dacron amount

[jonk]

So... if I'm loading, say, 30 gr of 4895 in a 30-06 with 180 gr cast RN GC.... how much dacron should I use? How do I go about using it?

In short, I'm going to try dacron and I'm new to dacron. :-)

[JDL]

I use the loose fiber kind instead of the batting type. I pinch off a piece about the size of a nickel and roll it around until it will start into the case neck. When started I take a small screwdriver and insert it about halfway into the neck and let the boolit being seated push it down to the powder. Never leave an air space between it and the base of boolit.
JDL

[dougader]

That's good to know. I never would have thought of that last part. I guess I always thought the dacron was supposed to hold the powder down by the primer.

[beagle]

On the batting style, I cut about 1" squares of 1/8" thick./beagle

[BruceB]

When using dacron filler (and I use it a LOT), I try to visualize how much empty space will remain over the powder charge, and I pull off a tuft from the bulk bag MORE than large enough to fill that volume.

To install it, I push the tuft into the case with something like a flat-blade screwdriver or fairly-large Allen key, until I actually FEEL the tool contact the powder. I then stop pushing, without applying any further pressure. At this point, I want to have a bit of dacron still outside the case mouth. This remnant is pushed JUST inside the mouth, and the bullet is then seated, completing the load and leaving absolutely zero airspace.

By doing it this way, I am CERTAIN that no unfilled space remains inside the cartridge. Do not use so much fiber that it has to be heavily compressed by the bullet.

Once I establish the APPROXIMATE size of tuft required for any particular load, I set aside an "exemplar" tuft to use as a gauge for making more of them. Note that extreme precision is not necessary when making these....just being "in the ballpark" will work fine.

I believe it is better to err on the side of a bit too much dacron, than it is to run the risk of leaving any empty space whatever inside the case. THIS IS IMPORTANT, in my book.

Dacron has been a very useful tool in my cast-bullet ammunition. I'd hate to be without it.

[jonk]

so hand weighing each tuft isn't important then....?

[44man]

No, the stuff is so light you can't tell the difference. I use a lot in my 45-70 BFR and it improves my accuracy quite a bit. Just go by look.
If you don't use the batting where you punch out pieces, buy the garnetted fiber fill. It does not have those long, course strings in it. Really nice to use. It is better for a bottle neck because it will fluff out once in the case.

[.38 Special]

Another fellow brand new to Dacron and planning to try some of BruceB's loads in the .416 Rigby. I'm just wondering what exactly it is that I need to buy -- I mean, I know it's Dacron, but what Dacron? -- and where it can be bought.

TIA!

[BruceB]

My "dacron" comes from Wal-Mart labeled "polyester fiberfill", as I recall. It's used for pillowstuffing, toy stuffing etc.

"Dacron" is a trade name. I prefer the loose bag-style of packaging over the flat quilting batts.

If a tuft of the loose-packed dacron is removed from a case, it too will have obviously conformed to the interior airspace of the cartridge, meaning it will exit in approximately the interior shape of the airspace over the powder.

Really, the choice between batts (or "sheets") and the one-big-bagful, is just that...a choice. Consistent sizing of the fiber insert is easier with the batts, but takes a bit more work. The loose-pack stuff works fine for ME. I haven't tried the garnetted style yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

Good luck with that .416 Rigby. My go-to load uses water-dropped straight-wheelweight RCBS 416-350s at 365 grains, over 55 grains of 5744 and a standard LR primer....and dacron. This gives 1.5" to 2" groups at 100 yards for TEN rounds, at 2050 fps from the #1's 24" barrel.

Big medicine!

[.38 Special]

Thanks, Bruce. I'll try that load, but am going to focus on some of the lighter loads you've posted. The same bullet at 1500-1700 FPS should be just the ticket for me.

Thanks again!

[BruceB]

.38 Special, pard;

Wise man, wise man!

That standard hunting load of mine is treading VERY hard on the heels of a factory-loaded .404 Jeffery, which needs no introduction to anyone who has read a bit of African hunting lore (400 @ 2150).

On a ground-squirrel expedition earlier this year, I fired just ONE round of that .416 load, and it was not pleasant. I think that I'm either getting more-sensitive to recoil as I get older, or something in my medical condition is changing my reactions, or I'm getting smarter (unlikely, at this late date) or possibly all of the above. I believe that *I* am going to follow YOUR example, and see if I can be friends with my rifle again in the 1500-fps area.

It was my intention to take the .416 with cast softpoints to Alberta this year to bump-off an elk, but I'm finding a certain reluctance to do the necessary practice with the hunting load. Shooting's supposed to be fun, after all, and I'm not anticipating much fun in the "practice process".

I have fired the same RCBS bullet at 2600+ from the #1, and it's best that a merciful curtain be drawn between now and the painful memory of THAT episode. Also, 3000 fps is possible with the 300 X-Bullet, but woooo....what a neck-snapper!

Incidentally, I've fired the 55/5744 load with and without dacron, and noted somewhat higher speed and lower extreme spread with the fiber. Not earth-shaking, but it did make a bit of difference. Accuracy was also slightly better, but again nothing dramatic. Still, the powder fills less than half the case, so I prefer to have it contained near the sparkplug.

[44man]

Bruce, you might have to go to a fabric store to find the garnetted stuff. Well worth the hunt to get rid of those stupid strings that want to hang out of the neck.

[.38 Special]

Hehe, yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with the Rigby. It's a beautiful rifle, and of course the cartridge itself has tremendous history. Like many, I've read too much Ruark, and I love to take the rifle out and handle it or just prop it in the corner while I thumb through "Use Enough Gun" for the umpteenth time.

But every trip to the range with it ends with the vile thing tossed into the safe for a few months, while I learn to stop hating it. Again. That is to say, 410/2370 sounds pretty neat, but the reality is a bruise and a headache. And savaging paper targets and dirt clods with the original load is semi-stupid. So a nice cast bullet at a pleasant velocity should go a long way toward patching up the relationship, and I sure do appreciate your expertise, both here and with your Rigby loads post I bookmarked.