Ok I think I have the loading hot subject pretty much figured out. How do you safely load down rifle shells? It seems that the lighter the powder charge you want to use you move up to faster burning powder? How far down can you load shells safely? I did a little reading and it says theres a danger of detonation or something, what exactly causes this and can it be avoided? I was reading about fire lapping your barrel on the net somewhere and it suggested you make lead bullets, roll them in the lapping compound and fire them at 1500 to 1800 fps. How do you do this safely out of a gun that normally shoots at 3000 fps or higher? Is there special powder made for loading light loads? I would also like to know so my wife can practice with some of my larger caliber guns without having to experience bone crushing recoil. Thanks for your info!
Loading down & Light loads, How to ?
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45crittergitter
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Get your loads from a reputable reloading manual, and never from an internet bb. Some manuals have a reduced load or lead bullet load or section. Yes, they usually use a different powder than used for regular loads.
R-WEST
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Check out Hodgdon's site http://www.hodgdon.com/ and, specifically the section on "Youth" load data http://www.hodgdon.com/data/youth/index.php Using either H or IMR 4895 (they're just about the same) you can come up with some amazingly accurate, low recoil loads. I've done them with everything from the 260 Rem to 416 RMag.
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JNewell
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My experience is that you need to be careful. I ran up a 100 rounds of light .44 Magnum with Unique and had very, very inconsistent results -- several bullets left in the bore. If I were not paying attention, it would have been easy to bulge the barrel -- or worse. I think the comment about choosing powder above is right on target (pardon the pun).
Clark
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There are as many guns blown up from underloads as from overloads.
The stuck bullet in the culprit.
Load down as low as you want, but check that the bullet came out.
I have asked Hodgdon if detonation is a problem with reduced loads of
H110 in 44 mag and 357 mag. I have been told the only risk there is a
stuck bullet.
In the February 2001 "Handloader" magazine, John Haviland's article on
reduced loads quotes Ron Rieber of Hodgdon as saying that there is a
problem with reduced loads in cartridges with large powder capacities
compared to their bore. The powder partially ignites sending the bullet
into the bore and then lodging and stopping. The charge then fully
ignites causing a pressure spike. He has been unable to reproduce this
phenomena in the lab with a new barrel, however, in a rough throated
..243 with a slow burning powder and reduced charge can make a pressure
spike that will lock the bolt shut
The stuck bullet in the culprit.
Load down as low as you want, but check that the bullet came out.
I have asked Hodgdon if detonation is a problem with reduced loads of
H110 in 44 mag and 357 mag. I have been told the only risk there is a
stuck bullet.
In the February 2001 "Handloader" magazine, John Haviland's article on
reduced loads quotes Ron Rieber of Hodgdon as saying that there is a
problem with reduced loads in cartridges with large powder capacities
compared to their bore. The powder partially ignites sending the bullet
into the bore and then lodging and stopping. The charge then fully
ignites causing a pressure spike. He has been unable to reproduce this
phenomena in the lab with a new barrel, however, in a rough throated
..243 with a slow burning powder and reduced charge can make a pressure
spike that will lock the bolt shut
redneck2
Member
The Lyman
reloading manual gives cast bullet reduced loads
FWIW...smokeless powder actually burns kinda poorly, until it's confined. The more it's confined, the faster it burns. The fastest powders take off quick, raise pressure quick, and burn most all the powder. Slow powders raise pressure enough to move the bullet but then don't burn completely.
As an example, Unique is a powder that needs a pretty good fill. At minimum loads, it's a mess. It's always easy to stick a bullet too. Listen to this (and the ones above) as the voice of experience.
One older method is to use corn meal or kapok on top of the powder charge. It holds the powder against the primer and fills the case so that pressure is raised in a typical manner. As above, if the relatively light charge of semi-fast powder is allowed to rattle around in the case, funny things (or not so funny things) can happen.
IMO...if you have to do odd things like that to get the gun to shoot, there's too many things that can go wrong. IMO...buy a smaller caliber.
Same at the other end. If you want a 180 grain to do 3,000 fps out of .30 cal, don't try to "load up" a 30-06...buy a .300 WM.
Cartridge/bullet combos are designed to operate in a given range. Varying from that can have "interesting" results HTH
reloading manual gives cast bullet reduced loads
FWIW...smokeless powder actually burns kinda poorly, until it's confined. The more it's confined, the faster it burns. The fastest powders take off quick, raise pressure quick, and burn most all the powder. Slow powders raise pressure enough to move the bullet but then don't burn completely.
As an example, Unique is a powder that needs a pretty good fill. At minimum loads, it's a mess. It's always easy to stick a bullet too. Listen to this (and the ones above) as the voice of experience.
One older method is to use corn meal or kapok on top of the powder charge. It holds the powder against the primer and fills the case so that pressure is raised in a typical manner. As above, if the relatively light charge of semi-fast powder is allowed to rattle around in the case, funny things (or not so funny things) can happen.
IMO...if you have to do odd things like that to get the gun to shoot, there's too many things that can go wrong. IMO...buy a smaller caliber.
Same at the other end. If you want a 180 grain to do 3,000 fps out of .30 cal, don't try to "load up" a 30-06...buy a .300 WM.
Cartridge/bullet combos are designed to operate in a given range. Varying from that can have "interesting" results HTH
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