2400 alliant powder.

waco

Springfield, Oregon
I have an unopened 8 pounder still. I don’t use it a whole lot. Around 19gr with a 429421 if I need a thumper 44 load. I sometimes play around with it in the 30-30 and .308. I know you guys like it in the 45-70 but I can’t get past 3031 in that caliber.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I doubt I will ever buy another lb of 2400, especially since I have been using AA-4100 as a replacement in places where I want to go down even further than 2400 does.
that,,, and I got plenty of both.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I think I have two pounds of it still. Only ever bought three. It gets used in the foetey-foe and foetey-fide-sebendy gubbermint.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Brad,
I know you shoot it in your .45-70 Marlin, but what was it that made you settle on 20-grains of 2400 with a 405-grain cast bullet?
This afternoon, I used that load and Lyman 405-grainers for some Pedersoli/Navy Arms "Buffalo Rifle" rolling block test rounds.
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I settled on that load because it shot so well.
I don’t recall where I started but it was close to there.
I REALLY like 2400 for rifle cast bullet loads in the 1200-1700 FPS range. It meters well, shoots reasonably clean, and just works for me. It can be a bit position sensitive, I proved that to myself with my 45-70. At 100 yards it isn’t enough of an issue to make a real difference. If I was shooting at 200+ it would likely begin to show up.
My bullet, from a long ago Lee 6 cav group buy, actually runs closer to 420 but I call it a 405 because that is what it was supposed to be. It is awful similar to what Waco is using.

One thing I will say about my Marlin 45-70 is that it is about the least picky rifle I own. I have to work pretty hard to find a load that doesn’t shoot at least reasonably well in it.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
16 gr is pretty good in a 30-30 with the 165 Ranch Dog bullet too.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
i settled down the 2400 in my 45-70 by using a little Dacron.
the umm do you think you can get 6 zombies to line up load is 24 an Dacron.
22.5 is more reasonable on the shoulder with the curved butt plate the 86 has if your just wanting to knock over the steel targets.
there's enough energy and speed in either one to perforate pretty much anything i'll ever see here in the Rocky Mtns.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Agree fiver, a bit less with the Dacron makes it good.
Easy to drop 1-1.5 gr when adding the Dacron to get the same velocity.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Brad,
The reason I asked (what could be construed as a stupid question) was finding load data for a rolling block, 2400 and a 405-grain bullet doesn't appear in any of Lyman's cast manuals. Lyman does list 1886/Marlin 2400 data, though.

I've read that Pedersoli proofs/proofed their rolling block metal to 29,000 PSI, but I don't know the truth of it. Not being an envelop pusher, I don't want to chance it neither.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I looked at the same thing but ignored the gun and looked at the pressures reported. I then did some extrapolating and decided it was a safe charge.

This is where the older Lyman manuals are a plus, they show so many powders that are ignored in the newer manuals.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the 86's and Marlins are a step above the old black powder guns.
of course a Ruger is above them.

anyway the old springfields show 17-K CUP as a max pressure.
the marlin and 86 data shows 21grs of 2400 with Dacron and a 420gr bullet as 17.7CUP.
this tells me 20grs with Dacron or 21 without is the top end load for the 73's.

now you might find a load that works fine enough for you below that.
but I would bet using Dacron and 18grs of 2400 is about as far down as your going to find 2400 burns acceptably using anything much lighter than 400grs of lead on top of it.
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
FWIW, for several years I held two CBA records for big bore military rifles. Both were set with a Trapdoor Springfield. The four 5-shot group at 100 yards was with the Lee HB 405 grain bullet and 24 grains of 2400, no filler and WW LR magnum primers. The aggregate of four 5-shot groups at 100 yards and four 5-shot groups at 200 yards was with a Hoch 510 grain bullet with 22.5 grains of 2400, no filler. These are both standard loads for Trapdoors and a RB in good conditions should be as strong. HTH, Ric
 

quicksylver

Well-Known Member
I will soon be sitting on over 20# of 2400.

It is far and away my favorite cast bullet rifle powder.
i have sort of replaced my 2400 with RX 7 solely 'cause it was easier to get and long ago replaced Unique with Universal . 'cause it was a hell of a lot cleaner,but,I may have to switch back to Unique as I am not sure how the new Universal is going to play out in all of my intended applications
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Dan. I have also been having very good luck with universal. I just opened a new eight pounder, the purple stuff, and it doesn’t seem much different than the old stuff. Ian did an extensive test. Maybe he could post a link to the thread or maybe he will chime in.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
I looked at the same thing but ignored the gun and looked at the pressures reported. I then did some extrapolating and decided it was a safe charge.

This is where the older Lyman manuals are a plus, they show so many powders that are ignored in the newer manuals.
the 86's and Marlins are a step above the old black powder guns.
of course a Ruger is above them.

anyway the old springfields show 17-K CUP as a max pressure.
the marlin and 86 data shows 21grs of 2400 with Dacron and a 420gr bullet as 17.7CUP.
this tells me 20grs with Dacron or 21 without is the top end load for the 73's.

now you might find a load that works fine enough for you below that.
but I would bet using Dacron and 18grs of 2400 is about as far down as your going to find 2400 burns acceptably using anything much lighter than 400grs of lead on top of it.
FWIW, for several years I held two CBA records for big bore military rifles. Both were set with a Trapdoor Springfield. The four 5-shot group at 100 yards was with the Lee HB 405 grain bullet and 24 grains of 2400, no filler and WW LR magnum primers. The aggregate of four 5-shot groups at 100 yards and four 5-shot groups at 200 yards was with a Hoch 510 grain bullet with 22.5 grains of 2400, no filler. These are both standard loads for Trapdoors and a RB in good conditions should be as strong. HTH, Ric

Thank you, gentlemen!