Powders for .30 Carbine Blackhawk?

[jski]

I've been using Hodgdon's H110 exclusively for my .30 Carbine Blackhawk and rifles (M1 Carbine). It's a great powder and there's plenty of data on its application with the .30 Carbine for both the rifle and Blackhawk.

I'd like to try something else in addition. What about TiteGroup? Something not made by Hodgdon? Is there data for these powders for my application?

I have plenty of TiteGroup for my .45 Colt reloading.

 

[Havok7416]

Any powder listed in your manuals for any other .30 Carbine load will work. I have an AMT Automag III in .30 Carbine and I regularly shoot my standard rifle loads through it. AA#9, IMR 4227 and Alliant 2400 are all powders commonly used in the cartridge.

TiteGroup will not work. At least I've never seen any data on it.

 

[FROGO207]

If you want safe really mild loads with a lead bullet you can use Trail Boss. Use their method of finding the max load and back off 10%. It should work in a rifle OK. I also use Blue Dot and Promo (= to Red Dot but by weight only) and other pistol powders for light fast loads. Think in the 38 SPL or 32 H&R mag with a light load range (close case volume/bullet weight in pistol calibers works) but it will take experimentation to get an accurate load. DO NOT USE THOSE LIGHT LOADS IN A RIFLE. You WILL stick a bullet in the barrel if you do. FWIW I worked a Promo load down to the point it would stick in a triple thick cardboard target and not go through most of the time at 7 YDS. Any lower and it would stick in the barrel. My two Blackhawks reacted differently to that load also, the other one would go through the cardboard every time with authority using that load.
Have fun experimenting.

 

[Walkalong]

Titegroup might make a suitable low power plinker but is not suited to normal power .30 Carbine loads. You need something similar in burn rate to H-110.

FROGO207 pretty well covered it.

 

[jski]

I've discovered this link:
Cast in the .30 Carbine Pistol

It includes everything from AA#9 to TiteGroup to Lil' Gun to Red Dot to Unique. Now the article is strictly speaking of cast bullet loads. But I'm currently focused on this puppy:

IMG_0063

• jski
• Feb 26, 2017

115 gr. Linotype, gas checked (courtesy of Montana Bullet Works).

 

[WelshShooter]

I handload lead ammunition for my M1 carbine (indoor gallery range is only 25m, and we cannot use jacketed ammunition due to limitations in the backdrop). I have used Lovex D032 (Accurate #2) with a 110gr LRNFP and it shoots great!

I used QuickLoad to determine what the best load would be. Due to energy limitations of the range, I must keep a 115gr bullet below a velocity of ~1,350fps. I took estimated pressure and velocity into account for this reason. The first chart below shows the maximum pressure as a blue horizontal line (and the second axis), the blue points represent theoretical pressure for a given load. The primary y-axis is velocity, with the red points given predicted velocity and the black points showing measured velocity using a MagnetoSpeed chronograph. You can see that my actual data matches the theoretical/calculated pressure very well!

The second picture shows a 50 round group at 25m when shooting off elbows. Not too shabby! After load development, I settled on 4.5gr of Accurate #2, 115gr LRNFP set at 1.680" OAL. This gives an average velocity of 1,312fps so well within the range limitations. This is a very mild load and I would expect this to be very manageable in the Ruger!

Seeing as I'm in the UK, my M1 carbine is a straight pull and not semi-automatic, so I cannot guarantee that the aforementioned load would cycle the action. Since you intend to use this in the Ruger Blackhawk that shouldn't matter.

 

[USSR]

I use 2400 and 4227 exclusively with my cast bullet loads in .30 Carbine.

Don

 

[jski]

How about AA 4100 (v. AA #9)?

 

[USSR]

How about AA 4100 (v. AA #9)?

No reason why it wouldn't work well. I just don't have any and have never used it.

Don

 

[Walkalong]

AA 4100 is the same thing as Enforcer, if that helps.

 

[Sunray]

.30 Carbine handgun loads are pretty much the same as long gun loads. However, you'll have to work up the load for each firearm.
This is out of my old Lyman Pistol and Revolver manual. No idea if some of the powders are still around.

93 grain MC 1.595" OAL
Powder Start Vel Max Vel
SR4759 9.5 948 12.5 1216
IMR4227 10.0 1076 15.0 1491
Blue Dot 6.5 922 8.5 1284
2400 9.5 1078 12.5 1390
Win296 15.0 1460(Reduced load, not recommended by Winchester)
H110 10.0 1176 15.5 1456
AL-8 8.5 1227 12.0 1510

100 grain Speer 1.600" OAL
Powder Start Vel Max Vel
2400 9.5 1147 12.5 1412
SR4759 9.0 918 12.0(c) 1298
IMR4227 10.0 1112 15.0(c) 1438
630 8.5 1115 12.0 1414
H110 10.0 1124 14.5 1416

110 grain HP 1.660" OAL
Powder Start Vel Max Vel
2400 10.0 1161 12.0 1348
SR4759 9.0 851 12.0(c) 1172
IMR4227 11.0 1188 14.0 1377
Win296 14.5 1428(Reduced load, not recommended by Winchester)
H110 9.5 1054 14.0 1369

120 grain cast w. gas check 1.610" OAL
Powder Start Vel Max Vel
Unique 5.0 1138 6.3 1335
Blue Dot 6.5 1066 8.8 1339
2400 10.8 1236 12.3(c) 1436
SR7625 4.6 1027 5.6 1162
SR4756 5.5 1050 6.5 1220
IMR4227 11.5 1169 13.3(c) 1388
Win296 13.5 1415(Reduced load, not recommended by Winchester)
H110 10.0 1055 13.5 1358
AL-8 9.5 1239 11.0(c) 1408

123 grain cast w. gas check 1.610" OAL
Powder Start Vel Max Vel
Unique 5.0 1017 6.3 1316
Blue Dot 6.5 997 8.8 1290
2400 10.8 1271 12.3(c) 1445
SR4756 5.1 923 6.1 1172
IMR4227 11.0 1124 13.1(c) 1342
Win296 13.5 1431(Reduced load, not recommended by Winchester)
H110 10.0 1037 13.5 1420
AL-8 9.2 1196 10.8(c) 1384

130 Grain cast 1.680" OAL
Powder Start Vel Max Vel
Unique 4.9 1064 6.1 1270
Blue Dot 6.3 971 8.2 1249
2400 10.5 1282 12.0(c) 1414
SR4756 5.0 1011 6.0 1182
IMR4227 10.6 1116 12.7(c) 1387
Win296 12.5 1356(Reduced load, not recommended by Winchester)
H110 9.0 979 12.5 1350
AL-8 9.0 1225 10.4(c) 1346
'c' = compressed load.

 

[MEHavey]

See: https://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6359899&postcount=2

VN-110

 

[jski]

MEHavey, I found that .309 was too large for my cylinder throats. The round would NOT seat properly it the cylinder (it protruded too far out). It would have required a hammer to punch a .309 bullet thru those cylinder throats.

I'm now using .308 and it seems to work well. I tried the simple push test: if I can easily push the bullet thru the chamber, all the way thru, then you're good.