Minimum Bullseye Charge?

[Steve in Vermont]

I've been reading posts that deal with Bullseye Powder and loading for wadcutters. The old standard for 148 gr seems to be 2.7 gr. I've been loading 2.8 for DEWC (.38) and it works fine. Some folks load as low as 2.2. My question is how low a charge can you use for this bullet and remain safe?

 

[Alk8944]

It all depends on how willing you are to risk sticking a bullet and bulging your barrel! If you have, or have access to a chronograph I wouldn't recommend getting below 650 FPS. Recoil is almost non existant at this velocity. I would believe your 2.2 gr is already close to this.

Why? If it is for economy your 2.2 gr is only costing .8-1 cent per round, even at todays powder prices. If you are buying bullets the bullet and primer are costing 6-10 cents. This is definitely false economy.

 

[Fkimble]

If loading for a semi-auto, like a M52 then function/spring power will be the deciding factor.

 

[Rawhyde]

It all depends on how willing you are to risk sticking a bullet and bulging your barrel!

Will a stuck bullet cause a bulged barrel? I KNOW it will (and possibly much worse) if it is followed up with a live round. Does it still damage the barrel if it sticks, then you stop shooting and remove it with a dowel rod?

Please excuse the question if it's stupid, but I stuck a bullet about 20 years ago, then removed it with no bulge that I can detect. I have learned to never say never in this business, just looking for other experiences.

Rawhyde

 

[lebomm]

No, just sticking a squibbed bullet will not bulge a barrel - it's the remaining five in the cylinder stacking up behind it that do the evil!

 

[jag22]

Could we please have some more discussion on Rawhyde's question. I was pondering the same thing, I had a 148 DEWC
stick in my Colt SAA 7 1/2 inch barrel and I swear I didn't fire another shot but got a bulge in my barrel. It still shoots great
but I know it's not right and hurt the value of the gun.

 

[Milton]

An old NRA article concerning minimum loads in revolvers used a method of in fact sticking the bullet in the bore in order to find a minimum load for the revolver you are shooting.Due to the method described it will be apparent that each revolver tried must be re-tested using the described method.
Using lead wadcutters find the minimum load for that bullet in a loading manual.Half the powder noted and load.Fire this load to see if the bullets do not stick in the bore.If they clear the bore,half the load again and load/shoot again.Do this until a bullet sticks in the bore.The load directly above the one that sticks is the minimum load for that revolver.
You "could" do this with jacketed bullets but it is a whole heck of a lot easier to drive stuck lead bullets from the bore than jacketed!!!!!

 

[Titegroups]

The other concern with a minimum load would be accuracy. The slower the velocity the lower rpm of the bullet coming out of the rifling and at some point it will become unstable, from my experiments that's somewhere around 450fps., obviously depending on other factors i.e. caliber, bullet weight, sectional density etc. Rounds in the 650fps would leave the barrel reliably.

 

[Jellybean]

I read an article about using extremely low charges of Bullseye, but I'm not going to repeat how low they got here.

The lowest point will depend on your choice of firearm and components and will vary between everyone you ask.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I know someone that has gone lower than 2.2gr. Whatever you do, don't do any rapid fire drills until you know that they will exit the barrel.

To be honest though, practice with full power loads, 3.5gr, 158gr LSWC and get good with that. If you do that you will become a better marksman not just a better gamer.

FWIW

And no, a stuck bullet will cause no problem until you chase it with another full power load. With 38spl in a heavy barrel you may not even have a problem. Pencil barrel, could be a different story altogether.

 

[Jerry944T]

I cannot imagine a situation where a squib load that sticks in the barrel, will, by itself, cause a bulge.

I have a Colt Gold Cup barrel sitting on my desk that has a bulge about 1" from the end. It happened in the rapid fire stage of a bullseye match where a squib somehow cycled the action and a second round was fired. Many people say that this is impossible but I was there when it did happen.

If you have a bulged barrel you can be very sure a second round was fired to create the bulge.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

In PPC we loaded 2.2 of bullseye behind a 148 gr HBWC with no problems at all. I use 1.1 of vihtavuori 310 in my 32 Long 98gr. HBWC. This load will drive tacks at 25 and 50 yards. The 2.2 bullseye works great for a Bullseye shooter with a .38 spl, your 22 will have more recoil than the 38 .

 

[armadillo]

A long time ago I loaded large batch of cast 148 gr wadcutters with a very light charge of Red Dot. I shot them for years - light recoil and no problems. When I got a chronograph I found out that I was getting 530 fps from a 4" barrel. I won't be doing that again!

 

[Titegroups]

One Cowboy action shooter to another," was there powder in that one?". Shoot Sass matches a couple years ago and extra "light" loads were always the order of the day. Could almost see the bullet in flight.