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Wear on aluminum carrier - how much is normal?


Hellbender

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4 hours ago, Rance - SASS # 54090 said:

Just kinda wondering about an update on your carrier situation Hellbender??

 

Rance;)

Thanks for jogging my memory Rance.  Just about 3 weeks ago we had a hurricane here in Lake Charles LA that was the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana since 1856 they say.  The city is largely in ruins, although I'm OK as is my family (we evacuated to Jackson MS).  Our property was damaged but fixable.  At this point we still don't have electricity but we will come through this just fine.  So, the aluminum carrier update has been the last thing on my mind.

 

What happened was I got in the new C&I aluminum carrier, installed it, and ran 30 rounds through it after adjusting my 125 gn truncated cone flat point cartridges to an OAL of 1.460".  I then took the carrier out, cleaned it thoroughly, and could see just the slightest beginning of wear in the same places as before.  I took pictures of it from all angles. Then I put it back in and fired 30 rounds of 158 gn round nose flat point cartridges set with an OAL of 1.500".  Took out the carrier, cleaned it and examined it thoroughly.  I couldn't see any additional wear at all.  I took pictures so I could compare the two sets and they looked identical.  Then we had the hurricane so I haven't been  back at it with the '66 (I did shoot the TX State Match using my '73 that has a skeletonize brass carrier that I had been shooting for about 5 years with 125 gn truncated cone flat point cartridges sized somewhere between 1.30" and 1.40" with no mark on the carrier at all).  

 

My conclusion is that short TCFP bullets was the cause of my excessive aluminum carrier wear.  Abilene had mentioned my cartridges were short.  I now think it was the combination of the short cartridges and the bullet shape that did the damage.  My apologies to Pioneer Gun Works, although I only had mentioned it was their carrier and hadn't criticized it in any way.

 

Once I get power restored to my reloading room so I can see what I'm doing, I'm going to load up a whole lot of the 158 gn RNFP at 1.500" that I'll shoot in the '66 and keep checking that carrier.  IF the wear continues (which I think it won't), I'll post again.

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Howdy Hellbender, I had looked up your posse # for the state match and intended to find you and say hi, but the weather came in and I forgot all about it!  Good luck with repairs at your place, glad it wasn't worse.

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2 hours ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

Howdy Hellbender, I had looked up your posse # for the state match and intended to find you and say hi, but the weather came in and I forgot all about it!  Good luck with repairs at your place, glad it wasn't worse.

Well wouldn't you know it Abilene, the same thing happened to me - I was going to look you up but after waiting 2 hr for that rain to stop, it slipped my mind too.

 

Thanks, we'll get everything back the way it was before too long.  I wish I could say the same for our cowboy town.  Muskeeta Flats was flattened, so to speak.  Destroyed is another way to put it.  I've called a membership meeting for this Saturday to discuss where we want to go and how we're going to get there.  A fundraiser of some kind will be coming and after we hammer out the details, we'll be asking folks for donations to help us rebuild, so stay tuned and you should see something on the wire about it soon.

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