Denster said:
Ahhhhh....I think I figured out the why!!
First off, you need to understand that I'm basically cheap. Not thrifty or frugal, just plain cheap. So....when it comes to putting more money into a cartridge i.e. 40gr of powder versus 33-35gr there had better be a reason other than the obvious, bigger boom!!
Well, I think I found the reason. For the purposes of this thread we'll just stay with 45LC. Having only loaded a couple of hundred 45LC's over the last couple of months I tend to adjust the load every time, just looking for that magic combination. Here's what I have found:
When I first loaded 45LC I managed to stuff about 33gr 3f in the brass under a .06 veggie wad compressing the charge with a .451 RB. The result was fun but not impressive. Two things became evident quickly, first was the filth everywhere. The second was the temperature. After shooting two cylinders back to back (not rapid fire either), the cylinder was too hot to touch and you definitely didn't want to make contact with ANY part of that barrel. Accuracy also wasn't too impressive either. At 25 yards I could consistantly hit paper shooting duelist. This from a gun that usually drills the middle out in short order, Dakota Peacemaker/Buntline with 12" barrel.
The next batch got adjusted thusly: 35gr 3f, .06 veggie wad, compress with a dowel rod (no handle) then scrape some SPG into the brass and top off with a .454 RB (I ran out of the .451's). Results = Not much changed. Still gets too hot to touch after the second firing and produced so much soot, crud etc. that you weren't getting through a box of 50 cartridges without some major issues. Not so much the cylinder pin binding but the front and rear of the cylinder getting so much ash and soot on them that they bind, litterally cocking the gun would result in flakes of soot and ash dropping off from behind the cylinder. I'd never seen anything like it shooting CB pistols. Accuracy? About the same, you weren't safe in front of me but the odds of you getting hit weren't 100%.
Now on to the fine tuning: ClemBert turned me on to a "Compression Plug" sold by TOTW. After installing that in my Factory Crimp Die and using it to "Crunch" the powder charge down we've seen some dramatic changes.
Now using a Drop Tube to load 40gr 3f and compressing it with the "Compression Plug" this gun is now fun to shoot, that is as long as you are loading RB's instead of 235gr RNFP's. As a note, the 235's take the fun out of it, they hurt!!
Here's the formula that I am currently on: 40gr 3f Goex, .06 veggie wad, 1/8" lube wad from Cabela's (I just happen to have them, when I run out I'll probably skip this part), just enough cornmeal to act as barrier between the lube wad and RB to facilitate separation. The cornmeal also helps absorb that liquid lube that Cabela's puts on their lube wads.
First off, the temperature issue has abated about 75% when the powder is compressed moderately. By moderately I'm talking 5/16" minimum below what the level was using a 24" drop tube. Also the "Filth" experienced shooting the uncompressed powder is now comparable to shooting any CB pistol, as long as you bring baby wipes for your hands you're in good shape. Yesterday afternoon I put 50 rounds through with no binding or flaking of ash and soot from the cylinder. I did pull the pin twice to wipe it down and re-lube with Ballistol. Not because of binding but because I happen to know that with this gun if you don't pull that pin and wipe it down every few cylinders, you will be in for the fight of your life getting it out when you're done. Accuracy = back to the gun I used to know. 3" groups at 25 yards duelist!! Move up to 7 yards and tape a quarter to the target and have fun trying to find it later!!
Lessons Learned
By moderately compressing (I'm guessing at somewhere around 50-100 lbs.) the powder charge, it's my belief that the combustion is now quite a bit faster. This would aid in ejecting the burning powder much faster and more completely thus reducing the amount of heat that is absorbed by the cylinder and barrel as well as aiding in the reduction of soot and ash everywhere. I would also suggest that I might be able to cut back to 35gr with compression and then using cornmeal as a filler and achieve the same results. We'll see.
The change in accuracy I would attribute to higher more stable muzzle velocities with the compressed charge. Since I have no chronograph, I can only guess. Maybe when it drops below 115 degrees down there, Oyeboten could go out and test this theory.
Credit where credit is due: Oyeboten, Denster & ClemBert as well as numerous others on THR, you guys have been a great help. Thanks.
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