Reloading problems

[Texan4life]

I have an old style contender and I am having a problem with 2 calibers.  They are the .45 colt and the .44 rem mag.  I am using H4227 and I have not reached the max load yet, but I am not burning all the powder in either round.  In the .44 I have not switched to a magnum primer which will be the next step for that round, but I am perplexed when it comes to the .45.  I have had other people tell me that I could use a small amount of a fast burning powder and that would burn the slower powder faster but I am unsure as to how safe this is.  If anyone has experienced this problem before any help you could lend would be appreciated.

[Lone Star]

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MIX TWO DIFFERENT POWDERS!!!!  This (duplex loading) was done many years ago in cartridges like the original .454 Casull, at a time when we did not have modern high performance pistol powders, but it is very dangerous to do this unless you know exactly what you are doing - even then there is no good reason to do it.

H4227 seldom burns completely in the .45 LC because the pressures are too low.  Light loads in the .44 Mag can cause the same thing.  H4227 is a good powder in both, but it can be dirty.

For normal pressure .45LC loads in a Contender, faster powders like BlueDot or AA-5 will burn more cleanly yet give good accuracy and power.  They were designed to burn at lower pressures than the rifle powders like H4227, and thus burn more completely at the lower revolver pressures.

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[rickyp]

you didnt say anything about how you are crimping the cases, the crimps do more then just hold the bullets in during recoil, it also helps burn the pwder more compleatly. try and switching pwders to H110  or win 296 and do a heavy crimp.

[Bullseye]

I use IMR 4227 in all 41M, 44M, 357M and have used it before in the 45 Colt.  It also leaves behind some unburnt power, with much more in the 45 colt (to the point where the unburnt powder falls out of the empty cases when putting the brass back in the box).  I still use it in everything but the 45 Colt because I like the muzzle blast & flash & recoil much better than the ball powders even though accuracy is not quite as good.  I have quit using it in the 45 colt thought, so much unburnt powder it is a mess.

[KN]

I tryed 4227 for 45 colt once and hated it. Dirtiest stuff I ever shot. Like others have suggested, change pwders.   KN

[swampthing]

I will not go into working up a load for your gun, but, H or IMR 4227 works great in mine when I use Winchester WLP primers, when I "reached" the most accurate-and safe loading in my 12" .44mag there was minimal unburned powder left. Those powders are very uniform but they require to be worked up to achieve that uniformity, meaning that they work best at or near a max load. In .45colt I would use a faster powder as the case is not as thick in the web area as the "magnum" case  is. AA#5 and Unique are great and should provide all the power you would ever need in a single shot. If you want a little more velocity AA#9 is great as you don't need to stuff a compressed load in the case to get uniformity like the extruded 4227's.
You can easilly get the same velocity with CCI300 primers and AA#5 in your closed breech, as AA#9 and magnum primers would do in a 7.5" revolver, with the same bullet of course.

[B_Koes]

I had a .44 Redhawk that had a favorite load using 4227.  Yes, it burned dirty but it shot well so I just overlooked the dirty part.  It always cleaned up nicely for the next sessioin...

[Redhawk1]

We are burning gun powder in guns, they are going to get dirty. Choose a cleaner burning powder if you don't like the performance of your current powder. I burn 2400 in 44 Mags and the guns get real dirty and there is some un burnt powder in the barrel, but the accuracy makes up for the dirty barrel. I do like how W 296 and H 110 don't leave as much un burnt powder, but I worry more about performance than weather the gun is to dirty.

And your statement about using a faster burning powder with a slower burning powder to make the slower powder burn faster, Why not just use a faster burning powder to began with???  As far as mixing powders, "don't" !  Stick to the load manuals and you will be OK.