.32-20 and some minor Position Sensitivity testing

GBExpat · May 16, 2015

My original plan was to use some "leftover" SR7625 to load-up a bunch of target rounds (100gr .314 lead for a .313 groove diameter bore from BadmanBullets) for GrandPop's old Colt Army Special .32-20.

I prepped 3 12rd strings (4.5, 4.7, 4.9gr) but seeing that it was only filling, maybe, half of the available case volume, I decided to check it for the differing effects of Powder Back & Forward ... so I fired each string half&half thru the Chrony.

The velocity (FPS) results, Back/Forward:

841 / 765 = 76
925 / 834 = 91
950 / 853 = 97

So in my next batch of .32-20 Test Strings I included 12rd Strings for Unique (4.3), BE-86 (4.3), Bullseye (3.3), 700X (3.3) and 800X (4.8).

The results:

964 / 756 = 208 Unique
873 / 825 = 48 BE-86
851 / 798 = 53 Bullseye
890 / 809 = 81 700X
863 / 812 = 51 800X

No, I did not check them in Powder Level orientation.

I just thought that some of you might find the results interesting, so I figured it was worth my time to share them.

I guess my next step will be to see about cutting some styro (any better material?) plugs for these .32-20 cases ... just for testing, since I already have zeroed in on my .32-20 Trail Boss load.

Walkalong · May 16, 2015

I am surprised about the 800X because of its burn rate, but I have never had any.

Most of those are good. Some very good.

The pressure level seems to have a bit to do with how well a powder does forward as well, or at least in the testing I have done.

Thanks for posting the info.

gamestalker · May 16, 2015

I've never tried styro before, never really thought about it. But I've used dacron with some 45 colt loads that were experiencing extreme issues of this nature. I like the styro idea though, it seems like it would work better for keeping the charge against the flash hole.

Thanks for sharing.

GS

Officers'Wife · May 16, 2015

And the tulala chimes in.

wouldn't the heat from the powder change the styrofoam to a gummy mess that would foul the barrel? Even at high heat that stuff leaves some really nasty residue.

Jesse Heywood · May 16, 2015

Great info for us old guys with old Colts. I fell in love with a .32-20 Army Special a few years back.

Tulala - I've been loading blanks with green floral foam. Topped with white glue. Beneath is FFFg and a dash of Bullseye against the primer. No residue problems. But who knows, I'm a certified idiot.

Officers'Wife · May 16, 2015

Jesse Heywood said:
Great info for us old guys with old Colts. I fell in love with a .32-20 Army Special a few years back.

Tulala - I've been loading blanks with green floral foam. Topped with white glue. Beneath is FFFg and a dash of Bullseye against the primer. No residue problems. But who knows, I'm a certified idiot.

A certain unnamed idiot that shall remain my brother has me cut felt & syrofoam wads for him when he loads for my Dad's 45 army revolver. The felt is against the powder. Until recently I never knew the reason why and have always wondered.

Walkalong · May 17, 2015

Some people use shotgun buffer as filler.

243winxb · May 17, 2015

For fun, do the same test with a magnum primer, no fillers .

GBExpat · May 25, 2015

UPDATE:

I crafted a plug-cutter (out of a fired brass 7.92x57 case) and cut a batch of plugs from saved grocery store meat trays (as my Dad taught me in '68 for making shotgun shell spacers

) ...

... I repeated 6/ea of the loads (Unique, BE-86, Bullseye, 700x, 800x), pressed the loads against the flashholes with a styro plug in each and ran them this morning.

Aside from the presence of some white smoke that used to be polystyrene (

), the loads were all relatively uniform in velocity, despite pre-firing orientation.

The Unique (892avg) & BE-86 (853avg) loads happened to be slightly larger than OneRaggedHole, so those represent easy alternate-load possibilties for me.

GBExpat · May 30, 2015

I have finished loading four 6rd Test Strings with SR7625, Unique, BE-86 and 700x.

This time I used Quilters PolyFill (100% polyester) remnants from my sister's quilting work (and, yes, I wandered around the house carefully considering any "stuff" that seemed it might work

) ... I created work areas here for my sister to do sewing & quilting because she has a small house that she and my BIL share with a number of free-roaming "indoor" critters, some of which seem to get in everything, eventually.

I will Update after I have a chance to run the Strings ... I sure hope that the poly is completely consumed before it gets to my CHRONY.

GBExpat · May 31, 2015

Mow&trim the lawn before the 2+ days of rain starts this afternoon and afterwards pay the bills and sort deposits ...

... OR ...

... setup the CHRONY in the backyard range and have some fun.

Decisions, decisions ...

So I mowed and did paperwork <sigh> ... sometimes it sucks having to be a responsible adult ... for brief periods.

Jesse Heywood · May 31, 2015

Just be glad you're not in Texas. They had enough rain this month to cover the entire state in over 8" of water. Try again next weekend. We're waiting for your results.

GBExpat · Jul 10, 2015

Long-delayed Update ...

GBExpat said:
I have finished loading four 6rd Test Strings with SR7625, Unique, BE-86 and 700x.

This time I used Quilters PolyFill (100% polyester) remnants from my sister's quilting work (and, yes, I wandered around the house carefully considering any "stuff" that seemed it might work ) ... I created work areas here for my sister to do sewing & quilting because she has a small house that she and my BIL share with a number of free-roaming "indoor" critters, some of which seem to get in everything, eventually.

I will Update after I have a chance to run the Strings ... I sure hope that the poly is completely consumed before it gets to my CHRONY.

Nope ... between my portable bench and the target it looks like I gunned down Mr. Pillow with 2 dozen GSWs, Through-and-Through. The good news is that, apparently, the stuff didn't screw-up the readings.

Of the 4 Test Strings, the BE-86 was the only one with excellent (or even decent) results; avg: 864, es: 19.0, sd: 7.1 and, as with the styro plugs, slightly larger than OneRaggedHole.

I will probably develop a load or two in future that uses a filler. Considering all of the PolyFill in the grass, I will probably use styro plugs ... along with Unique and/or BE-86.

Malamute · Jul 10, 2015

Interesting results, thanks for sharing them.

I started using dacron pillow stuffing in most of the extra-light and some regular loads that didnt fill the case well and there have had universally more consistent results, though I hadnt chrono'ed them.

One thing that influenced me after I'd gotten away from the pillow stuffing, was shooting a rattlesnake that was very close to my dogs with a round ball load in 45-70, it poofed and bounced off the snakes head. I never had things like that happen with dacron fluff.

How much quilt stuffing are you using if its noticable after shooting? I dont recall seeing any left when I use it. I tear a little tuft off, roll it into a ball and poke it down over the powder with an unsharpened pencil. The space isnt completely filled front to back, but its enough to keep reliable friction in the case and keep the powder back against the primer.

GBExpat · Jul 10, 2015

Malamute said:
... How much quilt stuffing are you using if its noticable after shooting? I dont recall seeing any left when I use it. I tear a little tuft off, roll it into a ball and poke it down over the powder with an unsharpened pencil. The space isnt completely filled front to back, but its enough to keep reliable friction in the case and keep the powder back against the primer.

I just went down to check ... I have cut little strips of the thin (~1/8", uncompressed) batting that are ~1/2" x 3". I fold them, stuff them in with a small stick and firmly press them in-place with a larger piece of drillrod.

My reason for using as much as I did was to assure that the plugs reliably held all of the propellant in position. With the styro plugs, all I had to do was cut them a bit "proud" in order to have them stay in-place.

I could almost certainly get by with using less ... but I am convinced that I will still have "plugs" littering the space (which, quite frankly, is not a big deal to me). I picked up a few for inspection. They look like they represent the pieces that actually got PRESSED against the bullet bases ... little white compressed polyester disks surrounded by some uncompressed fuzz.

243winxb · Jul 10, 2015

magnum primer?

GBExpat · Jul 10, 2015

No, SPPs, Fed100s.

243winxb · Jul 10, 2015

You have more testing to do then, using magnum primers. Makes for more shooting fun. .

GBExpat · Jul 11, 2015

243winxb said:
You have more testing to do then, using magnum primers. Makes for more shooting fun. .

How so?

243winxb · Jul 11, 2015

Mysteries And Misconceptions Of The All-Important Primer

http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammo/ammunition_st_mamotaip_200909/ In rifles, a mag primer can make a difference with starting loads. I have to wonder if a mag would help pistol loads? Gov testing said the firing of the No. 41 rifle Primer burns some of the powder, but most is pushed agains the base of the bullet on firing. http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a456635.pdf I have seen* a few tests in pistol by Walkalong/others, but using a std primer. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=607180 Sold my chronograph years ago, so i cant test it.

JustsayMo · Jul 13, 2015

Interesting. It is always good to see the results of real live testing.

Most of my shooting is done with reduced cast loads. Mainly for the economy of it but they're also good enough for competitions. I've never used fillers. Over the chronograph extreme spreads are generally less than 50 fps, some calibers are better than others.

My 30-30 seems to do best with Bullseye. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbRsCaLvpEQ

My 308 seems to prefer W231
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_sGkLMPotw

GBExpat · Jul 17, 2015

OK, I ran some Strings with Magnum Primers to make 243winxb happy.

Here is the w/StandardPrimer data from the OP:

950 / 853 = 97 SR7625 (4.9)
964 / 756 = 208 Unique (4.3)
873 / 825 = 48 BE-86 (4.3)
851 / 798 = 53 Bullseye (3.3)
890 / 809 = 81 700X (3.3)
863 / 812 = 51 800X (4.8)

... and with the Magnum Primers (WSPM, btw):

997 / 763 = 234 SR7625 (4.9)
954 / 776 = 178 Unique (4.3)
877 / 814 = 63 BE-86 (4.3)
835 / 779 = 56 Bullseye (3.3)
804 / 774 = 30 700X (3.3)
863 / 790 = 73 800X (4.8)

I added some arbitrary colors to make quick comparisons easier.

I also ran a cylinder load of each of my "standard" .32-20 loads (100gr/4.0 & 115gr/3.3) thru the CHRONY. Both realized a ~45fps increase.

FYI.

.32-20 and some minor Position Sensitivity testing

Member

Moderator

member

Member

Member

Member

Moderator

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads