LiL Gun in pistols?

I have a jug of Lil Gun and picked up a 44 magnum last summer. I vaguely remember horror stories about Lil Gun eating barrels in revolvers. Is this factual? If so, is it all loads or just real hot loads? I got a bunch of ammo with the gun but at some point want to load some because the loads that came with it are marked 300gr@1300fps. Awful hard to control in a light pistol. Powder being what it is, if you ain't got it, you ain't gettin' it. So I'm looking at what I have and wanting to get a 240gr@1200fps. I do have Unique and that should work but it works for so many things. I'd rather use the Lil Gun but not at the cost of a barrel.
Thanks,
Dennis

Afaik, the eroding forcing cone issues were pretty much noted by the 454 Casull guys shooting hot loads. Normal Ruger Only pressures 30,000psi for 45 Colt and 44 magnum pressures I don't think would run it quite hot enough to do that.

I don't know if I'd trust 300gr @1300fps enough to shoot them if I didn't load them myself.

Hodgdon shows for a 300gr XTP @ 1.600" COA starting load 15.5gr 1,168gpd 29,600 CUP max 17.7gr 1,280fps 37,600 CUP

The 240gr starting load pushes it out at 1450.

I have always used LilGun to get right up under the H110 loads, so it's a first step down in power from H110, and 2400 would be the next step down, getting into the 75% power band which it is not recommended to download H110, LilGun and 2400 fall into that gap nicely.

LiL-gun in my to go powder for my rem aac model 7 in 300BK with 125gr nosler bullets and 150 gr hornady bullets, max speeds with out high pressure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eastbank

LiL-gun in my to go powder for my rem aac model 7 in 300BK with 125gr nosler bullets and 150 gr hornady bullets, max speeds with out high pressure.

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What kind of pistol is that?

Really long barrel pistol???

I shoot Lil gun almost exclusively in 357, 44 and 300AAC. I have not seen or had any issues EXCEPT the barrels seem to get hot really fast.

I don't have any first hand knowledge about Lil' Gun eroding forcing cones, but I can definitely say it burns WAY hotter than any other powder I've ever used. I loaded up about 50 rounds in .44 mag when I was working up loads with a 295 grain Lee group buy mold for my Rossi 92. All my other loads used either 296 or the old IMR 4227. The Lil' Gun loads heated up the barrel far quicker than the other loads. I don't mean a little bit--I mean disturbingly hot!

I won't use Lil' Gun for anything except fertilizer after that experience.

I was using it in a suppressed 300 BO. Supressor was smoking hot in a few rounds. Hotter than any other powder I have used.

Hot is what makes it special. It is a hot powder. Let the barrel cool between strings. Not a powder for mag dumps.

Tim

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts,
I got to thinking about the "high performance" pistol powders such as 2400, 4227, H110, LilGun etc. being of necessity slower burning. My pistol only has a 4" barrel and it makes me wonder how much of the "slower" powders will end up burning beyond the end of the barrel. Maybe the Unique is a better fit in this case.

I've been told before that the lil-gun gas etching of top strap, forcing cone and barrel was caused by the gap between revolver cylinder and barrel but it is a non issue in rifles.
ive only got a couple revolvers and I'm kind of fond of em, so even though I got big jug of lil-gun I don't use it for revolver loads cuz I got lots of other powders.
why take a chance on screwing up a perfectly good gun. but this is just my non expert opinion

There were threads about this. From my understanding the only problem was with light 125gr full house 357 mag loads loaded with LG. 158gr didnt have that problem though.

Lil Gun is what works best in my S&W 500.

From my experience with Lil'Gun, it gave me higher velocity than 2400, H-110/296, and done it with less pressure in just about everything I tried it in. I toyed with .357 mag, .44 mag, 45 Colt, and it was excellent for the .22 Hornet/K-Hornet. That is the only powder I now use in my Hornets as it gave better velocities and the fragile primer pockets did not suffer like they did with even slower velocity loads with the other powders. I use Lil'Gun in my .45 Colt for the heavier 280 gr. bullets, but I normally only use Unique for the 250 gr. I got good velocity and Lil'Gun does not punish my New Service revolver. Yes, it does seem to heat up a barrel, as it is made with a higher percentage of nitroglycerine. Might not be a good powder for rapid fire. But I never rapid fire.

Lilgun is a slower powder than h110. It gives higher velocities too. But do not reduce it below 80%. And it has a higher nitro content and it burns hot. And do not compress it.

I don't use it in my revolvers as it is known for top strap flame cutting but it works great in my Rossi Puma 454 Casull with a 300gr Lee and a caseful of Lil gun. I'm going to try it in my Hornet and K Hotnet. The recoil prevents me from doing the ammo dump thing. Well, that and I like to actually hit what I'm shooting at.