What say ye....

Longone

Active Member
From my 45Colt Ruger BH. 6.5 grains of Unique with an RCBS 270 SAA.
 

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fiver

Well-Known Member
pressure is too low.
how did the cases look? soot streak I bet.
neither one would really bother me as long as they shot well and I wanted to burn the powder up.

if I had something else like ttegroup and wanted to duplicate the load I'd use 5.5 grs of that or 5grs of red-dot, or 4.5grs of clays.
 

Longone

Active Member
Yes they are pretty low pressure loads, accurate and yes there is a soot streak up the case. B7B9520C-CE0A-43B4-AE69-3EB9BA62B763.jpeg
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I have a number of AR boltfaces that look like that. Some of your cases aren't going to be reusable because of the gas cutting as well. My old Hercules booklet shows about 7.5 gr for a starting load for a 250 gr cast with Unique in 45 Colt. Max is 8.5 gr. It looks like bullets sticking in the barrel aren't the only potential issue when loading below the recommended charges.
 

Longone

Active Member
So correct me if I’m wrong here. The low pressure load is causing the primer to back out of the case (not completely) when fired, then the case is coming back to meet it. While the primer was displaced the pressure caused it to split (unsupported)?
In a Lyman manual I have it shows 6.0 grains of Unique as the most accurate load with a 250 gr.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
it's letting the primer back out and then instead of re-seating it it pinches the top of it.
it probably stays mushroomed like that until you turn the cylinder then it catches on a cut out somewhere.
the cracking is from the primer expanding too much.
it's like expanding a case neck from 243 to 358 in one pass with cases that already have striations [thick and thin spots] in them, only real fast.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
How loose are the primer pockets?

Dick Speer wrote a good article in one of the early Speer reloading manuals on primers backing out in low pressure loads. The firing pin drives the case forward and pressure pushes the now unsupported primer back out, the case then moves to the rear and may or may not try to re-seat the primer. You said your a half grain over Lyman's accurate load which is what makes me think loose primer pockets.
 

Longone

Active Member
Primer pockets are good. 45 Colt brass is inexpensive enough that if I feel a pocket is worn out when seating the primer it gets tossed. I seat all primers for the 45 Colt on my RCBS std. primer tool, it gives a good feel of the primer pocket. Pretty amazing that there is enough time for all that to happen, I’ll have to shoot up this batch that is loaded and either switch to 231 or add some more Unique.
Thanks for your help.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
time is measured in micro seconds here.
much or all of the primer backing out occurs before the bullet even leaves the case, it is by far the lighter object.
 

Ian

Notorious member
The primer pop itself is what tries to eject the cup and drives the case forward, quite enthusiastically, I might add.