[john1958]

Hi all,


I bought a TD carbine made from a rifle with original carbine barrel and loaded up some 405 gr. cartridges a la Wolf. I used 55 grains of compressed FFg, drilled out the primer hole and used Winchester standard rifle primers, and Lee 405 gr. 20:1 HB bullets. After firing them I noticed a bulged ring around the case at the location where the base of the bullet starts in the loaded case, and the primers are backed out. The cartridges almost resemble a bottleneck cartridge because the neck for the length of the bullet seems to have not swelled like the rest of the cartridge. After re-sizing them there is a scribe type line in the brass where the bulge was. I'm afraid these cartridges will seperate if fired again. The chamber has a narrow ring inside corresponding to the location of the bulge in the cartridge.

Is there anything that can be done short of a replacement barrel? Is 55 grains compressed too much? Should I go to Magnum primers like I use in my 500 gr. .45-70's I use in my M1884 Springfield rifle?

Any help would be appreciated as I can't afford a new barrel right now and don't want to hang it on the wall.

Thanks in advance! John
[email protected]

 

[.45 COLT]

What is ala Wolf? I've loaded .45-70 since about 1962 and never drilled any flashholes. Don't know why you are doing that. Maybe it's OK, just I've never heard of it. 55 grains isn't too much, and it shouldn't give you a compressed load. Ala Wolf again? The 55 grains was used in the original carbine load so as to reduce recoil, that is, not take the shooter right out of the saddle.

A little more information, please.

DC

 

[john1958]

First of all, the info below was given to me on another forum that hits the nail on the head. Yes, it was the first 5 loads I fired in it. And no, there is no airspace:

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 21:41:24 -0700
From: "Glenn Latham" <[email protected]>
Subject: Need info on Trapdoor problem

John,
Is this the first load you've fired in this rifle? It sounds like the
chamber has been "ringed," which sometimes happens if a filler is used with a small charge of smokeless powder. The ring almost always occurs at the base of the seated bullet. I assume the Wolf BP load didn't leave any airspace?

Glenn


To answer your question about "a la Wolf". I'm talking about the late Spencer Wolf who wrote the book "Loading Cartridges for the original .45-70 Springfield Rifle and Carbine". He did extensive research on original loads and explains how to duplicate them with modern equipment and methods. He suggests drilling out the primer hole to .096" and with the 500 gr. bullet using Magnum primers and compressing the charge (70 grs.) before seating the bullet. The 55 gr. charge is compressed a bit by the 405 gr. HB bullet, but not as much as the 500-70 gr. load.

Hope this helps, and ask more questions if not.

John

 

[Guest]

you are using black powder in a case- just like in a muzzle loader you dont want any space between the powder and the bullet, it can cause pressure build ups. the ring when found in muzzle loader barrels is called a walnut. thats where the expanding gas ran into the ball that wasnt all the way seated in the barrel and bulged the barrel before it pushed said ball into the atmosphere.
sounds like the same thing happened in your case. you may want to try seating a little deeper with the bullets, a case filler of sometype, or a shorter case length.
jamullins

 

[Rich Z]

Sounds like an explosive pressure problem. I thought that when you actually built an explosive device (firecracker, M80, etc.) it was best to only fill the case 2/3rds or 3/4s the capacity to allow that expansion chamber to build higher pressures and give you a bigger bang. Sounds like the same theory being applied here.

 

[john1958]

I'm told it was done by someone before me using smokeless powder and a polyfiber filler. There are no airspaces in my loads as the bullet sits right down on the powder that was put in using a drop tube. I use 55 grns. FFg and a Lee 405 gr. HB bullet cast from 20:1 lead/tin in a Winchester case with primer hole drilled out to .096". These fire just fine in my M1884.

John