L'il Gun in 38 Special

[Macd]

Today I finished my second trial with L'il Gun in 38 special using 204 grain rifle bullets. I was happy with the first trial but I wanted to see how far I could go in my Ruger New Model Blackhawk 357 magnum. I started with 11.0 grains (previous max)and maxed out at 12.0 using 0.1 grain increments. No pressure signs but the recoil at 11.7 - 12.0 was hard on my wrists. FPS from 11.0 to 11.5 showed virtually no difference with an average of 1,003 versus 1,008. At 11.7 grains the fps actually dropped to an average of 980. From 11.8 to 12.0 there were wild swings from a low of 750 to a high of 1090. Lots of unburned powder. All rounds had a nice firm crimp so I did not expect these results. My previously worked up a load at 11.0 grains gave me near 1,100 fps. . That was in the summer and I guess the cold weather, 5 Celsius, would account for the lower speeds at this load. Does anyone else use L'il gun. I want to try in 357 magnum but this experience makes me hesitate.

[Ranch Dog]

Lil'Gun is my powder of choice for revolver cartridges and I've used it with 38 Spl, 357 Mag, 41 Mag, 44 Mag, and 45 Colt. I also use in my short cartridge leverguns to include the 454 Casull and 480 Ruger. I sold all my revolvers two years ago, except the 38 Spl, as I found myself not shooting them because of "old bones". Tough on my wrist. I've always worked up and used a max load, but never experienced the high-velocity variation you experienced even with my short barrel defensive carry revolvers. I hunt at that temperature, never missed a shot because of the ammunition, but I've never done any range work when it is that cold.