I will admit, I've been away from loading smokeless powder for 30 years. But I decided to get back into it at least for 38 Special.
Since I was loading exclusively Black Powder cartridges, I have no loading data for smokeless. I chose Universal Clays simply because it was listed in the insert on my Lee dies for 38 Special and coincided with the 158gr RNFP lead bullets I had. Here's the problem:
I'm getting unburned powder after firing, not much but it's definately visable in the nooks and crannies of the gun after 50 rounds. I'm loading 4.3gr behind a 158gr RNFP lead bullet. I started out at 3.5gr and have worked my way up. The "Never Exceed" is 4.5gr and since I'm paranoid about losing body parts I don't want to take it that high. Is this normal for Universal Clays? What other powders would provide a cleaner burn.
I'm very happy with the rounds other than the unburned powder issue, they're a LOT easier to load than Black Powder cartridges that's for sure.
Since I was loading exclusively Black Powder cartridges, I have no loading data for smokeless. I chose Universal Clays simply because it was listed in the insert on my Lee dies for 38 Special and coincided with the 158gr RNFP lead bullets I had. Here's the problem:
I'm getting unburned powder after firing, not much but it's definately visable in the nooks and crannies of the gun after 50 rounds. I'm loading 4.3gr behind a 158gr RNFP lead bullet. I started out at 3.5gr and have worked my way up. The "Never Exceed" is 4.5gr and since I'm paranoid about losing body parts I don't want to take it that high. Is this normal for Universal Clays? What other powders would provide a cleaner burn.
I'm very happy with the rounds other than the unburned powder issue, they're a LOT easier to load than Black Powder cartridges that's for sure.