Lil gun

[AJC1]

Has anyone found a 357 combination with Lil'Gun that gave good sd/es numbers. The load listings start at 158 and go up telling me that it prefers heavy loadings.... does it perform better with a certain primer or are es numbers +50 just expected.

 

[EricBu]

In 357, I had good luck with revolvers and levers, really liked it. Oddly, perceived recoil was much less, and velocity more than other magnum powders. Accuracy (and ED,ES) improved on higher end, so I think it likes a good case fill kind of like H110. The only reason I quit using it is because it won't cycle my Coonan 1911 until it's about 5% over max. It really shined in a Marlin though, I will say that. I will try and find my old load data workups for it, but for revolvers/repeaters, IIRC, I found my node less than a grain under the max.

PS, buckle up.......because the next 40 posts are going to be telling you not to use it because "somebody on the internet said it damaged forcing cones on revolvers". We know how that's gonna end though.

 

[AJC1]

In 357, I had good luck with revolvers and levers, really liked it. Oddly, perceived recoil was much less, and velocity more than other magnum powders. Accuracy (and ED,ES) improved on higher end, so I think it likes a good case fill kind of like H110. The only reason I quit using it is because it won't cycle my Coonan 1911 until it's about 5% over max. It really shined in a Marlin though, I will say that. I will try and find my old load data workups for it, but for revolvers/repeaters, IIRC, I found my node less than a grain under the max.

PS, buckle up.......because the next 40 posts are going to be telling you not to use it because "somebody on the internet said it damaged forcing cones on revolvers". We know how that's gonna end though.

 

[EricBu]

View attachment 1172506

Have you gauged your primer pockets? You should be getting better than that I think. I've got 357 brass with dozens of loads on them, but stuff I've pushed really hard did start to get inconsistent, and the pocket stretched. With my heavy for caliber and hot 357, I always got my absolute best consistency with metric small rifle magnum/nato primers. If you have some Ginex small rifle, might be worth a shot, cheap experiment anyway.

 

[thump_rrr]

In 357, I had good luck with revolvers and levers, really liked it. Oddly, perceived recoil was much less, and velocity more than other magnum powders. Accuracy (and ED,ES) improved on higher end, so I think it likes a good case fill kind of like H110. The only reason I quit using it is because it won't cycle my Coonan 1911 until it's about 5% over max. It really shined in a Marlin though, I will say that. I will try and find my old load data workups for it, but for revolvers/repeaters, IIRC, I found my node less than a grain under the max.

PS, buckle up.......because the next 40 posts are going to be telling you not to use it because "somebody on the internet said it damaged forcing cones on revolvers". We know how that's gonna end though.

Actually it was Freedom Arms telling people that using Lil Gun in their big revolvers with light for caliber bullets was causing forcing cone erosion and flame cutting.
i'll shoot 18gr of Lil Gun in my Ruger which has no signs of erosion.

 

[EricBu]

Actually it was Freedom Arms telling people that using Lil Gun in their big revolvers with light for caliber bullets was causing forcing cone erosion and flame cutting.
i'll shoot 18gr of Lil Gun in my Ruger which has no signs of erosion.

Yes, we all know the entire story, that dead (mythical) horse has been beaten into the ground hundreds of times.

 

[Bill M.]

deleted. duplicate post

 

[Bill M.]

I do not have a chromo. I load 16 grains of Lil Gun under a 158 grain XTP and like the load in all respects. I do think the load is better than I can shoot off a rest at 25 yards.

 

[AJC1]

I do not have a chromo. I load 16 grains of Lil Gun under a 158 grain XTP and like the load in all respects. I do think the load is better than I can shoot off a rest at 25 yards.

This load is for hunting and may need to reach out 100 yards or so. I'm not expecting single digit numbers but an es below 30 ish is highly desirable. I may test the 158xtp side by each with the 180xtp and see if it does better.

 

[Cheesemaker]

This thread has peeked my interest. I have some Lil Gun (< 1lb) that I may play with in my Rossi 16" 357. I typically run 158gr XTPs in all my 357 reloads, handgun and rifle.
God forbid I damage my revolvers with it

Thanks for posting OP.

 

[AJC1]

This thread has peeked my interest. I have some Lil Gun (< 1lb) that I may play with in my Rossi 16" 357. I typically run 158gr XTPs in all my 357 reloads, handgun and rifle.
God forbid I damage my revolvers with it

Thanks for posting OP.

I'm not shooting it regular, develop a load and make a single box for the boy. The rest of the pound will probably go to something else.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I'm not shooting it regular, develop a load and make a single box for the boy. The rest of the pound will probably go to something else.

Have you had any issues getting good numbers off the chorongraph? I have had trouble with my cheap little Chrony's and boisterous powders (lookin' at you, Blue Dot!)

 

[JmacD]

Have you had any issues getting good numbers off the chorongraph? I have had trouble with my cheap little Chrony's and boisterous powders (lookin' at you, Blue Dot!)

“Boisterous”… well said. I was just having this discussion with someone the other day. I believe (if memory is serving me correctly) it was a hot load of power pistol in a short barrel…

 

[joneb]

Has anyone found a 357 combination with Lil'Gun that gave good sd/es numbers

I tried a lbs of Lil'Gun for 22 hornet and it worked well. I could not find another good use for it in other chambering, including .357mag w/a 18" barrel.

 

[AJC1]

Have you had any issues getting good numbers off the chorongraph? I have had trouble with my cheap little Chrony's and boisterous powders (lookin' at you, Blue Dot!)

Not really. I got rifle competition numbers from herco and the 358429

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Not really. I got rifle competition numbers from herco and the 358429

Herco isn’t super flamey. I gave away my last pounder of H110 because I didn’t like the flamethrower effect. There’s just too many other good powders out there.
Have you tried Accurate No.11FS yet? It’s a St.Marks powder.

 

[Blue68f100]

Have you had any issues getting good numbers off the chorongraph? I have had trouble with my cheap little Chrony's and boisterous powders (lookin' at you, Blue Dot!)

I have to move the crony back a few more feet to work well with high blast powders.

 

[AJC1]

Herco isn’t super flamey. I gave away my last pounder of H110 because I didn’t like the flamethrower effect. There’s just too many other good powders out there.
Have you tried Accurate No.11FS yet? It’s a St.Marks powder.

I have considered it, but I haven't seen any since the move.... I'm not seeing any flames in the marlin, and Silhouette has all the flash suppressant. I'm using the slower powders in the carbine. The idea with Lil Gun was speed at less pressure... heat is the sacrifice. That seemed reasonable in very low round count activities like hunting.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I have considered it, but I haven't seen any since the move.... I'm not seeing any flames in the marlin, and Silhouette has all the flash suppressant. I'm using the slower powders in the carbine. The idea with Lil Gun was speed at less pressure... heat is the sacrifice. That seemed reasonable in very low round count activities like hunting.

The rumors around No.11FS and 300MP are that they are both tweaked and rebranded WC297. (Propellant Profiles, Apr/2019)

WC297 is a temperature stable, double base, high nitroglycerin percent, flash suppressed powder originally developed from W296 for law enforcement and other applications where a reduced muzzle flash would be advantageous.

Hodgdon’s says No. 11FS is intended for full-power loads in magnum handguns and smaller capacity rifle cartridges.

Lil’Gun is a 410 shotshell powder which can also be used in the .22Hornet and magnum handguns - which is similar to how Alliant describes 300-MP.

Hmmmm…. it kinda makes you wonder, don’t it?

 

[Bill M.]

I would be interested in see some of your Lil gun chrono numbers when you do it. If you do not mind. The Hodgdon data for Lil gun is sorta unbelivable and I do not chrono myself. Be nice to see some verification of the velocities.

 

[AJC1]

I would be interested in see some of your Lil gun chrono numbers when you do it. If you do not mind. The Hodgdon data for Lil gun is sorta unbelivable and I do not chrono myself. Be nice to see some verification of the velocities.

My results are hand written above. They are out of my carbine, the speed does look good.