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Old June 29, 2013, 04:18 AM   #11
Sevens
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 28, 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 11,755
What does the brass look like?
As I'm unfamiliar with Vihtavuori powders, I can only go with all that's been said in this thread -- and that it's a slow burning powder.

If you are loading .38 Special with a "slow burning powder", and you are getting 600 fps AND you are getting unburnt powder to boot, it sure sounds to me like you've got a WAY too light load going on and your brass isn't even obturating and filling out the chamber. What typically happens is the brass looks blackened and even scorched on the outside of the brass as the propellant gases are finding many directions of escape RATHER than where you WANT them to escape, which is immediately behind the bullet. And when that happens and you have gases and scuzz filling every orifice from a lousy burn...you may notice extraction or ejection anomalies.

Find a faster burning powder and develop a load that runs closer to published maximum.

"Maximum" loads do not have to mean "horrendous, fire breathing, gun beating, life-shortening and all-things-evil" loads. Maximum loads can simply mean efficient loads that burn all the propellent, offer a solid, proper pressure curve and sends the bullet out in a manner that was expected and even asked for. Do most handloaders recognize the fact that the lion's share of factory ammo on the market (especially ammo intended for semi-automatic pistols) is typically going to be a max load?

Last week, I was attempting to run a light bullet load in 9mm with a fast burning powder, but I was on the low, low, WAY low end of it. I was attempting to see how light a load I could make -- that would still function a 9mm pistol with reliability, using a 95 grain slug designed for use in the .380.

I found that my loads would mostly run in my pistol (Tanfoglio Elite Match) but when I attempted to run them in my friends Glock 19 gen4, they did NOT run, and in fact...they did NOT want to eject. And every piece of brass of the 50 I brought out for testing was BLACKENED and though most ran in my gun, I gave up after 8 shots in the Glock 19, while having to REALLY tug on the slide to eject 3 of them.

It seems to me that you are far, FAR from signs of high pressure. It sound like you have concocted a poor load with a powder that is far out of it's best working range.

This isn't specifically "dangerous", unless (until?) you make a load so light that you stick a bullet in the bore. Then it can get REALLY dangerous.

Some folks may say or think "you can never be too cautious." Well, I don't agree. In handloading, you can be too cautious.
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