.358 Hoosier Loads

[Widetracker]

Just curious what loads (powders,bullets) folks are actually using for the 358 hoosier.

 

[threedhuntr]

 

[kludge]

How much reloading experience do you have?

Do you have a chronograph? You NEED one if your going to develop loads for a wildcat.

You also would be very wise to get a 0.0001" micrometer to keep track of your case head diameter in your log book. If it grows at all you need to back off. You can measure this pressure phenomenon before you get "loose primer pockets" and ruin your brass. I have three loadings on my WSSM brass and no measurable case head expansion.

Next study this:
Pressure Signs - Shooters Forum

I don't load for the .358 Hoosier, but there is data out there and it'll only take few minutes on Google. Also contact AJ Brown. He might give you load data.

Remember to reduce max loads 10% and then work up -- I work up in 0.3 to 0.5 gr increments.

If you aren't using data from a reliable source there are a few things you need to do.

Figure out which bullets make sense... here are a few...

180 gr Speer Hot Cor
180 gr Barnes TTSX
200 gr Hornady Interlock -- this is the one I would start with, due to cost, mostly.
200 gr Hornady FTX

Then figure out which powders make sense... just an educated guess, here are a few...

IMR 3031, Reloader 10x, H4198, Benchmark, H335, H4895, IMR 4895

Now the real work begins... for initial wildcat work I like using IMR stick powders... they are very predictable. To save huge amounts of time and gas money I have a portable reloading bench I take to the range.

Figure out your case capacity and then go looking for other cartridges which might be similar (~51.0-51.5gr of H2O). You will find that there is about one... the .35 Remington at ~50.5gr of H2O. The .358 Winchester has ~57.5gr of water capacity.

The .358 Hoosier is probably within a grain of having the same case capacity of the .35 Remington, but the .358 Hoosier will run higher pressure (maybe 50k-55k psi, perhaps just a bit higher, but don't push it when just starting out) while the .35 Rem is only 33,500 psi MAX. What this says to me is that one could probably start with .35 Rem max loads and work up.

BUT I would verify this with Powley Computer software (google it) or someone who has QuickLoad.

Then as a double check I would look at load data for the .358 Winchester... you will want to make sure that your max load is less than listed data for that cartridge, although you MIGHT exceed the start data, but since the .358 Hoosier has ~10%-12% less case capacity than the .358 Win you have to approach or exceed the start load of the .358 Win *very* carefully.

Off the record... the claims for the .358 Hoosier seem to stretch the truth a bit... by comparing it to data for the .358 Win. Much of the data I've been able to find for the .358 Win is supposedly matched by the .35 Hoosier performance... the only way to do that is to exceed the safe pressures listed in the load books for the .358 Win, or use a longer barrel.