? Hot Load

[bstarling]

I am wondering if a load I have put together for in my Whelen 35 is over the line for boolits. I don't have a chronograph, so don't know how fast it is running but it ain't slow. I am loading 55 grains of RL15 beneath a hard cast gas checked 250 boolit. I've shot only a few and have noticed no evidence of leading and they seem to be reasonably accurate. It does leave a smoke trail all the way to a target at 100 yards downrange.

Any thoughts or comments are welcome.

Bill

[MtGun44]

The only way to know is to get a chrono on the load. Cast can run a bit faster than jacketed
with the same powder charge and be safe, but as a broad rule of thumb, if you are getting
more velocity than a factory max velocity or loading manual max velocity you are making
more (too much) pressure. Of course, if you have a long barrel and are making 100 fps more,
then that may be OK. But if you are getting 400 fps more than any loading manual says
they can get, you are definitely over max pressure.

The problem is that the conventional "pressure signs" mostly kick in at about 75-85,000 psi
so you can be well over the design max and not have any hard bolt lift or flattened primers,
etc.

I'd guess the smoking is the lube but I have never seen this myself, and do not know.

Bill

[waksupi]

Sounds like you are using way too much lube!

[Glen]

That's my standard load for jacketed bullets in the .35 Whelen, and I get about 2450 fps with it.

[williamwaco]

I am wondering if a load I have put together for in my Whelen 35 is over the line for boolits. I don't have a chronograph, so don't know how fast it is running but it ain't slow. I am loading 55 grains of RL15 beneath a hard cast gas checked 250 boolit. I've shot only a few and have noticed no evidence of leading and they seem to be reasonably accurate. It does leave a smoke trail all the way to a target at 100 yards downrange.

Any thoughts or comments are welcome.

Bill







That load is about the average maximum published load for 250gr jacketed bullets.

You should be OK on chamber pressure.

Don't worry about the smoke trail. It is lube. That bullet is not going anywhere near fast enough to melt. ( If it is melting, you will see a grey, lead spiral marking around the bullet hole. We used to do this for kicks by loading .22 Hornet bullets in the .220 Swift.

Your velocity is pretty much undeterminable without a chronograph. I would guess 2300 +/- 200.

You say they are accurate.

Load 20 of them and shoot them in consecutive three shot groups. Do not allow the barrel to get too hot to wrap your bare hand around it.

If the groups open up as you go along, you are most likely having leading or flinching problems.

If the group size doubles, stop and check for lead. Remember - minor leading is very hard to see in a dirty barrel. Run a couple of Hoppe's patches through it to wipe out most of the powder fouling ( no brush ) before checking for lead.

You can see some pretty good examples of various degrees of leading here:

http://www.reloadingtips.com/pages/index-leading_problems.htm

For a hunting rifle, minor leading is not really a problem.
It needs to get pretty heavy to affect accuracy enough to miss a deer heart at 200 yards.

If you can get 40 rounds without having the groups opening up, you have a winner.

[mroliver77]

My take is it appears to be a safe load. If it is accurate great. Depending on what your intentions are makes a difference. If you are paper punching for groups the 40 shot advice is sound. If you are using it for hunting and it will shoot 3 shots accurately what more do you need? Give it a good workout on the bench and let us know the outcome.

In rereading your post it appears you are worried about the speed. That is irrelevant if max pressure is not exceeded and accuracy is acceptable.
J

[1Shirt]

All good words of wisdom. Have never seen a cast blt smoke all the way down range. As stated might be/probably is a lube problem. Suggest you try a harder lube, like White Lable Canuba Red. Let us know your results please.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[JesterGrin_1]

Hard to believe but Ok. If you have no leading and good repeatable accuracy then I would leave it alone and enjoy it. :)

Do not worry about the smoke as no matter what you are shooting at will not notice the smoke till it is too late lol. :)

[Harter66]

I have seen the descibed happen a few times. I can be common to the fast twist and hi speed crowd . My 1st cast boolit attempts looked something like that.

Another case is having temp,humidity and the barometer all get together just so w/your veloctiy window and boolit shape . Think of a wing tip in a high load turn. I used to have some pictures of condesation trails wrapped 3 and 5 turns around an aircraft from the propeller tips.

[williamwaco]

I have seen the descibed happen a few times. I can be common to the fast twist and hi speed crowd . My 1st cast boolit attempts looked something like that.

Another case is having temp,humidity and the barometer all get together just so w/your veloctiy window and boolit shape . Think of a wing tip in a high load turn. I used to have some pictures of condesation trails wrapped 3 and 5 turns around an aircraft from the propeller tips.


I didn't think of this but I have seen this effect too.

[bstarling]

Many thank for all the comments. I suppose I should have said at the first that these boolits are factory made hard cast from Hunters Supply 246 grain, 0.359 diameter. I size them to 0.358 when putting on the checks with a Lee 0.358 push through die. I have no idea what sort of lube they are using, but the box states that they are ok for 1650 fps without a gas check. I haven't shot but ten or so, but there is no evidence of leading. The smoke trail I am getting looks like it's from the lube there is a cloud of the stuff at the muzzle as well . I don't think they are going fast enough to leave a vapor trail, but I could be wrong. The fired cases look good, and the recoil is moderate. My thoughts right now are to load up several and give them the test. Being that these are hunting loads, I think that I'll go with them if they give a whack. I can always do a good bore cleaning afterwards. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks, Bill:Fire:

[bstarling]

I have now shot 20 rounds of this load without any noticeable leading. I was able to clean the bore with a little Hoppes 9 and a couple of patches. This is looking like it will make a nice load in my gun. Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions.

Bill

[303Guy]

I first saw the smoke trail effect (all the way through a dead fern tree trunk) was with lubed j-words in my No.4 (the reason for the lube becomes clear when the bore is inspected. It also preserves the inside of the suppressor.