anyone use bluedot in cast loads?

[singleshotbuff]

Gentlemen,

I have a pound of bluedot powder left over from a shotgun loading project. I was wondering if it has any application for cast loads in rifles? I'm playing with 8X57mm & 7.62X54R at the moment.

Thanks

SSB

[Wildcat]

Haven't tried it in rifles but have been using a lot of it in my .475 Linebaugh with excellent results.

[Boz330]

I've had very good results with a .310 Cadet but that is a very small capacity case. I don't know how it will work in the bigger cases.

Bob

[sundog]

Yes, 8.5-9.0/BD in .222 Rem with a 55ish gr boolit and a pistol primer. I got that load from Felix. sundog

[Johnch]

I have used Blue dot for both cast and jacketed for years in rifles and pistol .

Here is a Link to some 45/70 load data on Accurate Reloading with J bullets .
There is a guy there that has posted a lot of different cal. loads with Blue dot , all jacketed .
But I reduce the loads some and go from there .

Do a search at accuratere loading , Reloading for blue dot .

I shoot a fair amount of Blue dot/dirt in rifles .

Johnch

[drinks]

Paul 5288 is a blue dot freak, I believe he has a blue dot load for everything.
I am not sure, but I believe he takes 30% of the useable case capacity and calls that the max load with blue dot.
Check him out on Handloads forum.

[Calamity Jake]

18.0 and 311291 @ .309 in the K31 with a LR primer, the only load i'v got this swiss to shoot so far.
Haven't tried it in any other rifle loads, but I'm going to.
I will have to try sundog's load in my 788 222.

[Newtire]

I use BlueDot in .30 carbine (the M-1 carbine gun ), 30-30 & .444 Marlin. I have not given it a try in .30-06 size cartridges. I'll bet it does great though. I have heard it is temperature sensitive. Don't have the details.

Thanks Johnch. I knew it was something like that.
I looked up my .30-30 BlueDot Loads and they are just three plinkers:
10.5gr. BlueDot with either RCBS 32-98, Lee 113gr. Soupcan, or Lyman 311316 hollowpoint. They all shot inside 1-1 1/2" @50 yds.

[Johnch]

Blue dot is slightly temperature sensitive , less than 20 degrees from my experances .
At least in shot gun loads .
It tends to be harder to ignite and dosn't burn as well .
Resulting in lower velositys , and crud in the barrel .

Johnch

[JSH]

I found BD to be very position sensitive in the 30-30.
Jeff

[Lloyd Smale]

never liked bluedot its one of those powders that seem to go from mild to wild with only a small increase in charge weight.

[plasma]

I use it in the 357 but have never tried it in rifle loads.

[mparks]

Anyone got a good start Ruger level load for .45 Colt using Blue Dot with a 280gr LBT?

Saw a load on handloads.com showing 13.5gr with a 260gr Keith so I would think 12gr would be a safe starting load.

[felix]

Start at 13.5 with the 280 LBT, the version having a 70 percent meplat, LFN shape, in the Ruger, and then work DOWN if the load appears too hot for you. Use your 12 grain load if the meplat is the 80 percent version, called WFN, I think. ... felix

[felix]

Lloyd, you are correct. BlueDot does not like to be crowded in pressure terms. It actually prefers light-for-caliber boolits for this reason. By the way, your package arrived. ... felix

[mparks]

Start at 13.5 with the 280 LBT, the version having a 70 percent meplat, LFN shape, in the Ruger, and then work DOWN if the load appears too hot for you. Use your 12 grain load if the meplat is the 80 percent version, called WFN, I think. ... felix

Thanks. It is the WFN version.

[MikeSSS]

I use Blue Dot in the .223. The BD loads are a lot quieter, move the rifle a bit less, don't heat the barrel as fast and the 50 Vmax's still blow things up very well. Accuracy is almost as good as full BLC2, etc. loads. The slower BD loads are a bit more wind sensitive.

They give the performance of a Hornet with better accuracy and none of the hornet's problems.

Have not tried them with milsurps.

[Lloyd Smale]

hope you can make some use out of it.

Lloyd, you are correct. BlueDot does not like to be crowded in pressure terms. It actually prefers light-for-caliber boolits for this reason. By the way, your package arrived. ... felix

[C A Plater]

Anyone got a good start Ruger level load for .45 Colt using Blue Dot with a 280gr LBT?

Saw a load on handloads.com showing 13.5gr with a 260gr Keith so I would think 12gr would be a safe starting load.

I use 14.0 under a 310 WFN, Starline brass and Remington 2-1/2 primers in my Ruger Bisley. It is a pretty stiff load but shows no pressure signs in my gun with the current batch of BD I've got. Your's may differ. I use 13.0 with a 270 grain Keith in my Mountain Gun and is about as much recoil as I want to take in the lighter Smith. The Ruger did not seem to like this bullet but the Mtn just loves it.

[fecmech]

I found Blue Dot quite by accident. The progressive press that I use did not like the ball powders (110,296, wc820) that I used for magnum pistols, the powder measure would bind. So I went looking for a substitute that would give me the velocity I wanted and was not fine grained like 296. Blue Dot seemed to fit the bill and as it turns out works quite well. In the .357 10.0/BD/358429 give 1200+fps out of a GP 100 with excellent accuracy. In the .44 mag 18.0 grs behind the Lyman 429421 gave 1393 fps out of a 7.5" Ruger SBH and 2 1/2" avg 6 shot 50 yd groups. Another place it works very well is in the 9mm for max velocity with cast. Using the Lee 121 tc bullet and 7.5 grs of BD you can get 1300+ fps with decent accuracy and very little leading. Thats 1/2 gr below the Alliant max and less than 29k psi! With the 147gr 5.6 gives an honest 1000 fps with very good accuracy. I think it's a great handgun powder. Nick