W231 Loads for 41 mag?

[The Blackhawk Kid]

Can you use W231 in a 41? I have 296 for "full power" loads. I can't find my load data notebook from years gone by. I recall I used 231 in 38/357 loads. I also suffer from CMS. Can anyone straighten me out, again. I've considered shooting cast out of my 357 SS blackhawk. 158 gr SWC. Any thoughts? Advice? Thanks, as always. BHK

 

[Laserbait]

data.hodgdon.com shows loads for the 41 Rem Mag and HP38 (same thing as Win 231, just different name).

 

[Sugar River]

I used to load 7 gr of 231 with a 225 cast for about 940 f/s in a 4 5/8 Blackhawk.
Increase to 8 gr to boost the velocity to 1050.

 

[snappy]

Pretty new to the reloading world here, but one of the best light loads I've found so far for my .41 Mags is around 7gr W231 under a 215gr swc. My notes are really informal, little pieces of paper with scribbled details and stars to denote best accuracy, and I don't have a chrony either so no real hard data for you. According to the notes, started at 6.8gr and worked up to 7.5gr and there are stars all over the place. Very light and comfortable to shoot with the 7gr W231 load and it shoots well in both Blackhawks. My experience for what that is worth.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

An easy and good shooting 41mag load is 7.0gr of W231/HP-38 with a 210 gr bullet, lead or copper plated.
Max. is like 8.6gr with a jacketed bullet.

 

[Steve C]

As others have mentioned a load of 7.0grs of W231 behind a 215gr LSWC makes a good load that is about what the old "Police Load" was. I've chrono'd this load from my S&W 657 Mountain pistol with 4" barrel at 956 fps average velocity. The data shown below is from the Winchester on line data published around 2002 prior to Hodgdon taking over the marketing of Winchester powders.

 

[The Blackhawk Kid]

Thanks guys! BHK

 

[Hammerdown77]

I saw pretty good results this weekend from 7.2, 7.6, and 8.0 grains of HP38 under a 215 gr LSWC from Missouri Bullet Co. Shot out of my Smith Model 57. Maybe the 7.6 gr load shot the tightest, but they were all within the margin of shooter error.

 

[mhblaw]

Ditto the above. I use 7 grs. 231 in 41mag/215 gr.bullet; 44-40/200 gr. bullet and 38-40/180 gr. bullet. Works well, burns clean and as accurate as I can shoot standing on my hind legs.

 

[Rodfac]

I've used both Win 231 and HP38 (the same powder with a different label) with three .41 Magnums: two Rugers and a Smith. All shot well (sub-2" gps) with loads ranging from 5.7 gr to 6.5 gr of either powder, behind a well cast 210 gr LSWC. I used Winchester Lg Pistol primers and either R-P or Starline brass. The 6.5 gr load chrono'd at 1003 fps with an extreme spread of only 23 fps, from my 6-1/2" barreled NM Ruger BH and delivered 5/8" to 1.25" gps from a seated rest at 25 yds. It's my standard load for all three guns now. Missouri Bullet Co. produces a great BBLSWC for the .41. The above loads were assembled using it.

With Jacketed Speer half jackets, 7.2 gr did as well, tho I didn't chrono them...I'd estimate them at 1000 fps from a Ruger 6-1/2" bbl.

As always, these are my loads, in my guns and were accurate and safe IN MY GUNS. Work up to them if you care and check a good, current loading manual.

HTH's Rod