H110 misfire/ clumping???

kmartel

kmartel

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Hey Gunnutz gurus!

I was out shoosting with some mid-range loads in .454 Casull today and had a bullet get lodged half way down my barrel... After removing the bullet from the barrel, the powder was a tight ball and fell out as one also...:confused:

The load I was using is as follows: 17.6gr H110, Federal small rifle primer, 300gr LFN bullet.
The remaining powder that wasn't in the ""ball" burned fine when I applied flame to it afterwards also. Just wondering if anyone had any input as to what may have happened here, be it a weak primer, soft strike, or something besides an act of anger from the gun gods...
Thanks in advance!
 
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Sounds like too light of a load. I have seen similar in rifles, usually the graphite coating gets blown off and much of the powder is a sickly yellow color. Not always though... That charge does sound very light for .454 and H110. Lowest I can find in my manuals is a starting charge of 26 for H110/296 and 300grn bullet. Should give you about 1350fps depending on your barrel length.
 
While I've never experienced the exact same problem you've posted, I did have some early on ignition issues with reloads using H110 in my 500 S&W. On occasion I'd get the odd reload that had less than a full ignition which ended up with a reduced 'feeling' load and considerable unburnt powder. Long story short, the 'problem' was cured when, at that time, I went to Starline brass made to accept large rifle primers. Using H110 or 296 with large rifle primers, end of problem. It must've been a design 'problem' becaude as I understand it, now cases made to accept large rifle primers are the norm.
 
Wow! I agree with above. That load is way under minimum. Not sure where you got your data from but you better check again with a reliable source. H110 can be dangerous if underloaded. That cartridge is just too much fun to shoot if loaded reliably. You better considering pulling the rest of those loads if they are loaded to the same spec...
Cheers
dB
 
Sorry guys it was 27gr of H110 and it came from Hodgdons online. I also had one "reduced feel" shot about 10 shots before that. The powder did in fact turn all yellowy and gross looking, so might consider saving the H110 for my 10mm auto and running lil gun (full time) and blue dot in this baby. Next batch of brass I'll look into some with large primer pockets like the .460 brass. Thanks all!
 
kmartel said:
Sorry guys it was 27gr of H110 and it came from Hodgdons online. I also had one "reduced feel" shot about 10 shots before that. The powder did in fact turn all yellowy and gross looking, so might consider saving the H110 for my 10mm auto and running lil gun (full time) and blue dot in this baby. Next batch of brass I'll look into some with large primer pockets like the .460 brass. Thanks all!
Click to expand...

Where did you find H110 data? It's way too slow for any reliable performance IMO.
 
"...powder was a tight ball..." Sounds like it got wet. You leave it in the powder thrower or the lid off/loose? It doesn't take much moisture, even humidity, to ruin powder. Pitch the rest of it.
 
The powder was sealed until I used it for those loads... I think I'll take your advice. What's $30 compared to the grief of misfires and other bullets possibly getting lodged... I'm gonna pull the rest of the ones loaded with it as well.
 
There may have been a moisture problem which 'could' cause clumping but I think if that was the case, it's likely you would've noticed that tendency when you were charging the cases.

In some of the instances I mentioned earlier where I experienced less than adequate ignition, some of the unburnt powder was 'together' in somewhat of a lump. Again, with use of the hotter large rifle primers now standard in most of the 500 S&W cases now available with, no further problems.
 
As already stated, H110 should not be loaded less than 2-3 grs below a max load, and you won't see published loads from Hodgdon any lower. Use of a magnum primer is indicated as well. When you don't, the powder behaves in undesireable ways as you have seen. The "powder clumping" has nothing to do with the powder having been wet, that's what happens when pressures are below a critical point - you'll see the same thing with H4227 and some other powders of that burn rate range.

What you did here is shoot a 454 Casull in a 460 S&W chamber, which allowed a longer than normal jump to the rifling, essentially mimicing a 460 S&W, so your loads were indeed too low, as the 454 Casull "thought" it was a 460 S&W.

Use a different powder when shooting 454 Casull in a gun chambered for 460 S&W, such as Lil'Gun or Titegroup, and you won't have this problem.

Don't toss the powder or the brass - neither are the problem (except with the H110 loads you used in that gun using 454 Casull brass).
 
H110/W296 is a picky powder.It gives great results when loaded hot in many magnums but it requires heavy charges in almost everything and responds very negatively to reduced loads. Do some reasearch with lower end loads. I have found Blue Dot to be comparable to H110 so far. You can download without the extreme velocity variations seen with many slower powders as well.
 
i had a problem with a bunch of ammo once, and i worked the problem down to case lube. basicly i got in to much of a hurry to do my last 100 rounds that i need for a match and sprayed ,jiggled and quickly loaded 100 rounds, well i got to those rounds in a match and "pop" bullet in barrel and unburnt powder on my hand and clumpy powder in chamber area and case. and its the first time it ever happend and its the only thing i could nail it too after thinkin about what i did diffrently from the other 20,000 rounds i have loaded on that press over the last coupld of years.
 
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