I playing with a 357 blackhawk with cast bullets.Bullet alloy is wheel weights with a small amount of tin added.I have tried red dot powder with poor results with any loading.I have been using 2400 at 14.0 gr and have been getting good accy at 25 yds.I would like to find a powder that I could load mild loads with and get decent accy.I know everyone has a favorite but what powder have you guys gotten decent accy with at mild loadings. jim

Red Dot is iffy when throwing bullets, generally likes light bullets in my experience.

I do like Blue Dot but I'm not sure how much you can turn it down in a .38spl case. While I'm definitely no fan of Unique, in all fairness it has proven itself to like the .38/.357 better than other cartridges I tried to use it in.

If using the .38spl cases, Bullseye is another choice for light loads too. Green Dot I found to be "iffy" as well, some loads work and some don't but like Red Dot, if you get that works, it usually works very well.

I would try Accurate #2 for very light loads or Accurate #5 for moderate loads. I have had nothing but outstanding results with those two powders in a variety of loadings from 38 SPL, 357 Mag and 44 Mag to 30-30 and 30-06 (shooting cast bullets in the rifle loads, of course.)

5.0 to 6.0 grains of Unique makes a good light load for a 158 grain cast in the 357. The same charges with WW231 also work well.

When I think of "mild", I normally think in terms of Bullseye or 700X. Those really accurate wadcutter loads can be loaded with 158 gr LSWC and do just about as good as the wadcutter. 3.0 gr of Bullseye or 3.4 gr of 700X will do very nicely and it's a very inexpensive loading.

Of course, it's quite a change from 14.0 gr of 2400! ;)

Thanks guy's. Thats what i was wanting to know.I have green dot and 700x and will give that a try this week.The gun shoots pretty good with 2400 but after several rounds my hand starts to get sore as this is a pretty stiff load. Any other suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks Jim

I've loaded 5gr unique with lyman 358156swc-gc in 38spl cases since the early 60's with very good accuracy and no leading.

Have had good results using 6.5 gr. Unique for midrange+ loads with 158 gr. cast SWC bullets in my S&W models 686 and 28 without leading. Also load 3.7 gr. Bullseye or 4.0 gr. W231 with 148 gr. cast WC bullets. Believe these are good choices of powder but you may have to adjust for accuracy in your gun.