Bad lot of powder

[X-Caveman]

That seems odd.. I never had a bullet not fall into a fired case. Neck clearance could be the problem..Since your speeds are faster than most folks shooting that load a tight neck would increase pressure and therefore speed.. Sacrifice five cases and take .002 off of them and see what happens.

this! ^^^

My no turn reamer is .2945” neck. Fired rounds come out .293”+

 

[DirtySteve]

so we ran a test. He let some powder in the hopper for 3 weeks give or take. Loaded ammo. From the same jug loaded ammo that was sealed. Then loaded from a different lot number. We fired with a magnetospeed and labradar simultaneously. The powder that was left out was way more velocity and pressure signs than the powder in the properly stored jug and the new lot.

in a nutshell.....

It is the moisture content of the powder.. The Daily Bulletin had an article a while back on it.. So you are on track.. The lower the moisture content the faster the burn rate..


I put all powder back in their containers after each loading session for that reason...

 

[Gil P.]

2933/.2921

My gunsmith's reamer is .2933 at neck near shoulder and .2921 at case mouth.

Fired cases measure .291 with my calipers.

I'm sizing the neck to .288.

 

[Rdlningcltchdmpr]

I think I may have a bad lot of H4350.

I'm loading 40.1 gr of it in my (trued Rem 700 with PTG bolt) 6.5x47 Lapua with a rock creek barrel, cci 450s, Berger 140 Hybrids, and Lapua brass.

This rifle has been giving me problems since I got it, I also think something is wrong with the barrel.

From 60 degrees to 104 degrees ambient temp, my velocity went from 2815 to 2970. All shooting is done from the shade. The rifle can't seem to group well.

I've tried 123 scenars, and Berger 130 hybrids with varget and got pretty good results. The problem was sometimes the rifle would group really well with those loads and sometimes it would scatter groups over 1 inch at 100 yards.

I tried shooting with and without a brake and the rifle still exhibits the same behavior.

I noticed that the barrel copper fouls a lot more than the Bartlein that was on the rifle before.

I've tried different primers and that didn't help either.

What should I do about the powder? A 44 degree temperature change shouldn't cause a 155 fps change in velocity should it?
The same gunsmith barreled this rifle with a Bartlein barrel chambered in 308, and I was able to get quarter inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards with it.

It's most likely that the barrel is not broken in properly. I had the same problem with different barrels and had to self- teach the way to stop coppering on a new barrel. I only had one barrel that would not stop coppering. Clean with solvent, then bore brush one direction only breach- muzzle 10 times then solvent again then jb bore paste/ tight patch- making short strokes especially in throat area 3 times. Then solvent again. Then shoot. You might have to repeat this process a few times to completely stop coppering. I'm doing it to a new barrel right now.

 

[Gil P.]

It's most likely that the barrel is not broken in properly. I had the same problem with different barrels and had to self- teach the way to stop coppering on a new barrel. I only had one barrel that would not stop coppering. Clean with solvent, then bore brush one direction only breach- muzzle 10 times then solvent again then jb bore paste/ tight patch- making short strokes especially in throat area 3 times. Then solvent again. Then shoot. You might have to repeat this process a few times to completely stop coppering. I'm doing it to a new barrel right now.

That could be the case. This is the first barrel that I did not do a break in process for.

 

[Metal God]

Do you know if you problem is with only one round from the group ?

Do you load from the mag or single load ?

How do you transport your ammo ?

Do you drive a long distance to the range or on a dirt road on the way ?

 

[Gil P.]

I know this topic has been beat to death but...

Will moving the powder indoors where the humidity is higher (30% vs 10-15% in my garage where it was stored before) increase the water content of the powder?

Ive read some stuff that says moisture can go in and out of plastic. I'm wondering if the powder has been slowly drying out in my garage.

I shot some varget that was sealed sitting in my garage for a similar amount of time, and that shot faster than before too.

 

[Gil P.]

Do you know if you problem is with only one round from the group ?

Do you load from the mag or single load ?

How do you transport your ammo ?

Do you drive a long distance to the range or on a dirt road on the way ?

1) It was every round
2) magazine
3) Hard plastic cases with each round separated
4) drive 30-40 minutes, on a dirt road for less than 3 minutes.

 

[Metal God]

The reason I asked those questions was I was having a problem with my reloads . My main issue was driving to the range and having my ammo sitting in boxes standing up caused the powder to settle and compact in the case . This resulted in the first shot fired from the magazine had different velocities than the rest . I concluded that the recoil of the first shot caused all the rounds in the magazine to shake and re-fluff the powder which then made each subsequent shot more consistent . You may never notice that problem if you single load and never use the magazine. I have since started transporting all my ammo on its side which has resolved the issue .

 

[Gil P.]

The reason I asked those questions was I was having a problem with my reloads . My main issue was driving to the range and having my ammo sitting in boxes standing up caused the powder to settle and compact in the case . This resulted in the first shot fired from the magazine had different velocities than the rest . I concluded that the recoil of the first shot caused all the rounds in the magazine to shake and re-fluff the powder which then made each subsequent shot more consistent . You may never notice that problem if you single load and never use the magazine. I have since started transporting all my ammo on its side which has resolved the issue .

What was your neck tension? I'm at 2 thou and my load is compressed.

 

[PeteB]

That could be the case. This is the first barrel that I did not do a break in process for.

gday Gil, personally i think you need to have somebody inspect your barrel in particular the first 4" with a bore scope. with saying that you didnt run it in does sound like its badly fouled in this area which will also cause pressure increase and velocity. i would also like to see .004 to .005 neck clearance to be sure there are no issues there.
good luck, Pete

 

[Metal God]

What was your neck tension? I'm at 2 thou and my load is compressed.

Same bullet hold but not compressed or at most lightly compressed . If you had ammo standing up during travel . I'd bet that load was no longer compressed when you got to the range ( assuming stick powder was used ). I'd be interested to see how settled the powder got . There's a 5min dirt road drive on the way to my range and at times can be quite rattling as you drive . When I forget to transport ammo on it's side I shake the box of ammo before loading to re-fluff the powder .

 

[Gil P.]

gday Gil, personally i think you need to have somebody inspect your barrel in particular the first 4" with a bore scope. with saying that you didnt run it in does sound like its badly fouled in this area which will also cause pressure increase and velocity. i would also like to see .004 to .005 neck clearance to be sure there are no issues there.
good luck, Pete

That's good advice. I mentioned in an earlier post that my bullets do not fall into fired cases.

 

[Laguna Freak]

I think I may have a bad lot of H4350.

I'm loading 40.1 gr of it in my (trued Rem 700 with PTG bolt) 6.5x47 Lapua with a rock creek barrel, cci 450s, Berger 140 Hybrids, and Lapua brass.

This rifle has been giving me problems since I got it, I also think something is wrong with the barrel.

From 60 degrees to 104 degrees ambient temp, my velocity went from 2815 to 2970. All shooting is done from the shade. The rifle can't seem to group well.

I've tried 123 scenars, and Berger 130 hybrids with varget and got pretty good results. The problem was sometimes the rifle would group really well with those loads and sometimes it would scatter groups over 1 inch at 100 yards.

I tried shooting with and without a brake and the rifle still exhibits the same behavior.

I noticed that the barrel copper fouls a lot more than the Bartlein that was on the rifle before.

I've tried different primers and that didn't help either.

What should I do about the powder? A 44 degree temperature change shouldn't cause a 155 fps change in velocity should it?
The same gunsmith barreled this rifle with a Bartlein barrel chambered in 308, and I was able to get quarter inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards with it.

Short version: I had 100+fps increase deltas and flyers in June with H4350 loads that were looking good in March April. Some folks say it is “one of the most temp insensitive”. In its burn rate, I like RL16 better. Just my experience.