Well fellers, I have had delay upon delay trying to get the next lots ready to ship to the lab. I was unable to obtain any more H4198 from the same lot#. I drove 60 miles Thursday hoping to find just one more pound from the same lot but it wasn't to be. For those of you reading this that are wondering what I'm talking about I have been pressure testing loads that were working fine in Starline raw brass for use in Marlin lever guns and new mfg Winchester 86s. Switching the brass to nickel got a bad report card from the lab. Pressures jumped 15,000cup! These loads all had a hard crimp which I was already using on the raw brass. I have made some changes in the loads and will send them to the lab Monday or Tuesday. I test fired some today in the snow. Velocity with this new load was 1964fps. Three shots went into 7/8" with the last 2 opening the group up to 2" . This could have something to do with the fact that I was setting in a moderately heavy snow shower with a 15mph breeze hitting me in the face and the temperature hovering around 26! I still don't have any of the new 380 grain jacketed loads ready. All of you that sent PMs on Marlin Talk I still have your names saved so I can contact you. When the 380 grains ready for field testing I'll post it here. It will take a while after I get them to get all the tests done so I can ship them. If it works out like I hope it does it will be the best expanding load ever offered in a 45-70. If it works half as good as I think it will I'll have it in the .450 also. regards to all,reflex264

Well the lab report came back with good news and bad news. The 460 grain load in the nickel worked fine. If you switch from raw brass to nickel look for the following. If you have a chronograph and you already know the velocity of you raw brass loading check the velocity with your load in the nickel. As it appears when the velocity in the cases is the same the pressures are roughly the same. To get the same velocity in the nickel you will probably have to reduce your powder charge and if you are using the Lee factory crimp loosen it up vs. what you are doing with the brass. Pressure is not linear with velocity but in this instance using H4198 or Benchmark it appear to work very close. The second lot sent to the lab had a very slight powder reduction and a roll crimp instead of the Lee crimp. Pressures fell 8000cup. Thats nothing to sneeze at.
The load with the 350fn was a differant story. The test barrel has a chamber that is cut to perfect saami specs. This bullet is slightly larger (intended for use in the 450 marlin ) in front of the crimp groove. When crimped in the groove even in 2.095" brass the bullet contacts the lands before the breech closes on the test gun. Jammed against the rifling these loads which will not exceed 35,000cup in the Marlin chambers will soar to 50,000cup in the test barrels. The 350rn bullet has no problems in the guns or the test barrels. Many shooters have expressed concerns over using the round nose bullets in the tube magazines even though the mfg. says there is not one documented case of recoil causing a detonation in the magazine.
Well for the moment I'm back to the drawing board on the 350. The 380jfn wil be ready for testing around the end of March. At least we now have lab verified proof of what happens with the nickel. Back off the powder and loosen the crimp and when your velocity is the same as the raw brass you should be in good shape.reflex264

This is indeed a startling report - !

I've loaded both WW brass and R-P nickel loads in my 1895LTD1. Over the Pact PC2 and the Oehler 35P they will average to within a few +- fps of each other using the same load combinations. The POI's are virtually the same, also.

I'm using factory jacketed Hornady and Remington RN's and FN's only and using the Lee taper crimp tool. Cases are trimmed to 2.100" and OAL is 2.555".

This is indeed a startling report - !

I've loaded both WW brass and R-P nickel loads in my 1895LTD1. Over the Pact PC2 and the Oehler 35P they will average to within a few +- fps of each other using the same load combinations. The POI's are virtually the same, also.

I'm using factory jacketed Hornady and Remington RN's and FN's only and using the Lee taper crimp tool. Cases are trimmed to 2.100" and OAL is 2.555".
Hey kdub. The problem may be specific to Starline brass. All of the cases tested were Starline. In the near future I'll be testing with Remington nickel cases. It will be interesting to see if they give the same result. reflex264