drilling starting load

[fffffg]

im posting this in several sites hopeing ill run into someone who knows the ansers to this problem.. thanks...does 21 grains of 4198 sound right for a drilling starting load with 200 grain bullet,20-1 lead /tin,with gas check.... .360 bore, 8.7x72r.. nitro barrels, the case capacity is 60 grains black powder. and 10 grains of unique shoots ok in it.. maybe chrographing the unique load would tell me something?? the unique shoots 2-3 inches high at 105 yards, in about a 4 3/4 inch group with .361 bullets with 30-1 lead.. .. dave.

[Leftoverdj]

Ffffg,  I shoot a combination gun in 8x72JRS. Same case you are using, but tapered down. I mostly shoot 38 grains of IMR 3031 under 196 grain bullets in it, but I'd sure be willing to use 21 grains of  4198.

You might get a little better accuracy out of bullets sized .362, but you can only do so much when you are working with iron sights.

[fffffg]

thanks, thats a huge help. what do you use for the filler or to hold the powder in place and how much..  what would you guess my 3031 load should be.. ??   do you know how to tell pressure problems in this kinds of loads..??  thanks dave..  here is some info i got tonight.. ross  segfried wrote and article that osmeone gave me on an other list stateing that you use 40 percent of the  black powder load of 41 98, that works out to be 24 grains of 41 98 for me..  so im in the ball park from all sources that im talking to.. thanks... dave.

[Leftoverdj]

I don't use a filler. 3031 is not very position sensitive.  If I ever try a filler, I'll use dacron fluff teased out to fill the space but not more than a grain. Half that if I can get away with it.

I know of no way to read pressure at this level. The normal signs just do not show up until you are way over the danger point. My quess is that you would be safe with 40 grains of 3031 under a 200 grain cast. I'm shooting 38 grains down a smaller bore with jacketed.

Best you can do look for pressure tested data for the .38-55. Your bigger case will lower pressures a bit so anything in the 27k range should be safe in your gun. Next thing to do is to look for a load that shoots to your sights. I don't shoot well enough with iron sights to worry a lot about ultimate accuracy. If I can hold 4" at 100 yards, that's a good load.

My philosophy is that I want something that will shoot to the sights with as little stress on the gun as possible. This ain't the place to go for high performance. Even if you hunt with it, 200 grains of lead at 15-1600 fps will kill anything that needs killing if you do your part.