Question on a issue for the experts.

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gyped

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So i'm not new to reloading but i'm not an old hat at it either, recently acquired a 500 magnum, so started working up some loads for it. First one was with unique and after 40-50 rounds it's good no issues, unfortunately my supply of Unique is dwindling ( i load all my revolver cartridges with unique) so i picked up Lil Gun as i have seen some loads for it as well, never tried this powder before. loaded 20 rounds 35gr lil gun, under a 350gr berry's jacketed flat nose, federal large rifle primer in a magtec brass. first time to the range got through 8 of those no issues, warmer load than the unique but i expected that after looking at the published load data. round #9 Squib... just pushed the bullet into the lands a 1/4 inch not enough to clear the cylinder so can't open the cylinder, tap the bullet out and examine.

Full powder charge, some of the powder is slightly yellowed and clumped together, primer is backed out of the pocket (not surprised by that). So i pull a bunch of them and check the powder none of them look out of the ordinary, i check the bottle of powder (it was new/sealed) it all looks ok.

So today i try out a few of the ones i still have left trying to rule out if that 1 was a fluke since 8 were fine and the ones i pulled looked fine. tried one of my old reloads with unique, works perfect. try 2 of the lil gun loads, no problem. round #3 of the lil gun loads same exact thing.

This time i took a picture, the anvil is separated from the primer body and the powder is clumped/yellowed again. full powder charge in there.

My question is, would your opinion be it's definitely the powder? could i have a bunk batch of primers? in the thousands of rounds i've loaded i have never had an issue like this.


 
i've had it happen a few times, but i never figured out the reason behind it. i always use large rifle magnum primers which may or may not make a difference. i would switch to cci or winchester and see if that makes any difference.
 
I have no experience with the powder you are using or the caliber you are loading for.
That said...
The only time I've had powder clump in a loaded round is when its been a compressed load.
Also, I was getting extremely poor ignition with that load until someone said to use magnum primers.
This was all in a 9x40 and I never experienced a squib but the quantity of un-burnt powder gummed up the gun within a few magazines.
I switched to magnum primers and the load was a whole different animal.
Not sayin' that is what your dealing with but it sure looks/sounds familiar...
 
Just a stab in the dark, but do you wet tumble? If so......is the brass completely dry before you load it?

Thought I read about something like this around here a few weeks ago and it seemed at the time that not-completely-dried brass after wet ss tumbling was the likely culprit.
 
Melnibonean said:
Just a stab in the dark, but do you wet tumble? If so......is the brass completely dry before you load it?

Thought I read about something like this around here a few weeks ago and it seemed at the time that not-completely-dried brass after wet ss tumbling was the likely culprit.
Click to expand...

It was virgin brass, but i didn't tumble it, never have with new brass but i had wondered if there was something on the brass that might have contaminated the powder.

I'm going to pull the rest of this batch and run all my brass through the ultrasonic cleaner, probably try some new primers. it's got me a bit gun shy to keep trying this powder though.
 
gyped said:
It was virgin brass, but i didn't tumble it, never have with new brass but i had wondered if there was something on the brass that might have contaminated the powder.

I'm going to pull the rest of this batch and run all my brass through the ultrasonic cleaner, probably try some new primers. it's got me a bit gun shy to keep trying this powder though.
Click to expand...

Case lube could also be to blame. Or maybe you got some flying water droplet into the case or powder at some point. Or just a weird fluke.
 
gyped said:
Thanks for the reply ' s, how much would you back off on the load to compensate for magnum over standard primer? or just leave it the same?
Click to expand...

If it's the starting load, don't bother reducing it.

Lil gun is an awesome powder for 500mag, it does burn a little bit hotter then h110 though. Not a big deal unless your running hundreds in 1 session.
 
You need to handle L'il gun the same as H 110 and Win 296, DO NOT reduce load , go to a hot magnum primer and a heavy crimp on the bullet, this will solve all your problems..........If the Berry's bullet does not have a cannelure then you will need to either put one on or change to bullets that have a cannelure..........this is critical to proper ignition of these slow, ball, pistol powders
 
I don't reload for that cal

You might not have enough crimp for the heavy load and the bullet is moving
or the plated bullet is undersize and not giving enough neck tension
 
You definitely need a hotter primer.

With a hotter primer, the powder will already be burning BEFORE the bullet is pushed out of the case.

I feel the crimp is more a safety design to keep other rds in the cylinder or firearm from seating deep or falling out because of the recoil of the gun.

In a self fed firearm, keeps bullet from seating deep if they ram into the feeding ramp.

I do not rely on it to help with the ignition.

Crimping may have a negative effect on the bullet and accuracy.

YMMV.

Jerry
 
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