I have a S&W Model 52-1, and I also am trying to work up some new loads. I had been shooting 148 grain Star HBWC with 3.0 grains of w231. They were consistanly giving me 1" groups, though I was getting some leading.
Star is supposed to be going out of business by the end of the year, so I decided to start casting my own, and picked up a couple of wadcutter molds. Now the Star bullet is a swagged bullet that measures .358, so I started out by sizing my self cast wadcutters to .358 and used 3.0 and 3.2 grains of W231. From a ransom rest at 25 yards, I got 5" groups. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was depressed.
I spent some time asking questions on a couple of forums an learned that a Model 52 has a barrel the measures closer to .356. I cast up a new batch of bullets and sized them to .357. Its a bit cold here, so I haven't been back out to the 25 yard range, but from a sandbag on the 50 ft indoor range, my groups dropped to 1". I'm not done testing, but I'm encouraged.
Let me know if you make any advances.
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