Reduced powder

[gregr266]

Can you load below the min load recommendation. I find lots of info on not going over the max but nothing about going below the min. What iam looking for is just a plinking load for paper. Would like to make my powder last a little longer if possible. Not looking for any subsonic type loads. Any help out there. Using bl-c(2) and 55fmjbt

[Sheldon]

Minimum means just that......no less. Granted that data was developed with their combination of test barrel and components and your mileage may vary, but they have all the expensive tools to develope the data and it seems foolish to ignore it to save pennies.

[Turo]

You have to worry about going too low and getting a squib load and ruining your gun. I would follow the minimum recommendations. Is a few dollars worth of powder worth blowing up your gun, your hands, and your face?

[tamalpias]

As weird as it may sound you can end up blowing up your gun with an undercharged load due to excessive pressure. You will get an effect similar to detonation than a controlled burn if you undercharge your powder.

[five.five-six]

the problem with going below minimum is the risk of 2ndary ignition... that's the problem with subsonic rounds

what happens is it can throw part of the charge 1/2 way down the barrel... then it ignites.... being as by that time, you bolt is out of battery in a semiauto... you can see where the problems grow from there

[gunboat]

I have seen this reduced load danger mentioned several times here lately. Is there a reference for this info? None of my reloading manuals mention this hazard, but they are quite old, as I am. My manuals all indicate "suggested" and "maximum" loads and contain other loads such as "squirrel" with loads below the suggested level. I do know there was a caution about this problem with reduced loads of 4831 when it became available but have never seen reference to the problem with other powders.
Obviously a major hazard would be a load too small to push the bullet out the barrel. I don't think I have ever actually seen one "blown up" by a stuck bullet but there are certainly plenty that have been bulged.

[five.five-six]

good info:

http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/DevelopSubsonic.html

[GW]

Back in the 80's, a pal and I tried that for kicks with .45 ACP's. We wanted to find the minimum it would take to cycle the action. A foolish wasteful experiment because the bullets flew everywhere with no consistency or accuracy and always the danger of the bullet not leaving the barrel. For what you are thinking of the risks outweigh the benefits.

[gunboat]

That, and the other links are an interesting read. The fix for using a smaller diameter case in a 98 was clever. However, I am not sure of this fellows bonifides and his concern was sub-sonic loads. Quite a few load possibilites between 2500fps and about 800fps that do not seem to present the same possible hazrds. --

[ballistic]

I would not go any lower than book minimum with BL-C2, it is a fairly slow powder.
If you want to use a smaller charge for your loads, read through Hodgdon's data and see what powders will provide decent velocity with a lower charge.

If you want some really light loads, some people have done it with much faster powders, Unique or Red Dot. These will not cycle a semi-auto rifle and you must take care that you do not get a bullet stuck in the bore. The Cast Bollits website has lots of threads from people that experiment with reduced loads.
As always a chronograph is always a good idea if you decide to go into this area where most handloaders will not.

[RaymondMillbrae]

Slower burning powders will usually propell bullets at a faster FPS velocity. And of course, faster burning powders are used for slower FPS velocities.

What you need to do is determine what velocity you want your bullets to travel. Once you know this, check load data for the velocity-level you want, and then look at the powders being used.

Once you have that established, it is OK to drop the charge "some"...but not much. I am guessing here, but I would not go lower than a 5% or 10% charge reduction - based on the powder being used. (Make sure you are aware of what you are doing before you take this route, as this is already an advanced reloader technique - for those that are familiar with how different powders burn/react).

One very important factor to consider is the "nasty factor". You want accuracy in your shots, you want recoil/flip control of your weapon...but you also want to keep it clean, which transates to reliability and non-jamming.

If you reduce a slow burning powder too much, you will have a bunch of unburnt powder residue all over the innards of your weapon.

Oh yea...watch for "squibs" as well. If you shoot a round, and it doesn't feel/sound right...DO NOT PULL THE TRIGGER A SECOND TIME! (You may have a round stuck in he barrel, and a follow-up round will be disastrous)!

Shoot with a purpose.

In Christ: Raymond

[Blackpowder Burner]

Check out the book "Modern Reloading", second edition by Richard Lee. It has a whole chapter on cast bullet loads with lighter charges. May be what you are looking for. Tried some of them on the 30-06 and seemed to work well for me.

[buffybuster]

Can you load below the min load recommendation. I find lots of info on not going over the max but nothing about going below the min. What iam looking for is just a plinking load for paper. Would like to make my powder last a little longer if possible. Not looking for any subsonic type loads. Any help out there. Using bl-c(2) and 55fmjbt

For 55fmjbt jacketed bullets: Is this for a semi-auto or a bolt action? If you go light, you will likely turn your semi into a manual action. You should go to a faster powder (4198 works well, but may not cycle in an AR).

[Jonathan Doe]

I have fired many reduced load rifle rounds frequently for my work. Never had problems. When I used reduced load, I used 1/2 load. I pulled the bullets, weigh the powder and cut in 1/2 and reassemble the cartridge. I then shoot them in a water tank to recover the bullets. Worked every time. Of course semiautomatic firearms becomes manually operating ones.

[bubbapug1]

You can easily go to 20% less than minimum loads on 9mm, 45 acp, 44 mag, 357, etc. There are very very very few documented cases of some of the problems some guys are posting, and thats in the history of mankind.

Lower loads sometimes give you trouble with semi autos, especially with ones with heavy recoil springs of just heavy bolts and recoil springs, like Uzis, but if a load is 20% of minimum and still produces 20,000 psi..what do you think the chances are that a bullet won't exit the barrel?

ZERO