paisano Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Folks, pardon a question from a fairly new reloader. I seem to have a LOT of residue on my brass after shooting. You'd think it was with black powder. I load Trail Boss in my .45LC, not the minimum but not the max either. Read something somewhere about not all of the powder burning causing this? Am I loading too much or not enough? Don't want to see the bullet hit the ground in front of the targets and certainly don't want it to become armor piercing either. What is the answer? Thanks in advance. Paisano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Fill 'Em 67797 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 The prevailing theory is that the lower charges of powder do not expand the brass to seal the chamber, so, a bigger charge will cure the blowby. Another theory is a tighter crimp will cause less blowby. Some will also say to use a heavier bullet. Personally, I say find a load you like and don't worry about dirty brass. Just tumble it longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Howdy This question comes up every few weeks. If you are seeing soot on your cases, it is because the case is not expanding enough to fully seal it in the chamber. Some of the gas is leaking past the case. This is often called blowby. Increasing pressure will generally reduce the amount of soot on the case as it will cause the case to expand better to seal the chamber. But this is not necessarily actually a problem. Nothing says your chamber has to be completely sealed. Nothing says soot on the case is actually a problem. If you are somewhere in the middle of the chart, there is actually no problem. The standard solutions for eliminating soot on the cases are 1. Increase bullet weight. (be sure to stay within the limits of published data) 2. Increase powder charge. (be sure to stay within the limits of published data) 3. Crimp firmly. There are other tricks too, like only neck sizing the brass, or annealing the brass. But again, as long as you are not getting gas and soot in the face, a sooty case is not really a problem. That's why tumblers were invented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Some brass with thicker walls does not expand enough to tightly seal the chamber allowing a lot of blow back. A heavier charge/bullet may help. All in all the residue is not a big problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisano Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 Thanks for the info. Might try another 1/2 grain. Paisano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I seem to have a LOT of residue on my brass after shooting. You'd think it was with black powder. paisano, How dare you slander black powder reloads! I've reduced the blowback on my black powder reloads substantially with a larger diameter bullet (454 v 452) and a tight factory crimp. I measure the word 'tight' when it takes 8 - 10 whacks to dislodge the bullet with a kinetic puller. Three to 4 whacks is a light crimp A larger diameter, heavier bullet with a tight crimp and a non wimpy powder charge will seal to the chamber wall better than the converse. BP blowback is normal because the curve for burning is spiked-tapered (an 'explosion') v the curve for smokeless being a bell curve. Nothing beats IMHO a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die to help reduce blowback with either nitro or BP reloads. Might add, I use nothing but Starline 45's which are a thick wall case. Winchesters are thin walled and will seal better than thick wall cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 As mentioned, a tighter crimp and heavier bullet will help, as will a bigger charge. When I was using Trail Boss I found it to be kind of dirty as well, and I think that's just the nature of the stuff. The residue it left actually felt kind of greasy or slippery. Looked up the MSDS on it, and one of the additives is also used in the manufacture of plastics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairshake Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 If you change over to Clays Powder you will find cleaner cases and maybe more accurate loads. If you are using Trail Boss for filling the case then you have to increase the load. You can go from good to bad very fast with Trail Boss so be careful. I would just tumble my brass longer as that straight sided case will show grime very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 There really is no "Cure" for blow by in a .45 case. Blow by can be reduced somewhat, but ........ mostly no reasonable cure. Nature of the .45 beast. Again, unless your getting gun gas in the face, it's no big deal, just dirty cases. Same same, just tumble it a mite longer. New looking brass isn't a requirement. As an aside, Trail Boss doesn't like petroleum based lubes. It will gum up quicker than other powders. Coffinmaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 As an aside, Trail Boss doesn't like petroleum based lubes. It will gum up quicker than other powders. I'm no expert, but that hasn't been my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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