Case filler material

Well, the thread's topic is right at the point of my problem. :) I didn't want to start new thread on the same question.

Thanks 30cal. I'll do few loads without. I wonder what Steve Gash did in his loads. I started a discussion right below the Steve;s article. I hope I'll get an answer. :)
 
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It is not a haunting reoccurring thing but I do remember a shooter posting a picture of his Weatherby 257 Magnum split into pieces and wondering? "It must have been a double charge". He claimed he had fed the Weatherby a steady diet of reduced loads.

Basically if I choose to use less powder I use smaller cases.

F. Guffey
 
An old Speer manual talks about fillers, and mentions 0.5 to 1.0 grains of dacron fiberfill. I have used that for very light loads in the 30/06.

I had never heard of RS-40, so I looked it up. Single base extruded powder with a burn rate about like 4895. Powders like that tend to work okay in medium-light loads. 55 grains sounds reasonable.
 
I've been loading 8 gr. of Unique in my model 94 win. 30-30 with mixed brass and 150 gr. Lee bullet made out of range lead with out a filler, zero problems so far.
Shot around 40 rounds so far, groups good and sounds about like a 22 going off.
 
With the powders available today for reduced rifle loads there is no reason to use filler of any kind.
H4895 can be reduced to 60% of maximum listed loads and TrailBoss can almost fill the case and still be a light load. The Hodgdon website has a "how to" page on reduced loads for rifle cases and a page on "youth loads" as well.

A little reading might save you a lot of work and reduce the risk of damage.
 
Thanks guys for your comments.

I have asked the same question on my national reloading forum (much, much smaller than Firingline) and got few interesting answers.

The expert in Reload-Swiss powder manufacturer suggested cotton wool as a filler. ne of fellow users stated, that there is proof out there that cotton does not burn so well and fast and can stuck and damage the chamber in the long term. I was suggested to use polyester wool, used in filling toys and pillows - that burns fast and does not leave much residues. I bought a 1kg sample and will test its burning speed.

ShootistPRS - I have read the Hodgodon note on reduced loads https://www.hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/h4895-reduced-rifle-loads.pdf
it does not state much beside "don't use H4895 in cartridges where this powder is not listed". Meaning for me - in theory don't use it. ON the other hand though, 8mm RM is so unpopular that no one actually has interest in developing new loads.. so not having H-4895 in official loads doesn't mean it can;t be used - Hodgodon just did not bother to test reduced loads for this rare caliber, although the company provide few very nicely described full loads for their powders for 8mmRM.

The reliability of H-4895 reduced load for 8mm RM also depends how reliable is the statement of Steve Gash. I do not know him - is he considered as authority in the States? He has quite a good record of articles on reloading.
 
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Lyman 49th edition lists a cast bullet load (165gr) for 8mm Rem Mag with H4895 at 32.0 to 50.0gr(max).


Guns & Ammo is a well established magazine. I'd consider it to be solid data.
 
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Hi T...I'll just mention that SR4759 has always had a large following amoung those of us that like gallery loads for our centerfire rifles. There are substitutes like 4227 that work as well, and some of the military pull down powders work nicely. A little research will turn up some useable loads. Rod
 
Thanks 30Cal
I will stock to Guns&Ammo article then. Everything is ready now for loading and testing the loads... but the range - that will be opened in 2 months. :(
I have a chronometer - will post my results here.
 
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