truck through the car wash...... all of you know how dirty Unique is, it's terrible, there are so many powders out there that are better. Guess maybe I'll just stick with Unique, it's been working for me well over 50 years! There are 6 shots there pretty close.

QUZcVt9h.jpg


Dick
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,138
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
A nice model 57 is one of the ones missing from my stable. But maybe one day,,,!
NICE score. I saw the story about your first shooting this one.

I do have to wonder why you still have lubed slugs,, unless they were left overs from before PCing.
 

Paul B

Hunter
Joined
Dec 4, 1999
Messages
2,131
Location
Tucson, AZ
Sixshot. A while back a friend gave me a speedloader he said was for the .44 Magnum. It's not and the holes are too big for .357 magnum so I'm guessing it's for the .41. If you want it pM me where to send it and it's yours.
Paul B.
 

Enigma

Hunter
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
2,511
Location
Houston metro area, TX
I also find that flaming dirt - er, Unique - fills a lot of niches in my reloading needs. Yeah, it burns relatively dirty; somewhat less so as pressures increase. Since I clean my guns periodically, that's not really an issue for me. IIRC, Unique was the second powder that I purchased when I started reloading. I've burned a few pounds over the years, and will doubtless burn a few more before I hang it up for good!
 

Luckyducker

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
199
Location
Ft. Morgan, CO
I quit shooting Unique several or more years ago and switched to Universal as it shows similar versatility and burn characteristics and yet doesn't leave the hands all sooty. I would have to be pretty darned desperate to burn Unique again. For what it's worth.
 

sixshot

Buckeye
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
1,835
Location
soda springs, idaho
This gun really likes Unique with the 230 gr Keith & a 250 gr Miha HP but so far I haven't found the sweet spot for my 210 gr cast HP's. I'm sure it's there as that's the most popular bullet out there for the 41 magnum but I'm just getting started because the snow is just getting cleared off of the pistol bays. Running the steel plate racks at 50 yds is getting boring, this gun really shoots.

Dick
 

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