[elkbbq]

Hey guys I have successfully used polyester batting shoved down on reduced loads in straight walled cases like the 45-70 but what about bottle necked cases like the 35 whelen?  I would like to use a charge of around 15 grains of unique with a 158-160gr lead bullet in my 35 for plinking/small game.  Should I use the batting or not?

 

[draculasbrother]

You are on your own on this one and I offer no advice whatsoever on this subject.

I load for a number of large bore  bottle neck cartridges from 40 cal up to 500. I load polyester wadding over the powder charge. The amount varies from cartridge to cartridge depending on the case capacity. What I do is pull off a wad of about the right size (based on experience) and push it into the case with a wooden plunger. I end up with a tightly compacted mass that will hold the powder in place. The filler isn't rock hard but it is not marshmallow soft either.

Ross Siefred (sp) has had a couple of articles which describes the process. One of them was a couple of years ago in Double Gun Journal".

The pressures (?) and accuracy of the large capacity cases seem to be somewhat more consistent when the wadding is used.

As an aside a guy could get into trouble for littering with these loads. Most of the wadding winds up in front of you and looks like it could be used again.

Again this is not advice it is just a description of what I do.
Regards,
Dave

 

[RugerNo3]

I just checked my Lyman Manual and they list loads as low as 11gr Unique with no filler. They also say not to use filler in any loads that don't call for it in their data. Apparently it is not necessary.

 

[Marshall Stanton]

I have played with lots of loads using fillers in the past, some with exceptional results.   But... here's my humble opinion.   I'm usually rushed for time, and prefer not to take loading steps that aren't absolutely necessary.

If you find that the 15.0g of Unique is too position sensitive for good accuracy without the fillers, I would simply move to a slower burning powder giving a slightly higher loading density, but the same approximate velocity.  In this way you usually end up with a great load that doesn't require the filler.

For instance, if your load of Unique is position sensitive, then perhaps a similar charge of 800X would do the same job, but occupy more case capacity, thus making more uniform ignition possible without the need of fillers.

Just a quick fix to a situation that can occupy hours when loading  fillered loads.

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[elkbbq]

Thanks - Marshall, Rugerno3 & Draculasbrother for your responses.  I posted so long ago with no responses that I thought my question or my handle had alienated me to everyone on the forum.

I will try the load without filler and let you know what accuracy results.

elkbbq