Shotshell and 800X

[BigBore45]

I have loaded this load for years without a problem until today.

Winchester AA hulls

Hornady .474 powder die- 800X 26 gr.

Winchester WWA12R/Rem SP12 Wads

#4 shot 1 3/8 oz.

Winchester 209 primer

The problem im having is with a Remington model 11 From 1914 that was restored 10-15 years ago. I have never had a problem with this load and gun with the friction rings set to heavy load. I just replaced the bolt buffer tap in the back of the receiver and the friction rings to give the old girl a tune up. Today while hunting it jammed every time with the heavy load setting but fired fine on the light load setting. (so i broke down and bought some factory pheasant loads and they ran great threw the Rem. mod. 11 on heavy load setting.) so i went back to the shotgun shell loader and found the powder weight to be light and with a wide spread. from my notes it was 25.7-26 gr. now it is from 24.3-25.5 gr. i am wondering why? the powder holding bottle is a bit low( about 1/3 full) i usually keep it 1/2 full or full, but i cannot find any 800X so i was going to load my 50 shells for the year and find some before next season.. however if 800X is that bad with metering i will switch to blue dot or anything that meters better.

 

[oneounceload]

Try restating this in English - what loader, what setting, etc. I'll assume by powder "dumber" you mean a bottle charging your hulls

 

[JimKirk]

1 OZ ... I believe that he is saying that his charge is changing as the bottle level changes ... then again I may be wrong....

BB45... 800X is a hard powder to meter/drop what ever you may call it ... it is the largest flake powder that I have ever used ... but I like it !!

 

[oneounceload]

It can work well in the appropriate loading; many folks really like it

 

[BigBore45]

That better?

 

[rsrocket1]

I've read that smokeless powder density variations (lot to lot) can be as much as 14%.

Was the "light drop" powder from a different lot than what you loaded when you took your notes? If so, you need to weigh a bunch of charges when you buy a new jug of powder. I've noticed that I needed to sometimes change my loads by 1-2 bushing sizes to get the same weight with a new jug of powder.

 

[oneounceload]

Much better. How old are the bottles on your loader? Are they staring to become opaque? Is it located in a damp location where moisture might cause the powder to clump and not dump correctly?
Blue Dot makes for great hunting loads.

 

[BigBore45]

rsrocket: it is the same lot of powder for the last 3 years.

oneounce: it is not clumped up at all i just took it out to see.

the re-loader bottles are pretty old but from where i can check seem really smooth. I also cleaned up the bushing it was a bit rough. i will try it tonight and see if that helps.

 

[JimKirk]

Cleaning up that bushing may help as the powder "slides" down into the bushing from the bottle... as I said 800X is a big flake powder and any "roughness" may keep it from going in as easy as it should ... I know what you are talking about not being able to find it in stock ... I use it in some of my 20 ga loads ...

By the way the re-wite of your original post sure makes a lot easier to understand ... adding the other facts help too... my Mec bottles are really old and yellow ... but I have never had any problems because of that fact ... I worry that they may fall apart one day ... I need to get a set to replace them ...

 

[gamestalker]

For pheasant, I settled on Longshot, but I don't think I've tried it with 1 oz. loads. I don't have any problems with Longshot metering well with my old Mec powder bushings. And I do replace bottles when the powder starts to drag against the walls, that can cause problems, might be what your experiencing?

I run #6 shot 1-1/4 to 1-5/8 depending on which shotgun I'm going to use. STS, Gold Medal, and AA hulls have all served me well for heavy pheasant loads.

GS

 

[deepskyridge]

800X

I use my RCBC chargemaster combo to throw 800X for shotshell, the powder bar on the MEC does not work well with the cornflakes. I only load Buckshot and Slugs for shotgun so it work good for me.

The 800X works great in the RCBS.

Good Luck
Gary