Maven
Well-Known Member
I just returned from the range after a brief test of Lil' Gun in my Ruger SBH. My initial impression is that performs well, doesn't heat the barrel more than say Unique, but I think it needs to be approached, shall we say, judiciously? To wit, according to various burn rate charts, Lil' Gun is a mite slower than 2400 and faster than 4198, so I thought it might be of some use in my 10.5" bbl'd Ruger SBH. However, my latest Lyman reloading handbook doesn't list it for any CB loadings, and what it did list was a bit more than I wanted to start with (and for jacketed bullets at that). Thus, I didn't think that 15.5gr. would be "hot," even in this weather. As I had a small quantity of 1x fired PMC brass on hand, I decided to proceed.
Here's what I did: FL sized, belled, and annealed the brass and cleaned the primer pockets. I then weighed 12 charges of LG @ 15.5gr. and then seated 12 RCBS Keith CB's sized to .431". Six of those got a roll crimp while the remaining six got a taper crimp. The composite target shown below shows promise, but compared to my last ten shots with everything the same except the powder charge, I'd say I need to repeat my abbreviated test, which I will do, but I think 14.5 - 14.8 gr. would be more comfortable. Btw, with the 15.5gr. charge, the primers were nicely rounded and the fired cases dropped out of their chambers of their own weight.
P.S. I also got more scatter than I'd like with known performer, a B & M heavy WC, roll crimped over 7.5gr. of Unique; i.e., I need more practice! Lastly, none of the loads left much lead in the bore and only a negligible amount in the forcing cone.
Here's what I did: FL sized, belled, and annealed the brass and cleaned the primer pockets. I then weighed 12 charges of LG @ 15.5gr. and then seated 12 RCBS Keith CB's sized to .431". Six of those got a roll crimp while the remaining six got a taper crimp. The composite target shown below shows promise, but compared to my last ten shots with everything the same except the powder charge, I'd say I need to repeat my abbreviated test, which I will do, but I think 14.5 - 14.8 gr. would be more comfortable. Btw, with the 15.5gr. charge, the primers were nicely rounded and the fired cases dropped out of their chambers of their own weight.
P.S. I also got more scatter than I'd like with known performer, a B & M heavy WC, roll crimped over 7.5gr. of Unique; i.e., I need more practice! Lastly, none of the loads left much lead in the bore and only a negligible amount in the forcing cone.