44 mag and h110 question

[Bo3]

I'm trying to work up a load with h110 and a 300 gr Missouri bullet. I have worked up to 22 grains with a cci magnum primer. I'm still getting unburned powder and sooting on the case. Any suggestions? Am I too hot or not hot enough? It's in a 3.75" Ruger bisly.

[white eagle]

just follow book recommendations for loads
especially h110
look at the load process may be something
you missed

[Bo3]

Max was listed as 18.5 in my Lyman manual. It was a very dirty load with lots of case staining. I'm having trouble finding data with this bullet and powder. I know 18.5 is too low but I'm not sure how high I can go. Im used to rifle reloading but not very experienced with cast in a handgun.

[Winger Ed.]

110 is kind of a favorite for those.
Just go by the books, over the years, I've learned they have that stuff pretty well figured out.

I've had unburned powder here and there with Magnums and short barrels too.
Maybe the boolit gets away, and relieves the pressure before all the slower type powder has a chance to light off.

[DiverJay]

Check your crimp. It might not be tight enough.

[Hickory]

Check your crimp. It might not be tight enough.

H110 needs a very heavy crimp.
22.0 grs seems excessive. But, you might not like your gun.

[gnostic]

Ouch, that must leave your fingers numb. I always put a bit of crimp on mine, with H110 or W296. The short barrel may have something to do with it, as I don't remember seeing unburnt powder in my 7 1/2" SBH or 6" Dan Wesson. What do your primers look like?

Hickory is spot-on, That load loosened up the screws on the trigger guard and backstrap on my SBH...

[725]

I use 20.5 gr. H-110 with a 275 gr jacketed bullet and it's a sparker. Your 22.0 gr. with a 300 gr bullet seems too hot to me. YMMV. Go to the book or to the manufacturer for advice.

[Tripplebeards]

I was having a 400 FPS variance in my 44 Rem 77/44 rifle when I first started with cast boolits 2 years ago. I figured it might have been primers or crunched trail boss powder. I was roll crimping what I thought was an evenly placed heavy crimp till I looked at a zoomed up picture and could see else wise. I bought a lee factory crimp collet die and it fixed the issue. Nice even tightly sealed crimp. I used 19 grains of h110 in my 265 grain Lyman devastators out of my 77/44 all the way up to the max load of 23.8 grains after this crimp with tight groups and pretty consistent velocity is according to my beta chronograph. After this my scale went on the blink and was throwing some big variances and powder that I wasn’t aware of and My bolt randomly stuck 2ce in 30 rounds with the max load so I backed down to the 21 grain load which amazingly shoots a very tight group. The max load of 23.8 grains was shooting just as tight but I wasn’t gonna blow up my gun after the stuck bolt issue... Even after I found out it was my 13 year old Electric RCBS scale throwing various charges I just wasn’t willing to take the chance again.
.

Here’s my crimp with the lee factory crimp Collett die...





And not to mention the lee crimp tightened my groups WAY up(besides free floating the barrel, glass bedding in tang area, lightening the trigger, and 14x test optic. I have two different alloys that will shoot sub MOA now VS fist sized or bigger groups before changing my crimp. Here’s a 100 yard group...

[Gray Fox]

This is also a good time to measure the case length and trim them so they are uniform followed by a chamfer and deburr before applying a solid crimp. GF

[bmortell]

I use accurate 43-300R (0.37" in the case) with 24 gr H110 in my SBH and SRH and it has no pressure signs. I CANT recommend that you try it with different guns and projectiles as it may bee to much in other circumstances. but hodgdon website list 22gr as max with 325gr cast LFN so I wouldn't say 22 is excessive for designs that have a lot of weight in the nose and shorter seating depth.

[Tripplebeards]

This is also a good time to measure the case length and trim them so they are uniform followed by a chamfer and deburr before applying a solid crimp. GF

And I do mine after every firing as well.

[DougGuy]

OP it sure sounds like your boolits are jumping crimp at primer ignition.

You may be interested in this thread, and also 3b.. I use the collet crimp but I modify it to narrow the crimp band and lower it down onto the case mouth. Really makes a difference in heavy loads and H110 as it does hold the boolit firmly against primer jump which often happens and now you have much lower pressure than what you are supposed to have, you have inconsistent ignition and this modded crimp fixes that right up: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post2239315

44 Magnum Lee C430-310-RF



Lee C430-310-RF with modded collet crimp (L) vs. roll crimp (R). The differences are obvious the results over the chrony confirm the differences and the value of the modded collet crimp.



One of our more argumentative former members used 21.5gr H110 under the Lee C430-310-RF cast VERY hard, Federal 150 primers. IMHO, this is about max in a SBH cylinder and it's a good load.

Personally I use Winchester WLP primers as they are somewhere between standard and magnum but the results are consistent and coupled with the right crimp they work well.

[Tripplebeards]

Doug, I remember reading your post when I was having issues with my crimping. My lee Factory collect crimp reminds me of a lesser “indentation” of yours. I seat my Lyman devastators just below the lube groove so my crimp folds down over top of it “locking” it in place.

[DougGuy]

^^ It *must* be consistent, it has to have case neck tension, and it has to have resistance against primer jump. Do those 3 things and H110 will behave nicely.

[Bo3]

I use accurate 43-300R (0.37" in the case) with 24 gr H110 in my SBH and SRH and it has no pressure signs. I CANT recommend that you try it with different guns and projectiles as it may bee to much in other circumstances. but hodgdon website list 22gr as max with 325gr cast LFN so I wouldn't say 22 is excessive for designs that have a lot of weight in the nose and shorter seating depth.

This is the reason I worked up to 22 gr. It is a long bullet loaded to the crimp grove it is the same length as Underwood's 340 +p load. I may put the h110 on the shelf until i can get a lee factoy crimp, to take some of the guess work out of it. I may try the 800x that I have. It worked for me with jacketed bullets. Then again I may try it and see what I can do with my crimp tomorrow. This place is a wealth of knowledge.

[kingrj]

Your load is plenty HOT enough! As others have mentioned you need a VERY HEAVY crimp on the bullet....If that doesn't fix it then just live with it....or change to BlueDot or something a little faster for your short barrel...

[Tripplebeards]

Here’s a link showing a heavy roll crimp I did that I did that I had inconsistent grouping with that made me change to the lee crimp. I believe Doug was the one who talked me into the lee at the time.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/album.php?albumid=1340

[AnthonyB]

Have you had any problems with the factory crimp die squeezing bullets down during the crimping process?

[AnthonyB]

Just read the thread again and realized we aren’t talking about the FCD.