Today's project was feeding my cute little Winchester M92 .357 magnum with the cheapest, most capable home made ammo possible.
First I cast a bunch of bullets using the wonderful Lyman 358156 mould. Alloy was scrap wheel weights, scrap lead pipe, pure tin, and some precious Lintoype. Added gas checks and sized .358"
Loaded into some very cheap and abundant .38 special brass cases, using the traditional load of 12.5 grains of Alliant 2400 powder, standard small pistol primer, and the bullet loaded to the lower crimp groove so that the loaded cartridge approximates .357 Magnum length.
This load achieves near .357 magnum performance, 1600fps or so from my carbine's 20" barrel, and I'm paying about the same as .22 magnum rimfire ammunition even if I throw out the cases after one firing.
It's accurate enough to take full advantage of the rifle it's shot from. And powerful enough to cleanly kill beavers that weigh 25 Kgs ( 55 lbs) and I wouldn't feel unarmed if I had to face a troublesome black bear. Not for serious hunting, but such a fun, capable, and cheap load.
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