Lil Gun or 2400

[Charlie1022]

I was at a local gun show this weekend and picked up 4 lbs of Lil Gun powder and need you thoughts on this powder. I was thinking of using it in some 357, 44 and 444 loads. What are your thoughts on this powder?

 

[DC Plumber]

Never used it. 2400 has always been my .357 and .44 mag powder because it has a wider window of operating pressure, yet still delivers magnum performance and meters well for me.

 

[Hondo 60]

Ohhhh you're gonna like Lil Gun!
I have a Ruger Redhawk in 44 Mag.

With 240 gr Hornady XTPs I use 23.5 grains.
Now, be careful, that's a STOUT load!
And it doesn't do very well with lower charges.
But you can play with it a bit
My load runs about 1300-1400 fps

That's taking a milk jug or 2 ltr bottle & splittin it open like a banana!

 

[ljnowell]

I have used both, but I dont have any lil gun and still buy 8lb jugs of 2400. i guess that says it all.

Well, just to make sure my point is across, 2400 is great. I love it in 357mag and Ruger only 45 colt.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Lil'Gun produces amazing velocities while maintaining accuracy and the pressures are low. I do worry about reports of very quick forcing come erosion when using Lil'Gun though. Because of that I use if only in my Carbines, not in revolvers. It does produce a lot of heat too.

 

[gamestalker]

I'm all H110 or 296 for those type cartridges. Although there is a lot of talk about flame cutting and forcing cone damage from these slow burning powders, I've been using it in my magnum wheel guns for decades and have not seen any evidence of this. So I would think it is safe to say that either 2400, which I have used, or Lil Gun will be just fine for your applications.

GS

 

[buck460XVR]

Lil'Gun produces amazing velocities while maintaining accuracy and the pressures are low. I do worry about reports of very quick forcing come erosion when using Lil'Gun though. Because of that I use if only in my Carbines, not in revolvers. It does produce a lot of heat too.

Several years back, in the reloading sections of gun forums, you would have thought Lil' Gun was the Holy Grail of handgun powders. Then came the reports of excessive premature forcing cone erosion and flame cutting it produced. Now.....you hardly see Lil' Gun and revolver mentioned in the same sentence. One reason why Lil' Gun may have been available at the gun show during this time of powder/primer shortages.

I too once used Lil' Gun in both the revolvers and handgun caliber carbines. While it never really gave me any more velocity than H110/W296 in my guns, the accuracy was okay and the hype of the lower chamber pressures kept me using it, thinking it was easier on my guns. But I did notice how much hotter my guns got and how much more quickly they got hot, as compared to any other magnum powder I use. Both my sons noticed it also. So I kinda went back to the other powders just so we could shoot all day at the range without having to constantly wait for the guns to cool down. Once the reports of damage started to go around, I was done with it. I used the last of what I had in the carbines about two years ago and haven't looked back.

Some folks still swear by it, and I never noticed any abnormal damage to my guns...... but to me, there are too many powders out there that perform just as well and do not have the negative reputation for me to take the chance.

 

[joecil]

I use it behind a Ranch Dog 290 gr 45 Colt bullet for hunting with my Rossi 92. It is too much for my 45 Colt hand guns since they are all Uberti's and rated at about 14K psi.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I too once used Lil' Gun in both the revolvers and handgun caliber carbines. While it never really gave me any more velocity than H110/W296 in my guns, the accuracy was okay and the hype of the lower chamber pressures kept me using it, thinking it was easier on my guns.

I did see the velocity increases, especially with heavier bullets in the .357 Magnum and by a good margin.

All loads made using a CCI-550 primer and the Max charge recommended by Hodgdon for each powder.
.357 Magnum ammo in a Marlin 1894C Carbine:
170gr Sierra JHC
H110 AV 1699 fps
Lil'Gun AV 1793 fps

180gr Hornady XTP/HP
W296 AV 1495 fps
Lil'Gun AV 1584 fps

180gr Cast Performance WFNGC
W296 AV 1547 fps
Lil'Gun AV 1657 fps

As you can see from those numbers Lil'Gun delivers ~100 fps more velocity than W296/H110 when everything else is the same but for the powder.

 

[buck460XVR]

I did see the velocity increases, especially with heavier bullets in the .357 Magnum in a Marlin 1894C Carbine

I never shot Lil' Gun in heavy for caliber loads, maybe why I never saw much of a difference. 158s in .357, 240s in .44 and 300 grainers in .460 was as heavy as I tried with it in my revolvers. None of them saw a substantial increase in velocity in the revolvers using Lil' Gun as compared to H110/W296. Not enough anyway to justify the increase in heat. Never did chrono them outta the carbines. Accuracy was about the same with Lil' Gun. I know of many that swear by Lil' Gun usage in handgun caliber carbines. Only negative I had with it again was excessive heat....and I had that also in the carbines. While it probably didn't hurt them, it was a nuisance when shooting them for more than one mag full at a time. IMR4227 gives me excellent performance in my carbines(both in .357 and .44) without the heat and is also my go to powder in the .460, thus I use it instead along with H110/W296. Others experience may differ than mine. Again, to me the risk of using it in revolvers, no matter how slight, is not worth the gain, because I saw none. Having it on hand just for the carbines ain't gonna happen.

 

[Meta]

I did a fair bit of research into Lil'Gun when I bought my Smith & Wesson 500. Forcing come erosion is greatly accelerated with the use of Lil'Gun, that's a fact that's been well documented by some very reputable folks using some fairly scientific testing and measurements. It's not something I choose to use for my magnum revolvers. 296 or 2400 are a much better choices.