H4895 incomplete burns

[tacotime]

Shooting 40 grains in a 45-70, 350 cast, WLR, no crimp. Leaving quite a few pale yellow hollow kernels in the bore. That's not an overly reduced charge. Velocity was fairly consistent. I have not seen unburned kernels with H4895 before. Any thoughts?

[Grumulkin]

The unburned powder remnants are from low pressure.  WIth some loads and some guns, the pressure should be lowish so it's not necessarily a bad thing especially if the load shoots well.

[Larry L]

I had the same issues with that powder in my 45-70s and the Lasercast bullet. I cured the problem by using 12.0 grs Unique instead. It's just shy of the original factory loading at 1200'ps. Shoots like match ammo out of all them. No filler required either.

[tacotime]

Using those little charges still bugs me, though I know it is done successfully.
 
The H4895 load shot pretty well at about 1,400.  Others say the pressure is too low.
 
I'll try that Unique again and also bump up the H4895.
 
This is mostly a plinker load but I want it accurate and able to knock the occasional unexpected hog.

[muznut 54]

I don't know what kind of rifle you are shooting but if is a Ruger or an H&R I use 16gr of Titegroup with a Rem 300gr JHP and its mid 1400s in my H&R Ultra Hunter 450M and it looks like I just got done cleaning my bore after shooting many shots and it has same hole accuracy.

[tacotime]

Ruger #3.
 
That result sounds good.  I'll try it when I go back to 300 loads.
 
Hoping to set up a mild, accurate 350 cast load.

[Graybeard]

Give IMR3031 a try. It is my favorite in .45-70 with cast bullets. It's clean burning and gives consistent velocity and accuracy.

[tacotime]

I'm using 3031 in two other weights with good results, and may go back to it for the 350 here. 
 
I was just wanting to explore the H4895 because I have some sitting idle and it is touted for reduced loads.  If I don't hit paydirt quickly, back to 3031. 
 
Before that, 4198 was not delivering quite the results I was thinking either, but I didn't hit the full range of loads with it either.  But I did explore between 30 or 35 pretty extensively, without shrinking the groups much.  This gun might be a little finicky also.

[tacotime]

Moved the load to 44 and the unburned kernels reduced to very few, but the group was almost twice as large as before...
 
Probably going to have to either bump it up again or go back to the classic powders for 45-70.

[tomme boy]

You are going to have to crimp the boolit or use a mag primer. You could also try to use 2 gr. of dacron to hold the powder down.

[LanceR]

The textbook answer for H4895 is that it can be loaded to 60% of the maximum charge for any cartridge for which it is listed.  With that said, I've never used it for reduced cast or swaged bullet in anything like a .45-70.  From the only related experience I have I suspect that a bit of crimp is needed.

I'd suggest that you call the Hodgdon tech folks since they have a world of data and experience not on the website etc.  The number is 913-362-9455.

Lance

[tacotime]

OOps!  Forgot to mention that the 44gr load was crimped, standard primer though. 
 
I have worked with the 60% rule before, but usually with mediocre results. 
 
Might just give them a call and see what they say then...  thanks.

[tacotime]

The help line had no problem with some unburned kernels, describing it as normal in this load, which is published and above starting level.  Recommended against magnum primers.  Thought a light crimp would make a marginal difference, but recommended against a heavy crimp. 
 
I say unburned kernels, but these were really hollow shells of the kernels.  "Skeletins" as one guy called them, and he spelled it that way, too.
 
I think I'll move up slightly and see how it changes, along with trying some other traditional powders.
 
I would say that the 5744 loads often talked about were also leaving kernels in the bore, but shot wider than this load.
 
 

[Forsberg]

Ruger #3.
 
That result sounds good.  I'll try it when I go back to 300 loads.
 
Hoping to set up a mild, accurate 350 cast load.

Have you slugged your bore and made the bullets fit? Maybe try RL7 it likes straight wall cases and cast bullets.

[tacotime]

Funny you should say that - I just loaded two R7 loads to try.  Had not tried it before with the 350 cast.
 
I have not slugged the barrel.  Maybe I should.  I have recovered slugs before in almost undistorted shape, and noted the rifling marks looked normal (to me anyway).