Okay, here is one of my favorites.  It's for my Smith and Wesson model 25-5 in 45 colt, and comes from an article by John Linebaugh who is a big fan of the 25-5 in said caliber.  13 grains of HS-6 under a 260 grain Keith swc.  This load is very accurate and not punishing to shoot.  Hhttp://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=12ere is a link to the article, a very good read if you like 45 colt.

WARNING: The following loads include data that is at or above current SAAMI maximums, user assumes all risk!

I enjoy magnum handguns running at full potential, so here are a few of my favorites for 357, 41, and 44 magnum:

357 Magnum:
Firearm: Ruger blackhawk, redhawk, speed six, and sp-101
Case: Federal or starline preferred, if not, then winchester will do.
Powder: 15.2 grains of 2400
Slug: 158 HCSWC(I use laser-cast)
Primer: Federal small pistol magnum
Crimp: Firm/heavy
Velocity comes in near 1500 out of a 6 inch tube.  Very accurate out of over a dozen 357's I used it in.   Standard deviation comes in at 17 fps. For jacketed 158's I'll drop the powder charge to 14.8, and use either a hornady XTP or speer gold dot slug.   Both loads exhibit no pressure signs, and extract easily in every 357 I've tried them in.


41 Magnum:
Firearm: Ruger redhawk
Case: Federal or starline preferred, if not, then winchester will do.
Powder: 19.0 grains of VihtaVuori Oy N110
Slug: 220 grain HJFP speer
Primer: Federal large pistol
Crimp: Firm/heavy
Velocity comes in at 1450 out of a 7 1/2" tube.   Outstanding accuracy in the 4 guns I've used it in.  Standard deviation hangs right at 17 fps.
(My FAVORITE 41 magnum loads use blue dot powder.  One load specifically exhibits phenomenal accuracy.  Given that a recall has recently been issued by the manufacturer advising against its use in this caliber, I will not post them here.  Feel free to discuss them with me via PM if you want)

44 Magnum:
Firearm: Ruger redhawk, super redhawk
Case: Federal or starline preferred, if not, then winchester will do.
Powder: 296
Slug: 300grain hornady XTP
Primer: CCI large magnum pistol
Crimp: Firm/heavy
Velocity comes in right at 1300 out of my 9.5" super redhawk. Standard deviation comes in at 11 fps. In my winchester 94 trapper, velocity is right at 1600 fps. Accuracy is excellent.

Neither www.wethearmed.com or its staff assume any liability for the use of the above data, the user bears sole responsibility for its use.

28 gauge

Winchester Compression-Formed Hulls
Win 209 primer
Win WAA28 wad
17.5 grains of 540 powder
3/4 oz  hard #9 shot

1200 fps, 9900 lup pressure

This replicates the old Winchester target load for skeet.


#8.5 hard shot, for days when rain, wind, sleet or snow is present shooting skeet.
 This also makes a fine and dandy quail load.

#8 hard shot, again works for the aforementioned, plus is great for 5 Stand, Sporting Clays, and Doves.



Neither www.wethearmed.com or its staff assume any liabilty for the use of the above data, the user bears sole responsibility for its use.

Jacketed slugs "bite" harder on the rifling. More resistance going down the barrel.  This leads to higher pressures than the same powder charge behind a lead slug.  The reduced powder charge is to get the pressure back in line.

My sp's do fine with it.  But I HIGHLY recommend Houge mono-grips in place of the factory ones.

Jacketed slugs "bite" harder on the rifling. More resistance going down the barrel.  This leads to higher pressures than the same powder charge behind a lead slug.  The reduced powder charge is to get the pressure back in line.

My sp's do fine with it.  But I HIGHLY reccomend houge mono-grips in place of trhe factoty ones.

+1 on the Hogue grips with .357 magnum.
and +1 in agreement with why the same powder charge will show higher chamber pressures with jacketed over a lead or plated bullet. 

Pressure is generally what limits how hot you can load a particular round.  However, many published lead bullet loads (the published max load) are not limited due to chamber pressure, but rather to keeping bullet speed below some limit, usually 1000 fps.  This is supposed to help prevent leading.  I've also found when pushing lead bullets pretty hard that if you push them too fast such as in a rifle round, the lead bullets at some point quit gripping the rifling and won't spin stabilize anymore. 

I still cast my own bullets for 7.62x39 but I had to reduce the loads a bit because of this.  When I was pushing them at 2000 fps they were coming out like musket balls and going all over the place, patterned more like a shotgun than a rifle (I can see for myself why Revolutionary War infantry tactics required massed musket fire at < 100 yards!  Hell couldn't even be sure of hitting a man sized target at 25 yds).  Anyway.  I slowed the bullets down to about 1300-1400 fps and suddenly the pattern of impact tightened up to to a tight group right where the sights pointed.  Cool.  The harder the lead alloy, the faster you can push it before it won't grip the rifling, I shoot a wheel-weight like alloy that's a little on the soft side even with quench hardening.

MarshallDodge -
This is my favorite target load for 45ACP:

Bullet: 200 grain LSWC (lead semi-wadcutter)
Case: miscellaneous
Primer: Winchester or Federal Large Pistol
Powder: 4.0 grains Hodgdon Clays

The recoil is fairly soft and the accuracy is very good.

Yep.  That's the same load I use.  Also use it for plated round nose in the same weight.
_________________
.380ACP: 2.5 grains of Bullseye, with a 90gr LRN bullet.  Very soft recoil compared to Speer factory Gold Dots.
9mm: 5.5 grains of Unique, with a 95gr JHP.  Recoil matches Magtech's 115 JHP factory load.
.40 S&W: 3.2 grains of Clays (not Universal Clays), 180gr Ranier plated HP.

All above with mixed, used brass, no magnum pistol primers.  And from memory, not looking them up, as I'm not near my actual records at the moment.  Use at your own risk.

A few of my most accurate loads.

.38 spl 4 grains Reddot with 158 grain lswc.

.45 acp 4 grains Reddot with 230 grain lead RN or TC.

.222 24 grains Varget with any 50 or 55 grain bullet. It doesn't matter it puts them all under 1/2".
It has to be the rifle not the shooter.

Favorite target load for my glock:

200gr LSWC
4.4 gr IMR 700x
Win LP primer
Win Brass
Soft shooting, very accurate.

Friend, if you have a cut rifled aftermarket barrel for the Glock, go for it, and good shooting!

However, if you have the factory barrel:

Do NOT shoot plain lead out of a factory Glock barrel!

The problem is the rifling.  It is smooth, and slick.  So slick that a lead bullet (with its high degree of lubricity) will actually skid over the first few tenths of an inch of the bore.  Over time, this builds up deposits.  It WILL eventually build up to the point where it will (very briefly) hold the bullet from starting down the bore upon firing.  When that happens, you have up to 40K units of pressure that are looking for somewhere to go.  Result?  The famous Glock kaBOOM.

Shoot only jacketed bullets from your factory barreled Glocks, or get the aftermarket barrels with conventional rifling.

Yours in good shooting,
Powderman
(Glock LE Armorer, Colt LE Armorer, reloader for a while, and itinerant gun tinkerer)

Those last two posts by powderman and ljnowell should serve as a reminder to us all-

Never ass/u/me anything when loading ammo, and remember that each gun is a law unto itself.

I run 25Gr of Varget under a 52Gr HP Match from Hornady.

Right at 3Kfps and 1/2" at 100 yds is VERY common.
Max load is listed at 26Gr. - I could NOT get that much in the case. If I vibrate the case with the powder in it, I can get 25.5Gr in. HOWEVER, the accuracy increases as you decrease the powder charge, and 25Gr fits in to the neck without vibrating it.

Had a friend on the West Slope try it.
Got an E-mail back in about a week. His comment was "WOW, that is accurate!"   

For 223, I like
27.5 grains of BL-C(2) under 55FMJ or 55JSP, COL 2.210"
It's a max load but is the most accurate in my 16" M4-gery.  Tops out at 2950 fps in that rifle.

For 45, I like
5.3 grains of W231 under 230LRN, COL 1.230" for the Lee home-cast bullets.  That gets them right up to about 800 fps.
4.5 grains W231 under 230LRN for softer plinking, I just like having them up at 800 fps.

For 40, I like
5.1 W231 under 175LSWC (again Lee cast), COL 1.120"
This moves them at about 950 fps in my XDM40 which is about 200 fps above what they need to make IDPA power factor.  But I think they shoot well and would be good general purpose bullets if you had to grab some in a pinch.

Here are a couple of cast bullet loads I shoot in my M1 Garands.  The Varget is actually a favorite, but I list the others I have tried in case anyone wants to experiment.

All these loads use a Lee 200 gr Gas Checked bullet cast from isotope lead and water dropped from the mold.  Hardness as tested on a Lee Hardness tester is 28 bhn.  The bullets are sized .310 and lubed with Felix Lube.  In all loads they are seated to the crimp groove and crimped hard in a Lee Factory Crimp DIe.

Varget Load - Favorite for reliable function, low powder use, good groups.
32 gr Varget under .75 gr Polyfill
CCI #200 Primer
Also tried 34 grains.  The 32 gr load was more accurate, so it is my standard.

BobS Load
42 gr H4831 under 1/4 sheet toilet paper filler.
CCI #200 Primer

Reloader 15 - Not really a favorite, but I have RE-15 on hand I am not likely to use.
36 gr Re-15 under .75 gr polyfill
CCI #200 Primer
Started with 32 gr, then 34 gr.  Both short stroked occasionally.  36 gr was reliable.  have not accuracy tested this load yet.

For those of you cringing at the thought of the poor op-rod in my gun, being subjected to heavy bullets and slow powders, keep you shorts on.  These are lead bullets, not jacketed, and therefore have different pressure curves.  Port pressures are actually milder than mil-spec ammo, so my op-rod and receiver heel are just fine.  (Although I do appreciate your concern.)