Dacron Filler and Chamber Ringing

[GEOMETRIC]

Lyman called for a filler (probably dacron) for some of their 45-70 loads in one of their older manuals. I loaded my .45-70 ammo. with the filler per the data. Then, for no reason I know of, they dropped the filler from the data. I have to believe there was a problem with the filler, although I never experienced it. I stopped using the filler. It is no doubt rare that a problem would occur but it only has to happen once to ruin your whole day!

[GhostHawk]

Well after reading everything Larry had written on the subject. I decided the easy answer was to stock Red Dot in quantity, and not bother with fillers.

That being said I did shoot some 20 rounds with dacron, as larry suggested in my Mosin. Got great accuracy, and no ignition issues. No chamber ringing either. It is limited experience, but tis mine.

My money is on Larry G, not that I'd bet the farm. But my daddy taught me to never bet what you can not afford to lose.

I have a pretty nice PT cruiser I'd bet though. But only if Larry is the one loading the loads and pulling the trigger.

In the end the Red Dot has been good for me. And I truly thank Larry G from the bottom of my heart for all he has done here for shooters. I'll take his advice any day.

[Chill Wills]

Lyman called for a filler (probably dacron) for some of their 45-70 loads in one of their older manuals. I loaded my .45-70 ammo. with the filler per the data. Then, for no reason I know of, they dropped the filler from the data. I have to believe there was a problem with the filler, although I never experienced it. I stopped using the filler. It is no doubt rare that a problem would occur but it only has to happen once to ruin your whole day!

I asked that question of Mike Venturino when he was writing the latest Lyman loading book. He said they removed it simply because in a few cases, people would smash down the Dacron and use many times too much of it, making a wad out of something that was intended to be a lofted fuzz ball with next to no mass.

[lotech]

The filler concept has always made sense to me, but I don't use fast pistol powders in rifle cases. The explanations for chamber ringing also sound logical, but, unless I'm interpreting this wrong, sounds like nothing is proven. I prefer an appropriate powder for the case and have used this method with satisfaction for a long time.

I've always been curious about grease wads in modern smokeless cartridges, something I suppose is distantly related to the use of fillers, but certainly not the same thing. From what I've read (long before the Internet) and from very minimal personal experience some years ago, it's difficult for me to tell whether there was merit to the use of grease wads or it was a snake oil procedure.

[dale2242]

Thanks for the replies.
I don`t use fillers with the faster powders.
I find 10 gr. Unique without filler in my 30-30 a great load.
I have been playing with cast in my Garand using the recommended loads of IMR4895 in the 30 something grain range have read that dacron filler helps accuracy.
Time will tell when the weather breaks and I can set up the Chrony and do some load testing.
More discussion on this topic will be appreciated....dale

[LenH]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...use-of-fillers

Check out this link, Larry G. has an extensive write up on fillers, it should answer any questions about fillers.

[Green Frog]

About 25-30 years ago, this subject came up among members of the American Single Shot Rifle Association. This was very critical for their shooters who would fire hundreds of shots per season through barrels of soft steel, often a century or more old and pretty valuable as well. One of ASSRA's active shooters and experimenters, Charlie Dell, set out to test the various ideas being circulated and found that he could ring a barrel at will by simply having a flat face on the powder to set up that "hammer effect" on the back of the bullet. This happened virtually immediately with the oldest, softest steel, but could be observed beginning on even newer barrels with stronger, more modern steels.

The technique Charlie developed for us to use with our rifles was to seat a cork wad about an eighth of an inch off the surface of the powder so it could "slump" just a little... and the problem seemed to disappear. Some powders such as the late, lamented 4759 were less likely to produce the hammer effect, but all would. Some of us ended up using H-108 and Accurate #7 or #9, especially in the higher density loaded 32/357 (aka 32 Miller Short) with the cork wad and getting good, safe results.

Froggie

[NSB]

Charlie Dell, set out to test the various ideas being circulated and found that he could ring a barrel at will by simply having a flat face on the powder to set up that "hammer effect" on the back of the bullet.

Yep, that was the guy I was referring to in my earlier reply. Couldn't remember his name, but he did a good number of barrels at will as stated. If you can make it happen, it's going to happen. Anyone who says "it never happened to me" may be on borrowed time. However, it's their gun and they're free to do as they please. I'd listen to Larry Gibson regarding fillers, he's a pretty knowledgeable guy and he's been around a while.

[dale2242]

LenH, I`ve read your link through a few times before starting this thread.

Green Frog, I wasn`t asking about cork wad. As the title says, dacron. but thanks for your reply,

[mehavey]

Re GreenFrog's post just above:
Modern "cork" is now light styrofoam disk punched from picnic plate, seated 1/5-1/4" off the powder.

See http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post3198860

I can attest it works