Made a mistake when assembling 45-90 loads, any way to fix it?

[flynth]

Hi,

I'm a new member, but a long time lurker. I've been reading this forum for years and learned much from it. I'm shooting a 45-90 Pedersoli sharps. I'm still developing the best load for the gun. Yesterday when putting together 50 cartridges I made a mistake of compressing the powder about an eight of an inch too far (approx. 3 mm). Unfortunately I only noticed this when all 50 cases were charged with powder, compressed, and a wax and a card wad was installed on top. (I use a "Medium Brood Foundation" used by beekeepers for those wads as described in one of Paul Matthews books).

Now if I try to seat my Lyman 457132 bullets I end up with them sitting too far in the case. I normally would seat them for the crimp to just cover the first grease groove. If I seat them now they are obviously about an eight too far in. I expect that sitting them that deep will significantly affect the accuracy so I'm considering pulling out the wads with a sharp piece of wire bent at the end, pouring the powder out and starting again. However, I wonder what effect this compression, removal and re-compression will have on the powder. Would you use such powder in your target loads, or would you relegate it to plinking use only?

[rancher1913]

most vital info would be what powder, holy black or modern smokeless.

[rfd]

Hi,

I'm a new member, but a long time lurker. I've been reading this forum for years and learned much from it. I'm shooting a 45-90 Pedersoli sharps. I'm still developing the best load for the gun. Yesterday when putting together 50 cartridges I made a mistake of compressing the powder about an eight of an inch too far (approx. 3 mm). Unfortunately I only noticed this when all 50 cases were charged with powder, compressed, and a wax and a card wad was installed on top. (I use a "Medium Brood Foundation" used by beekeepers for those wads as described in one of Paul Matthews books).

Now if I try to seat my Lyman 457132 bullets I end up with them sitting too far in the case. I normally would seat them for the crimp to just cover the first grease groove. If I seat them now they are obviously about an eight too far in. I expect that sitting them that deep will significantly affect the accuracy so I'm considering pulling out the wads with a sharp piece of wire bent at the end, pouring the powder out and starting again. However, I wonder what effect this compression, removal and re-compression will have on the powder. Would you use such powder in your target loads, or would you relegate it to plinking use only?

it sorta sounds like yer using black powder as yer compressing the charge and wads are not used for smokeless, or shouldn't be, for sure. i'd pull the load and start over - no sense using a load that's out of whack for precision shooting. i use a brass screw to drill in and hook a wad for easy pulling. then scrape out all the caked powder. what a mess. however, adding in some thin card wads or a 1/8" hard felt wad will do the trick to fix the cartridge OAL, but you'll still have an entirely different load.

[LynC2]

I agree with RFD. It will be pain in the butt to disassemble all of them, but the only way to rectify the problem.

[flynth]

It is black powder (Czech made Vesuvit) 75 grains of it to be precise. I'll be pulling it out, rinsing the cases and drying them again before recharging

I think I'll have to store it separately after and use it for some less critical use.

This is why I'll probably be checking the compression depth every single time I screw the die into the press from now on. I have a compression die preset to the correct depth, but the mistake was that it was preset on a press with an extra hornady lock n load bushing. I have another small lee press that I used this time, the press has no bushing overhead so the die ended up a depth of the bushing too far.

[Dan Cash]

Add a wad to the stack to regulate your seating depth and shoot the cartridges. You will benefit from the trigger time, even if the load is not optimal. Then, too, you might surprise yourself with the results.

[flynth]

I have a box of 450 felt revolver wads that look like they are right thickness. When I think about what a mess this will be to clean those cases I may as well add those wads and shoot at least some of the cartridges.

[rfd]

It is black powder (Czech made Vesuvit) 75 grains of it to be precise. I'll be pulling it out, rinsing the cases and drying them again before recharging ....

if you go that route, don't forget the primers ... !

[Gunlaker]

Add a wad to the stack to regulate your seating depth and shoot the cartridges. You will benefit from the trigger time, even if the load is not optimal. Then, too, you might surprise yourself with the results.

This will work just fine. Two 0.060" veg wads should pretty much make up the difference in seating depth. They won't likely hurt the accuracy at all. I know a master class shooter that does just this trick all the time.

Chris.

[CastingFool]

Would using a kinetic bullet puller with a spacer that would only allow 1/8" of bullet travel work? Just a thought, I don't shoot bp, so I don't know what difference in would make on the powder compression. I would think the ammo could still be used for target practice

[flynth]

Would using a kinetic bullet puller with a spacer that would only allow 1/8" of bullet travel work? Just a thought, I don't shoot bp, so I don't know what difference in would make on the powder compression. I would think the ammo could still be used for target practice

I haven't sat the bullets yet so no need for a bullet puller. I just prep'ed the cases yesterday and I was planning to seat bullets today. I pushed one in by hand and surprise... it went way too far, so I pulled a caliper and discovered the mistake. No worries though. I'll use it as others suggested with two veg or one extra felt wad.

[rfd]

i won a 200 yard match with this wad stack ....

[Lead pot]

This is what your compressed powder looks like in your case.
I don't know how much you compressed the powder but anything past .100" compression chances will be that all you will dig out be dust till you get past the hard pack. Add some wads and shoot the load and get some use from the powder. You might even see better accuracy with the woads sealing the gas better.

Attachment 244574Attachment 244573

[indian joe]

Add a wad to the stack to regulate your seating depth and shoot the cartridges. You will benefit from the trigger time, even if the load is not optimal. Then, too, you might surprise yourself with the results.

I go with Dan Cash and Lead Pot - adjust the wad stack and shoot em off - OR - pull the wad add a couple grains powder to take up space and shoot em off - if you overcompressed - the powder you scratch out will be half crushed -its a PITA job and the powder is a waste anyway - trigger time is never wasted.

[country gent]

Increase the wad stack what you need and try it might e just the ticket. Some powders like more compression. If you decide to dig it out a flat blade screw driver woks pretty good to dig it out also a loose fitting drill bit will pull it out. I wouldn't rinse the cases with primers in them. But a 45 cal nylon or brass brush in a accessory handle will do a great job removing any stuck powder. Imsert to stop give a couple twists and remove. Pulling the wad is the toughest part. a long deck screw may get enough bite to pull it out

[bigted]

I concur with filling the excess space with wads and shoot it. Could also make a nice lube cookie to fill the extra room ... this very well may lead you in a great unintended path.

BP shooting is and will remain all about fouling control. Those lube cookies make the fouling soft AND gives extra lube for the next shot OR ease the swabbing.

[Yellowhouse]

Why not just shoot em like they are....trigger time.

[indian joe]

I concur with filling the excess space with wads and shoot it. Could also make a nice lube cookie to fill the extra room ... this very well may lead you in a great unintended path.

BP shooting is and will remain all about fouling control. Those lube cookies make the fouling soft AND gives extra lube for the next shot OR ease the swabbing.

Fill the space with a lube cookie -----best suggestion yet!!!!!

[flynth]

I ended up adding a lube cookie to 5, an extra wad to 5 and disassembling the rest. It wasn't that bad. As one person suggested I used a flat point screwdriver and then a case brush. The recovered powder will go into my cap and ball revolver rather than cartridges just in case its granularity is different, but visually it looks the same. Thanks for all the replies

[one-eyed fat man]

Let us know if you find any difference in how they shoot.