"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
These are important questions. Bare lead and coated bullets seal to the bore better than jacketed, and therefore it takes less powder to make the same pressure/velocity than with jacketed bullets, because less gas leaks past the bullet through the grooves in the barrel. If the OP is using jacketed bullets with data intended for bare lead or coated bullets, then I agree with those who've said it's probably safe to increase the charge weight. The reverse concept is potentially scary, depending on how conservative the load data is.
I have a 625-8 and the I've read that the barrel was designed to shoot lead, which is what I load and shoot. It works and is much less expensive than FMJ. I've also read that lead yields better accuracy for completive shooters. Jerry Mikulek had a hand in bringing that revolver to market. I'm a student and he's the professor.
Too bad that S&W discontinued the model. It's a revolver and nobody is going to loose any sleep over that. Everyone wants poly compact 9mm something or other these days.
Last edited by Borderland; 06-21-2021 at 10:08 PM.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
That's pretty much exactly what I said.
This, however, does not necessarily follow from that, as the better seal creates higher pressure behind the bullet, so it's possible that a load which is safe with a jacketed bullet would be unsafe with a cast bullet. You're not necessarily wrong to want to add more powder, but please be careful whenever going outside of published load data, or when using load data for one bullet type with a different bullet type, especially if the OALs vary between them.If I'm getting over 100fps less then jacketed loads then it is safe to move up.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...