transfer of power

[acemedic13]

I am going to open myself up here............. Has anyone used any of their favorite pistol powder and crossed it over to a rifle load??? I don't mean a pistol caliber shot from a rifle. I mean for example, using bullseye in a 30-30.... THATS JUST AN EXAMPLE I AM USING TO ILLUSTRATE MY POINT!!!! If anyone has any experience with this endeavor, Please share your success, failures, and load data. Thanks.....ACE

[corvette8n]

Other than Unique and No.5 no.

[kir_kenix]

I've used bulseye, red dot, blue dot, green dot, h110, unique, 'lil gun and maybe a few others in rifles for reduced loads. I generally try and stick with published or proven loadings, so I've never gone where nobodys been before. I'm sure somebody will come along more knowledgable then me and spew off 100 differnt light 30-30 loads, but I'm usually hesitant to do so on the net.

Never know when you mean to say 2.0 and accidentally say 20. 20 grains of BE in the 30-30 would be very bad I would think (just an example). Like I said, I'll leave the load suggestions to others, but some pistol powders make excellent gallary loads for the rifle rounds.

[kir_kenix]

Heres a few really good posts on reduced loads. The second one is an article about military cartridges, but gives some excellent info on using light "plinker" loads with most full size rifle cartridges (think 30-06 size cartridges).


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17536

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=13425

[StrawHat]

Actually there are quite a few of us who have tried to simplify and clear off our loading bench by limiting the number of powders used.

I am trying to get it down to one powder but it probably is not going to happen. I am currently down to three (3) powders. 5744 gets time in my 405 WCF and sometimes in my 45-70. Bullseye still gets the majority of my 38 Specials loaded but by and large I find myself going to black powder for the rest of my reloading.

And not all big bore stuff, I have recipes for BP loads in 22 WCF, 32 WCF, and 38 Special.

Black powder is probably my favorite powder.

[Larry Gibson]

Bullseye is my "go to" powder for squib, cat's sneeze and/or plinking/small game loads in most every rifle from 22 Hornet with a 37 gr cast bullet at 1050 fps, all of my 6.5, 7mm and .30/.31 cal rifles with 90 gr SWCs at 750-900 fps or with medium to heavy bullets from 250 fps up through 1200 fps, in the 8mm with a 200+ gr cast bullet at 250 to 1200 fps, in the .35 Rem with 120 gr bulletes at 800 fps, in the .375 H&H with a RB at 800 fps or a 275 gr cast bullets at 1150 fps and the 45-70 with a 210 gr Cast bullet at 800 fps or a 275 gr cast bullet at 1050 fps. I also use bullseye with pellet loads in .22 cal and the 25-20 CFers and under RBs in the 25-20, 6.5 Swede, .30/.31 cals, the .375 H&H and the 45-70.

Bullseye has proven to be the best for these type loads because it isn't position sensitive (except at extreme angles), doesn't require a wad, burns uniformly and consistantly at these loaw pressures and gives excellent accuracy. The old "Bullseye detonation theory" was put to rest back in the '70s but still lingers on but doesn't present a problem with these type loads. If you mess up with these low end loads and double charge the case the pressures are still within acceptable limits for the actions these rifle cartridges are used in. I'm not guessing here as I've measured the actual pressure of several double charges to see.

Larry Gibson

[acemedic13]

Wow, I thought I was gonna get slammed on this one. I did not expect this!! I am going to try some bullseye,and some 2400 in a few load's suggested by some folks. I am mainly trying to work up a load for my 30 cal rifles. I have my doubts as far as semi auto's go with these type of powders. I would like to be able to work target loads for my 45 pistol's and my rifles using the same powder. It is also good to have some proven data in case things get slim in the future and We get whittled down in the marketplace and, have to "make due" with what is available. Thanks a lot larry for all the great info on calibers and powders. Also thank you Kenix for the link, it was very helpful. I will go slow and careful and work these up. Take care guys and thanks for the input.......Joel

[carpetman]

My old Lyman 44th edition published 1967 has lots of rifle loads using Unique and 2400. A 30-06 using unique and velocity around 1600fps has virtually no recoil.

[Maven]

I've used Hodgdon Clays (pale gray discs) with the Lee PB group buy CB (140gr.) in my .30-06 and was quite pleased with it. Ditto Alliant Unique & Blue Dot with the same CB, but in different amounts.

[deltaenterprizes]

I had a friend that tried H110 ( 58gr/150 gr bullet) in a 30-06 by mistake! Knocked him off the bench,cracked the stock,welded ( or brazed) the action shut, but that Remington 700 action held together! He sent it back to the factory, they said they liked to see things that even they would not try and sent him another rifle!

[35remington]

Like the other guys implied, pistol/shotgun powders in rifles have great utility and are cheap and simple to assemble with oftentimes excellent accuracy.

A favorite load in .30-06, for example, is 9.0 W231 for 1550 fps with the Lee Soupcan (C113F).

[Junior1942]

Here's another votes(s) for Unique and 2400 in 30-30 lever action.

[Old Ironsights]

I use 2400 in my .45-70...

[JohnH]

Yep, Bullseye, Red Dot, Green Dot, Unique, 2400 all make good reduced loads; but you must make an extra effort to prevent double charges. Lyman stopped publishing data using those powders after the 46th Edition, (may have been the 45th) Seems they had lots of complaints from people with damaged firearms. 10-12 grains of Unique in a rifle case will make for some very nice shootzen. At 15 grains pressures will be circa 35,000 psi. So one can imagine what a double charge could do.

The problem is this: a single case gets a double charge and the gun is damaged. Shooter pulls remaining loads and finds all to be normal, shooter then assumes something is wrong with the powder. It just ain't so. Same kind of thing is happening in Cowboy Action Shooting. Read the Speer manual #13, there is a very good article on this very issue.

Also bear in mind that many of the stories of damaged guns come from a time when black powder era guns were still readily available while ammunition for them was not, and many shooters were adverse to using black powder in a cartridge gun. These guns were of quite soft steels when compared to todays products, and were likely more easily damaged. There was also a fallacy in thinking that shotgun and pistol powders were of low pressure design. Not true, the normal applications for them were low pressure, the powders themselves are capable of generating very high pressures.

Develop a loading method that prevents double charges. I move cases from one side of the bench to the other after each operation, always leaving case mouth down in the loading block, untill they have been charged, and then the bullet is seated on each individual case, it's hard to double charge a case with a bullet stuck in it. Others use a visual inspection method, but the difference between 7.5 and 15 grains of AA#2 in a 30-30 case ain't what one would call readily apparent. The point is be alert, consistant and vigilant. It is likely that hundreds of thousands of pistol powder loads in rifle cases are safely fired for every one load that is a "banger". 'Course one never hears about all the safe ones......

My two favorite loads are 19 grains of 2400 with the RCBS 257120 in my 25-06 Encore and 7.5 grains of Green Dot with the RCBS 30150 CB in my Savage 340.

[gon2shoot]

I can load for almost anything I shoot with 2400, guess thats why I buy so much of it.

[acemedic13]

That's a great point about the visual inspection on the charge John. The only instance I trust visual inspection, is to see if a charge is present at all. If I have any doubt's (and I often do) I just dump it on the scale. It's too easy and it really does not waste much time. I am not in a hurry anyways. I enjoy what I am doing, so I take the time when in doubt. I reload off a dillon 650. So it is tough to double charge, not impossible.......but not very easy either. I still constantly check my load. More to see how my die is metering than to see if it double charged......A bad metered round can be damned near the same. Thanks for all the great intel here. I really appreciate the years of insight yall bring to the table.

[JohnH]

I forgot to add that the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd edition has lots of these loads for every common and a few not so common chambering, rifle and pistol. It is currently available for $15.00 or so. Try at www.midsouthshooterssupply.com While the manual could be considered "dated", for someone new to cast, it is quite an eyeopener.

[Old Ironsights]

I can load for almost anything I shoot with 2400, guess thats why I buy so much of it.

:mrgreen:

Outside of LilGun for "Hot" .357s, 2400 & BP are all I use.

.38
.357
.410
9.3x72R
.45-70

[Jim]

Wow, I thought I was gonna get slammed on this one. I did not expect this!!

You won't see too much of that here. If somebody really does start flaming and slamming, one of the mods usually steps in and reminds the offender that they should be polite and that their membership can be revoked. Unlike most forums, that ain't tolerated here.

[bearmn56]

One of my favorite loads is 2.2 gr Bullseye behind a plain based 85gr .258dia bullet in the 25-20. I have also used 2400, Unique, red dot, green dot, longshot, AA#9 in the 25-20 and for very light loads using filler in the 30-30, 30-06, 45-70 and 9x57 Mauser Oh and the 7.62x54r russian.
As mentioned by others, the various additions of the Lyman Cast bullet manual lists oodles of loads.
Have fun!

[Lloyd Smale]

yup about all of them can be used in a rifle of some kind for a load of some level