Inline FabricationRepackboxMidSouth Shooters SupplyPBcastco
Reloading EverythingTitan ReloadingLoad DataLee Precision
RotoMetals2 Wideners
Page 2 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 154

Thread: Favorite reduced loads

  1. #21
    Boolit Buddy LET-CA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Roy, Utah
    Posts
    283
    This may be a obvious question to most of you, but when you load up a reduced load, do you have to "wall off" the powder to keep it all together in the cartridge or do you just let it lay. I've been hesitant to experiment with smaller loads because I didn't know the mechanics.

    Basically, do you need to put a small wad over the powder before you seat the bullet?

    Thanks!

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Near Austin
    Posts
    1,478
    30/30 reduced loads:
    18.0 gr 2400, Lee 150 RF GC WWWQ'd, Felix, 1860 fps
    10.0 gr Herco, Lee 150 RF GC WWWQ'd, Felix, 1500 fps
    2.5 gr Bullseye, case full of Cream of Wheat, pure lead round ball, 500 fps-quiet, doesn't feed, so I single shot them, good for skunks just inside the city limits (my yard)

    .357 snubby reduced loads in .357 cases
    4.0 gr Bullseye, 358091, 358089, 358156 w/o GC, Lee TL 150 SWC, 800-900 fps

    Other .357 reduced loads: .38 specials, all flavors
    "Time and money don't do you a bit of good until you spend them." - My Dad

  3. #23
    Boolit Master and Generous Donator
    floodgate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    2,227
    LET-CA:

    As I understand it - from reading here, not from personal experience - some powders are not sensitive to being loose in the case, while others perform better in charges that require contact or compression by the bullet; but I'm hesitant to specify which powders behave which way. BUT, putting a small wad over the powder, with substantial space between it and the bullet base, is a definite NO-NO. There may be exceptions; I'll hope others with more knowledge chime in on this - I just wanted to give you a "heads-up".

    floodgate

  4. #24
    Moderator Emeritus

    wiljen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    TN
    Posts
    4,525
    I've got to second Floodgate's statement. DO NOT "WALL OFF" the powder to hold it to the primer and leave space between the wall and the base of the bullet. This is asking for a ringed chamber at the least. If you use a filler to hold the powder to the primer, it should fill all the space between the powder and the bullet base.

  5. #25
    Boolit Grand Master
    rockrat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    5,310
    44mag---7.2gr WW231 and the lyman 429421

  6. #26
    Boolit Mold tn gun runner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    21
    I have used unique gun powder in every pistol and rifle I have owned ..from 32 auto to 50-70 and at least 30 different cailb in between for the last 40 years with great sucess with cast and jacketed bullets..I only stock three powders and I can loads everything on this earth with them... Unique, IMR 4227 and 3031 and I buy them in 8 lbs containers.. I got tired of 10 different powders with one for each gun, seem like I was out of that powder to reload or everyone was out of stock

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    727

    Wink

    --- If you don't mind tearing up the X ring in the bullseye any 190 200 or 225gr.swc with 6.5grs. of good old bullseye or 255gr. swc with 6grs. of bull will get the job done if you do your part in the 45 Long Colt. A filler load for these boolits would be 5grs. of bull with a solid type filler (ground walnut) no compression ---- Start 1 gr. lower --- Note: The filler load will leave your gun clean.
    Note: Filler load for RUGER only would not try in other 45 Long Colt guns. --- Mag_01

    As with any load data use caution --- These loads have worked for me---

  8. #28
    Boolit Master

    miestro_jerry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Far Eastern Ohio
    Posts
    546
    I generally use a reduced load to fire form my brass. I got a deal on .308 brass, primed, but the shoulder were sized too far down. Got these for a penny each. So what ever power I have, any misc bullets, I formed these and then load them for serious loads.

    I am thinking burying an old oil drum in mt back field to have a safe place to discharge these and some day recover the lead.

    Happy New Years,

    Jerry
    Honor is a Way of Life

    NRA Benefactor Life Member

  9. #29
    In Remembrance

    HABCAN's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    East Central Alberta, Kanada
    Posts
    911
    Me too, but substitute 'shoot' for 'farm'.

  10. #30
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    147

    Coupla more options for you...

    .250 Savage: Lyman 257464-H.P., 91 gn., 6.5-8.2 gn. Winchester Super-lite powder, WLR primer. good precision @ 50yds., consistently under 1" grps.

    .308: Lyman 311467-H.P., 4gn. WC-846, CCI-200, Mv(ave)=1435 fps, .482" grp @ 50 yds from an out-of-the-box Rem 700.

    .375 H&H : Lyman 375449, either 26-28gn. Blue Dot OR..45-47 gn. WC-846, WLRM primer, Mv(ave)=1800 fps, consistently <1" @ 50 yds.

    .458 Win mag: 500 gn. NEI, 50 gn. IMR 4895, WLRM primer. Mv(ave)=1380 fps from my 21 " bbl. Shoots "cloverleafs" from 50 yds.

    .41 mag: 6.7 gn. Unique, CCI-300, 225gn. commercial cast...This is a VERY mild load which exhibits excellent precision from all of my .41's.

  11. #31
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    18
    My Personal Fav. Loads are:

    .38spcl-----3.8gr of Unique under a 158gr LSWC
    .40S&W----3.8gr of Unique under a 180gr RNFP <---(Lead)
    .40S&W----4.0gr or Red-Dot under a 180gr FMJ
    .40S&W----4.4gr of WSF under a 180gr RNFP <-----(Lead)

    *All WSP Primers*

    I have More but I dont have my Notes with me...

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy 38 Super Auto's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Kokotucky Indiana
    Posts
    220
    One load I developed to help my son get used to centerfire pistol - I started him shooting when he was 8. He very quickly became comfortable with 22 pistol and a 10/22 rifle.

    So I ginned up a load for my 686 to help him step up to the big boy rig...

    .38 special 2.5 grains Red Dot under a 105gr SWC (Lee 6-cav). I used Red Dot because I had a four pounder.

    It's a good target load, won't knock over 8" steel plates reliably, and you can actually see the bullets in the air with the sun to your back
    .
    .
    Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms." (Federalist Paper #46) - James Madison

    Heard on the street about our current POTUS: he is inebriated by the eloquence of his own verbosity...


  13. #33
    Moderator Emeritus/Boolit Master in Heavens Range
    Molly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    South Charleston, WV
    Posts
    1,127
    Great topic! It's interesting how many posted loads are the same as some of my own, but I can still contribute a few.

    1. Multi-bullet loads for .357 rifle or pistol: 6.0g H-110 or 2400 under three bullets, seated to compress and crimped to prevent the pressure from de-bulleting the round. This was originally worked up with three 000 buckshot, with a bit of wax paper between them to enable sure separation. Worked pretty well, but it was perfected when I machined off the top of a 148g wadcutter bullet. This gave me a cast bullet of 75g full wadcutter, and with a short raised nose. Durn thing was actually wider than it was long, but it shot fine, at least at reasonable distances. But when I put three of them over the powder in a .357 case, it was a winner. (you can only get two in a .38 Spl case). Fired from a 6" revolver, it packed plenty of punch, and made a consistent equilateral triangle that spread out to ~ eight inches at 15 yards. A friend still carries nothing else to entertain unexpected guests, but it has considerable potential for short range bunnies or even phesants or tin cans in the air. Needn't worry too much about hurting someone a mile away, because the slugs are so light that I don't thnk they'll travel much more than a couple hundred yards, nor hurt anything much beyond a hundred yards or so.

    I once pulled a real trick on a friend with them. We went paper target shooting, and both loaded up with six rounds (yeah, I know, but this wasn't formal NRA bullseye) and emptied our guns at 25 yards. When we went up, his target was cut all to pieces, and he couldn't understand it. When he said something like "What the BLEEP?, I pretended innocence when I looked over. He asked me if I was missing any shots, but I of course told him no. He asked if I was SURE, and I told him, "Look, here are six empty cases, and six holes in my target. How could I have done it? You know, I wonder if your barrel is lined up straight. You know if it isn't, the bullet might be breaking up as it goes across the gap, and that would explain why you have so many holes in your target." had a lot of fun, but finally showed him what was really going on. He promptly got a grin and filched half a box. Wonder who else got the trick played on them?

    2. Everyone knows what a squib load is, and most of us play with them at times. One of the nice things about .308 to .312 bores is that 00 buckshot works just fine in them for squib loads, but most other common calibers aren't so fortunate. But a while back, I was reading a BP article that commented on the importance of patch thickness vs ball diameter. The idea was that a thicker patch was needed if your mold cast an undersized ball. A light went on!

    I had a 25-20 that I didn't have a mold for (yet), but I had some misc. small buckshot around the shop. Using a case as a guage, it was quick and easy to sort them into (goes in) and (no-go) piles. Then I miked the (goes in) to find a handfull of common size buckshot that went in the case. I preped about 25 cases (primer, belled and charged with (as I recall) 2.0g PB. Then I dug through my wife's rag bag until I found a cotton cloth resembling denim. I soaked it with some Crisco, and blotted it nearly dry. Then I copied the ML approach of placing the patching material over the charged case, adding the buckshot and pressing it flush with the mouth of the case. That was it. I found that it delivered pretty decent accuracy - though I didn't target it, I did shoot a few squirrels with it, quite effectively. The same basic technique should work for any caliber or case, so long as you can get a round ball close to bore diameter, and some sort of cloth that makes it a tight fit in the case.

    Molly
    Last edited by Molly; 05-26-2011 at 03:48 PM.
    Regards,

    Molly

    "The remedy for evil men is not the abrogation of the rights of law abiding citizens. The remedy for evil men is the gallows." Thomas Jefferson

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
    JSnover's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sicklerville NJ
    Posts
    4,379

    Squib loads

    Molly, thanks for jogging my memory. This post is directed more towards the new guys who might want to experiment with light loads.
    Years ago I went really light with my .357, can't even remember the load now but I learned an easy way to clear the barrel after a squib. When I loaded light, I got in the habit of carrying a couple of primed cases to the range. If a boolit should stick in the bore, a magnum primer generates enough pressure to pop it out and there's no chance of ringing the barrel or scraping it up with hand tools. The first time I had to take a mallet and cleaning rod to my new revolver was the last time.

  15. #35
    Boolit Buddy John F.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    185

    Trail Boss?

    Has anyone here worked up any good reduced loads with Trail Boss? It looks like it should work very well in this application.

    John

  16. #36
    Boolit Grand Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Kaneohe, HI
    Posts
    5,541

    Smile 700x

    I've been playing with IMR 700X in rifles. .308, .303, 7.5SR, 8x57.
    So far it seems like 10.0gr to 11.0gr works really well. Clean burning.

  17. #37
    Moderator Emeritus


    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    SW Montana
    Posts
    12,435
    Quote Originally Posted by John F. View Post
    Has anyone here worked up any good reduced loads with Trail Boss? It looks like it should work very well in this application.

    John
    Mfg says to load at near 60% full in straightwall cases. No less, no more. Gianni
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  18. #38
    Boolit Master

    miestro_jerry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Far Eastern Ohio
    Posts
    546
    Maybe I am the unsafe guy, but I shoot an old Spanish FR8 in 308. I use brass that has been thru the mill with a door gunner or salavaged out from a commercial loader. I shoot 120 grain spire point lead GC bullets and what ever powder I have onhand. I try to have about 50% of the book max load in it.

    This either fire forms the brass for me or just is a lot of fun to shot cheaply, some times both.

    A few years ago some commercial loader had some 308 military brass that had been primed and load, but was pushed too deep in the sizer die. Worked great in the FR8 and they were only a penny each. I bought 5,000.

    Jerry
    Honor is a Way of Life

    NRA Benefactor Life Member

  19. #39
    Boolit Buddy hotwheelz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Western Wa.
    Posts
    275
    Well I have loaded down some stuff to help with teaching the girlfriend and it turned out to be a bit of a laugh when I grabbed it by mistake to shoot at a steel match. I shot one of those plastic 55 gallon drums from about 15-20 feet and it went in didnt come out you could here it swirling around in there At first i thought holy crap I messed up when loading but 2 more rounds same thing. load was 3.6gr Titegroup with 200gr rainier in my 625 , I tried a few in my 1911 wouldnt cycle it. But i worked well to get her more confident with the bigger pistol......
    Ill be as nice as you let me and as mean as you make me, your Choice

  20. #40
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Oregon
    Posts
    46
    Anybody load "light" for a 243 Win? I've worked with 30-06 and 35 Whelen with good results, but the 243 Win is new territory for me.

Page 2 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check