41 Mag loads too hot?

[AZ-JIM]

I went to the range Saturday and did a little shooting. I had a box of 41 mag handloads that I took just for the heck of it. Two out of five shots tumbled through the target and made the little row boats. I was surprised to see this, I have seen it a few times in rifles when the loads were too hot but not in a pistol, so can I assume the cause is the same? They were a little sharp on recoil but I didn't think it was excessive until I got the tumblers. I didn't do the loading, it was some stuff my dad had loaded. Unfortunatly dad didn't always label the ammo boxes, he could tell you what they were but he's not here to tell me anymore. Obviously, I can pull them apart and get bullet weight, which is probably 210g, cast of course, and powder charge weight but there is no telling what "flavor" it is, bummer I hate to waste it. What do you think?

az-jim

[ReloaderFred]

It's sometimes caused by a velocity that exceeds the ability of the alloy of the bullet to hold the rifling. It's also sometimes caused by a bullet that is undersize for the bore. Without knowing the alloy or the diameter of the bullets, along with not knowing the load data, it's hard to tell which is causing your problem.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[44man]

It's sometimes caused by a velocity that exceeds the ability of the alloy of the bullet to hold the rifling. It's also sometimes caused by a bullet that is undersize for the bore. Without knowing the alloy or the diameter of the bullets, along with not knowing the load data, it's hard to tell which is causing your problem.

Hope this helps.

Fred
Yes, I would guess extreme boolit skid or way undersize boolits for the bore. The 210 should be stable in the twist.
Boolits might be too soft and were sized badly when seated. I would pull one and measure it. Getting through the crimp can also size down a soft boolit.

[subsonic]

I would rather waste ammo than a gun! Boolits, cases, primers can be recycled.

Pull a couple and do a "post mortem". It's not a waste if they shoot like that!

[AZ-JIM]

I gave it some more thought this morning, and when I pull them down I may just subtract 2-3 grains or so of whatever powder is in there and put them back together that way I only end up discarding a little bit of powder. As for the boolit diameter, under the conditions I described wouldn't I get some leading if the boolits were undersize or soft and the loads were on the hot side?

az-jim

[26Charlie]

How will you pull them down? The reason I ask is I have a misfired .41 Mag round, and I was unable to budge it with an inertia puller, and I don't have a collet to fit for an RCBS collet puller. To buy one for just one round is not in the budget. There would be some damage to the bullet with a collet puller.

[AZ-JIM]

How will you pull them down? The reason I ask is I have a misfired .41 Mag round, and I was unable to budge it with an inertia puller, and I don't have a collet to fit for an RCBS collet puller. To buy one for just one round is not in the budget. There would be some damage to the bullet with a collet puller.

I use an inertia puller, it hasn't failed me yet. It can be time consuming but it works

az-jim

[jwp475]

Tumbling bullets are caused by an instability issue