Severe lead on cases

[sksman777]

I am getting severe lead on my cases. Shooting the 500 s&w with H110. Some of the cases get stuck pretty bad and I have to pound them out. I thought I was loading them too hot, but dropped the load down and still same thing.
Any ideas??

[Dark Mod]

Is it a short barrel 500? H110 is a slow burning powder and i get residue like that all the time out of my 4" 500, but never did out of my 8" 460.

Even my 4" 686 becomes a sticky mess after the range when i started using h110. And thats jacketed .357 traveling at 1500 fps, so its not leading for sure.

[Whiterabbit]

I have two questions.

#1 what's the case fill rate on your load? 80% full? 90% full? 100% full? compressed? the percentage im interested in is the ratio of air in the case to powder (so subtract the bullet from the volume)

#2 does the bullet you are using fit the cylinder? or does it slip right through? if it slips right through, can you put the bullet in the throat, plug the cylinder ends with your thumb and forefinger, shake the cylinder, and hear the bullet rattling around in there? Another way to look at that would be put the bullet in the cylinder throat, shine a light through and look from the other side. How big is the crescent, if present.

I'd also be curious to know how much oil is on or around your bench and cylinder when loading, and also at the range when firing. I wonder if this is a case of oil in the cylinder not getting cleaned out to super-dry when going to the range.

Also (again), I wonder how much you are working your brass when you size it down. Ever thought about sizing it just down to where the bullet seats, and leaving the entire bottom of the case unsized?

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anyways, I have lots of ideas. Usually if its a size issue I get a nice uniform soot around the neck. Only when I have unburned powder do I get grit. This grit can lock up my cases real good even if the pressure is low. Although I have never had to pound out a case yet, sometimes they got sticky. The grit can come from two source (in my experience). The first is case lube in the case, or oil, deactivating powder (not really, but same idea). The grit gets blown out. in conjuntion with an undersized case, get blown into the cylinder.

The other idea I have is you are getting an incomplete burn from H110 loaded to a pressure too low. That doesn't mean too little power (maybe it does). but it could be any lack of resistance on the cartridge, not allowing the case to develop full ignition pressure. This could be bad case tension (I don't find that crimp is an "issue" with hand cannons, that case tension is the bigger factor). This could be a poor bullet fit in the throat leaking pressure. This could be too much air inside the case, H110 likes 100% case fill. (ish).

Plenty of ideas. Bu I'm fairly confident the lockup is form unburned powder grit blowing back into the chamber. I've seen it plenty while load developing.

[bohoki]

i hate that powder i like 4227

[sksman777]

Iam shooting a 8 3/8" barrel. All my H110 loads are max ex(440gr 37gr,390gr 40gr,all lead). I use CCI LR no mags. I have not checked the bullet size thats a good idea. As far as oil goes I do not use case lube, I do not use oil in my cylinder.

[Whiterabbit]

I can load a max load then seat the bullet .1 inches into the case. But that would lead to severe problems, not just due to the fact that there would be alot of air inside the case. I don't care if your loads are max or not, if you aren't getting full pressure you might be blowing powder all over the place. That was the reason for asking about case fill rate. Had nothing to do with how much powder you are actually putting in there.

Bullet construction is also moot, I don't need to know what it is to know if it's bouncing down the throat you might end up with blown powder all over the place.

[bohoki]

good thing with the 500 that a pound of powder goes quick so you can try more variety

[wtkaiser]

I thought "the experts" have all recommended magnum primers for H-110, especially in this cold weather. It is one of the few they still insist on.