2400 in the .41 mag

[missoulaz28]

I shot some new loads today out of my Taurus Tracker .41mag, got good groupings for me, so I'm happy about that.

My question is whether or not having a lot of unburned powder is common for 2400?
I loaded from 14gr to 18gr, and all the way through the spectrum there was unburned powder in the cylinders, and the action.

R-P brass, CCI large pistol primer, Nosler sporting handgun bullet, light crimp


On a side note, what is everyones preffered bullet for hunting with the .41, I wish Nosler made the Partition in .41.


thanks in advance

 

[JDGray]

I've shot alot of 210gr Hornady XTPs over 17gr 2400. Very accurate, some unburnt powder. Great 41mag powder. I always give a good crimp, might help clean things up

 

[.41 magnum man]

I use the 2400 powder also. I have been using 17.5 gr with the Hornady .210 gr XTPs too. They shoot great. I also have some Hornady .210 grain jacketed flat points I got a good deal on, and they shoot about the same. I crimp mine good. I posted some pictures on here a few months ago when I first got my Blackhawk .41, showing the group I shot at 90 yards. It was about 4 inch group.

I also bought some Trail Boss that I have loaded up some of the same bullets with at either 5 or 5.5 gr for plinking. I have only shot them at 15 yards, but they shoot great at that distance. I just got in some lead swc that I want to load up with the Trail Boss, but they are .001 over size and won't go into the cylinder, so I am going to have to get a sizer, I guess.

Anyway, I like the 2400 and that is what I am going to use to hunt with this year.

 

[missoulaz28]

Okay, i won't worry about the unburnt powder then, if it seems to be normal.

I might have to try the XTP's, sounds like they probably shoot about the same as the Noslers, and are easier to find around here.

I shoot 210gr Berry's plated over 8gr of unique for a practice load, gives decent accuracy, and around 1000fps, it's a good plinking round.

 

[f4tweet]

I have used Accurate #7 in my 10mm, and Accurate #9 in .44 mag. Both are very clean and complete burning powder. They meter like sand.

 

[Walkalong]

If you are looking for accuracy, try some AA #9.

 

[Sharps Shooter]

"Okay, i won't worry about the unburnt powder then, if it seems to be normal."

Whoa, wait a minute. I don't concider unburnt 2400 powder normal and I've literally sent tens of thousands of .44 Magnum bullets down range with 2400 in metalic silhouette matches and required practice for those matches. I tried 296 a few times, but always came back to good old 2400. In full house .44 Magum loads, 2400 always burned clean for me and gave me the necessary oomph to tip over those 200 meter rams.
You might try, as others have suggested, a tighter crimp. But if it were I, I'd go to magnum primers, specifically CCI Large Pistol Magnum primers - those are what I've always used to ignite 2400. I know, I know, there's a heck of a lot of debate about whether or not magnum primers are necessary with 2400 powder. Heck, I even have a book or two around here in which uncle Elmer himself wrote about using standard primers with 2400 powder. All I can say is, I've never noticed much, if any, unburned 2400 powder in magnum handgun loads. But I've always used magnum primers to ignite it.
Remember - if you're up near maximum pressures in your .41 Magnum with standard primers and you switch to magnum primers, back off on your powder charges a bit. You can work back up later.
All that said, I'm a fairly new .41 Magnum fan. But I've been loading for the two I have for a few years now, so I'm not totally ignorant about feeding them. Actually though, for full house .41 Magnum loads, I prefer Hodgdon's Lil'Gun powder and Winchester Large Pistol primers. As you probably know, WLP primers are for either "standard or magnum" loads - at least that's what it says on the boxes.
I'm putting near maximum listed charges of Lil'Gun and WLP primers behind 250-grain WFNGC bullets from Cast Performance for a little better than 1300fps (honest, chronographed) from a 4" Taurus. That Taurus .41 Magnum is my backpacking gun and I suspect those .41 caliber, 250-grain WFNGC bullets at 1300fps + would get me out of trouble with any large animal I'm likely to encounter in the lower 48 states. It seems like they'd work well for hunting too, at least for animals up to and including the size of mule deer.

 

[missoulaz28]

When i said that i wouldn't worry about it, it didn't mean i wasn't going to try to solve it, just meant I wont treat it like the end of the world.

I'll try the magnum primers, and maybe work the load up a little hotter over the chronograph to see if that helps.

 

[Crazy4nitro]

I have a Few Granules of 2400 left in my gun. (4" Taurus Tracker) I assume it's from the pressure dropping after the bullet leaving the barrel while the powder is still burning.

'Nitro

 

[Sharps Shooter]

"I have a Few Granules of 2400 left in my gun. (4" Taurus Tracker) I assume it's from the pressure dropping after the bullet leaving the barrel while the powder is still burning"

Could be. It sounds like a reasonable theory to me anyway. Most of my experience with 2400 was putting 22 grains of it behind a 220-grain Sierra Silhouette bullet and lighting it off with a CCI Large Pistol Magnum primer. Then again, I was using a couple of 10.5" Ruger Super Silhouette revolvers. Maybe those long barrels made a difference in the way 2400 burned for me.

Missoula,
I didn't mean any disrespect. I just meant I think you're getting some bad info if you're being told there's no way to make 2400 burn clean and not leave particles of unburned powder in your gun and cases. 2400 is always the powder I look at first whenever I'm trying to come up with a new, heavy load in a magnum handgun. But if you can't get it to work for you in your .41 Magnum, give Lil'Gun a try. Like I said in my first post - Lil'Gun works great in my .41 Magnums for full house loads.
I use TiteGroup in light to medium loads though. Get this - a local farm and ranch store was selling out of most of their reloading supplies and I picked up a box of .41 caliber 210-grain Hornady XTPs. When I got out to my truck I realized I'd been charged less than five bucks for that box of 100 bullets. So I went right back in the store and bought what they had left - 7 boxes. Those are my .41 Magnum "plinking" bullets! I put them over 6.8 grains of TiteGroup and WLP primers.

 

[cmidkiff]

I use 2400 in my .44mag... with a light load, there's unburnt powder. Get the pressure up closer to standard, and it burns much more cleanly. If you want to load down to lower pressures, 2400 probably isn't the best choice.

I'm thinking about picking up a pound of Lil' gun to try on lighter .44 loads... Been reading some good stuff about it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have to agree with Sharps Shooter about Lil'Gun. It's a newer powder and it looks like it's a winner in Magnum handgun loads. With heavier bullets you get higher velocities than with H110, W296 and 2400 but with lower pressures. This holds true only to an extent, it's about equal with a 210gr bullet (but with lower pressure) and velocities jump with Lil'Gun when loading a 220gr bullet and heavier.

I'm thinking about picking up a pound of Lil' gun to try on lighter .44 loads... Been reading some good stuff about it.

cmidkiff,
While I agree you should try Lil'Gun for your 44 Magnum rounds I have to disagree they will be "light loads." Lil'Gun will produce higher velocities than H110/W296 and 2400 and will be anything but light when loading bullets of 180gr to 280gr.

 

[missoulaz28]

Sharps Shooter, don't worry about it, I knew what you were saying, no hard feelings at all.

I might try Lil'Gun, I'm fairly new to reloading pistols, so 2400 was just the first powder that I bought for the magnums, I'm gonna load 357 and 44 also, so it should get used up.

I'm definitely going to try the magnum primers next batch I load, see if that helps at all.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

missoulaz28,
If you are going to reload for the .357 Magnum you will be amazed with the results you get when loading a 170gr or 180gr bullet over Lil'Gun. You will get 75 fps more velocity with 5,000 psi less in pressure with a 170gr bullet and most of all, they will be very accurate. I was a huge H110 user until I tried Lil'Gun but like I said, only for the heavier bullets. H110/W296 and 2400 are still better choices for lighter bullets. I haven't gotten a chance to Chrono a 170gr .357 Magnum when shot from my Marlin 1894C but I'm betting I'll see ~1750 fps.

 

[41 Mag]

I have been shooting 2400 through my 41's for almost 20 years now and have to say that the primers will make a difference in unburnt powder residue. I have shot them all in various loads through the years and found that overall the Win/WLP's will light off most every common powder a bit better than the rest. As for the 2400 I shot it in several revlovers at both the lower loads and top end ones and the hotter you run it within reason the better it burns.

Nowdays I am content running my 200 and 210gr bullet out at around 1350 using 20.5grs of 296. It shoots very well from my Redhawk and knocks hogs down just fine.

Good luck with yours and enjoy.

 

[bobaloo]

I put 100 rounds of 17 grains of 2400, magnum large pistol primers and 220 grain SWC downrange Sunday and the gun was clean at the end of the day.

Good crimp and full pressure loads are the key, and I think the magnum primers help with the slower powders..