Small charge, big case, magnum primer?

[alexanderkidd]

I have some 44-40 reloads that seem to experience uneven powder ignition. Classic symptoms include some with lots of recoil, some with almost none, and the primary difference being whether or not I point the revolver skyward before shooting.

I see there's a big sticky about fillers so I don't want to belabor that point by asking the same questions over.

My question is whether a different or hotter primer (large rifle or large magnum pistol rather than CCI Large Pistol) would be able to more reliably ignite the powder irrespective of its case position. Anyone tried this?

[338RemUltraMag]

What powder are you using now? Try switching to Unique or Red Dot both of those could care less where they are in the case.

[Lonegun1894]

I use Unique and load small amounts of it in .45-70 brass and Unique isn't position sensitive even in that large case, so I will second what 338 said above about either Unique or Red Dot. I have tried Red Dot for the same thing, and got the same results, but have a lot more Unique on hand so tend to use it instead.

[alexanderkidd]

I'm using Bullseye currently...

[338RemUltraMag]

If I remember correctly Bullseye is more position sensitive than Unique, what is your charge of bullseye?

[Lonegun1894]

I use 7.0-10.0grs Unique with the Lee 450gr RNFP in a H&R Buffalo Classic with a 32" barrel. I have gone as low as 5.0grs, but accuracy wasn't as good as it is with 10.0grs. I have also gone higher with Unique, but that is getting into hunting loads and not just paper-punching. 13.0grs gives a good deer/hog load that is good to at least 100yds, and if I want to shoot further, I use 3031.

[rhead]

If BE is the only powder you have on hand or you just have huge amounts of it trying mag. primers would be safe with a small charge of BE. It might help. IMO you will get better results going to a powder that is not position sensitive.

[alexanderkidd]

If I remember correctly Bullseye is more position sensitive than Unique, what is your charge of bullseye?

About 6 grains of Bullseye. Have no had this problem before but have mostly used it for auto-loading rounds with a lot less case space (.45ACP, 9mm, that kind of thing).

[alexanderkidd]

If BE is the only powder you have on hand or you just have huge amounts of it trying mag. primers would be safe with a small charge of BE. It might help. IMO you will get better results going to a powder that is not position sensitive.

On hand I have HP-38 and Bullseye, both of which seem to have the same problem. Have been looking for Trail Boss but it seems to be really hard to find.

Have a variety of shotshell powders available locally (Blue dot, etc etc), are any of those less position sensitive?

Also have some 800X. I believe it is higher volume than BE, was going to try some loads with that. Although it seems to meter very strangely through my Hornady powder dispenser (lever wants to bind up with 800x, have noticed .5+- grain variation in the loads it drops).