Jack Stanley
03-18-2011, 03:41 PM
I've been fooling around with 2400 in my Browning model fifty-three . The bullet has been the RCBS 32-098-SWC using lead from a group buy a while back (2-4-94 if I remember right ) Bullets come from the mold just over .314" and are sized to .314" and lubed with Alox in both grooves . Overall length is 1.290" and a LEE factory crimp die is used to just remove the belling from the case . Primers are Winchester small pistol , cases are Starline.
I started with Canyon Ghosts load of seven point three grains and it left a lot of debris in the barrel . Accuracy was not all that great and I was pretty sure the seven grain of Blue Dot load I was comparing it to was better all around . Since I have even less experience with Bule Dot than 2400 I decided to start working the load up .
When I got to just over eight grains groups started getting narrower but tall as opposed to just all over . Still a lot of debris left in the barrel though so I kept going up , I found a load in the Lyman 45th edition handbook that listed a starting load of ten grains so I thought I was in the safe zone still .
I got to eight point eight grains and the group was about as wide as tall but not as tight as I'd like . That can be blamed on my old eyes and sights of the rifle , I really don't use bead sights well . I went to nine and then nine point three grains and I'm not sure I can really tell if the groups are getting much smaller . They are still , for the most part as wide as they are tall but I still get traces of powder debris in the barrel .
Now here's the part that I need schoolin' and I figure that some of you guys have burned more than your weight of 2400 . Since I am still under the listed starting load is this why I still get powder debris ? Since the groups aren't bad would it be better to go up a couple more tenths of a grain at a time . Or would using a small rifle primer or going to a small pistol magnum primer be the better way to go ?
Primers are still rounded and don't look flattened or cratered , not sure of velocity but going by that Lyman book it's likely under fifteen hundred . I'm sizing the cases as little as I can , still getting a little smoke/lube on fired cases . Thinking about backing off the sizer a touch more to help the seal and work the brass as little as needed .
I realize much of this may hinge on my old eyes but this april my friends son is done with his tour and is coming home from the camelhood . If I have a load that is close , I can let him test it ( ain't the first time I've had him do that ) What I'd also like to do is get the powder burning right and I'm sure either more crimp , change primer , more powder or combinationof all will likely do it . Of course what I'll have is a load I can only use in the Browning but that isn't a bad thing since it's the only 32-20 I have .
Thanks for any help , this really ain't the same as stuffing 2400 into a forty-four Remington magnum .
Jack
I started with Canyon Ghosts load of seven point three grains and it left a lot of debris in the barrel . Accuracy was not all that great and I was pretty sure the seven grain of Blue Dot load I was comparing it to was better all around . Since I have even less experience with Bule Dot than 2400 I decided to start working the load up .
When I got to just over eight grains groups started getting narrower but tall as opposed to just all over . Still a lot of debris left in the barrel though so I kept going up , I found a load in the Lyman 45th edition handbook that listed a starting load of ten grains so I thought I was in the safe zone still .
I got to eight point eight grains and the group was about as wide as tall but not as tight as I'd like . That can be blamed on my old eyes and sights of the rifle , I really don't use bead sights well . I went to nine and then nine point three grains and I'm not sure I can really tell if the groups are getting much smaller . They are still , for the most part as wide as they are tall but I still get traces of powder debris in the barrel .
Now here's the part that I need schoolin' and I figure that some of you guys have burned more than your weight of 2400 . Since I am still under the listed starting load is this why I still get powder debris ? Since the groups aren't bad would it be better to go up a couple more tenths of a grain at a time . Or would using a small rifle primer or going to a small pistol magnum primer be the better way to go ?
Primers are still rounded and don't look flattened or cratered , not sure of velocity but going by that Lyman book it's likely under fifteen hundred . I'm sizing the cases as little as I can , still getting a little smoke/lube on fired cases . Thinking about backing off the sizer a touch more to help the seal and work the brass as little as needed .
I realize much of this may hinge on my old eyes but this april my friends son is done with his tour and is coming home from the camelhood . If I have a load that is close , I can let him test it ( ain't the first time I've had him do that ) What I'd also like to do is get the powder burning right and I'm sure either more crimp , change primer , more powder or combinationof all will likely do it . Of course what I'll have is a load I can only use in the Browning but that isn't a bad thing since it's the only 32-20 I have .
Thanks for any help , this really ain't the same as stuffing 2400 into a forty-four Remington magnum .
Jack