Surplus powders

[beekeeper]

I have been working with some surplus powders to see if I can use them as powder is getting harder to find here every day.
Today I went to the range with a 8 MM Mauser and a 7.62x54R Mosin M44( originally was any way).
In the 8 MM Mauser still in Military form using 56 Grains of WC860 powder the average FPS was 2218fps.
With 55 grains and a packing peanut filler 2216 fps average.
With 54 grains and a packing peanut filler 2274 fps average.

ES was terrable as I did not weigh the filler as it was the first time to ever use the packing material.
At 100 Yards 18 out of 20 shots on the steel.

In the Mosin 47 grains gives an average fps of 1733.
At 200 yards the steel rang 3 out of the 4 times I shot at it and at 100 yards 8 out of 10 on target.

Will be working on fillers and trying to get the es down to and acceptable number but I think the surplus powder will work out just fine.
All firing was done with cast bullets


beekeeper

[62chevy]

Seems like the M44 liked less powder.

[beekeeper]

Haven't quite figured that out yet.
My shooting partner who is a jacketed ling range shooter seems to think the differences is due to the fillers I used.
He didn't believe my chrony data either until he watched several shots.

Need a lot more testing but I think there is a lot of potential here.


beekeeper

[beekeeper]

Shot it again yesterday.
Tried the Mosin with and without filler.
The filler makes the diference.
Talked to a friend that shoots a lot of the surplus WC860 and his answer seems to be the best so far.

Due to the powder being used in the 50BMG spotter rounds it requires maximum density to preform right in smaller cases.

I like using the powder and will continue working with it as I think it has great potential.

For me it is getting over the flinch and pull I get when trying something new or strange in a rifle.


beekeeper

[62chevy]

I know there is a several surplus powders out there but most of them are for the 50 BMG so have been reluctant to try any being a new reloader. Bought some IMR 4064 but didn't realize it was to slow for cast boolits or so all the manuals say but with a filler might get away with it. Eventually I'll use the Lee 314-90-SWC with 3 or 4 grains of Bullseye or TiteGroup.

[Maximumbob54]

I bought some of this surplus powder last year when Widners had it on sale. I was going to try some duplex loads but as with so many things I just haven't gotten around to it. The notes someone shared with me said you use a flake pistol powder like Unique as the starter and then top off the case with the WC860 with the bullet resting on it with slight compression to ensure the Unique doesn't move at all. There is a method to getting it just right and it's not something you want to screw up. Too much of what I've read about guys using fillers said they "ringed" their barrels. I don't know what that means but it doesn't sound like something I want to do. But most of them say they use Dacron filler which seems to just be a pinch of pillow stuffing you can buy at the fabric store. I guess you are supposed to weight each pinch of Dacron to ensure it's the same amount. I'm not sure how that would damage a barrel but it's made me not try it.

[beekeeper]

Bob,
The people that I know that duplex their loads use a piece of tissue paper between the kicker and the WC860.
I tried the dacron as I use it in a number of the loads I use.
It always seems to give me a lot of black goop when I cleanup.
The packing peanut doesn't seem to do that.
I can clean the bore with about half the number of patches that I use when using dacron..

The packing peanuts seem to give me a better fill than the dacron does.

As for the ringing of a chamber I have never seen one or had one but am told it is caused by using a filler such as "cream of wheat" which absorbes the moisture out of the powder and becomes a solid mass and therefore a barrel obstruction.
Have only used it once and that was when I firelapped a barrel ( or I should say tried to).
I loaded those rounds 1 hour before I shot them so there wasn't enough time for any moisture absorbtion

I think the whole thing depends on getting just the right amount of packing peanut ( maybe by weight) in each case and it will work out fine.

beekeeper

[Maximumbob54]

What kind of packing peanuts are you using? I'm used to the old pink or white styrofoam version but I've seen where you can now add a little salt and pepper for flavor and eat the stupid things.

[beekeeper]

They stopped making packing peanuts out of styrofoam several years ago (in California anyway) and they are now made out of cornstarch.
Since it is a natural product it gets a complete burn and only leaves a grayish brown residue in the barrel.
On my old milsurps it will clean up with about 4 patches where with dacron it took 8 to10

In the 2 7x57MM Mausers that I have rebarreled it takes even less as they are pristine and have no pitting to grab any junk.


beekeeper

[beekeeper]

After a second trip to the range and using the packing peanuts the trick seems to be the ability to get just the right amount of packing in the case,
Fell back to some of the tricks I learned when starting to load BP.

Took a dowel and lowered in in the case to just touch the powder, marked it.
Put a second mark on it for the seating depth of the bullet.
Diference is the length of the filler plus a little if you want to slightly compress the load.
So far it seems to be working and will continue to refine it as I go along.

But that is why we do this to start with isn't it?


beekeeper