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Shot some 45 Colt hand loads at the range today and was surprised to find green residue left in many of the spent cases. Some of the residue still had the shape of the original powder flake but was green. I have not seen this before with similar handloads. Does anyone have any idea what may cause left over green powder residue?
Hope it's OK that I ask, but were these your handloads or just cartridges you fired from the pistol? A bit more detail from you would be great. And what rifle or pistol you were shooting.
Many cowboy guns are loaded to the lowest velocities possible and if that was the case (no pun intended) with what you experienced, it may answer your question.
If you reloaded these rounds, may I ask you to share the bullet and powder data? FWIW, WIN 231 is pretty much really good for a variety of pistol loads.
I loaded them. Shooting 200gr, lead projectiles over 7gr of 231 using a medium (I know that is subjective) crimp out of a S&W revolver.
Try Winchester LP primers or CCI/FED magnum primers. Ball powders csn be hard to ignite. I use Winchester LP primers as they are a bit hotter than most LP. Winchetser doesn't even make a magnum LP. They claim their LP is enough. And they know a thing or two about lighting Ball powders. They invented them.
Yep, that's unburned powder. I've seen it with powders other than W231 also. Besides a hotter primer as Bamboomaster and abner say you might try measuring the throat diameter of your revolver chambers. Sometimes they're oversized compared to the 0.452" bore diameter of the barrel. You might find an improvement in performance if you size the bullets to match the throat diameter. My S&W 25-2 runs 0.454".
Good stuff. Thanks for the all the helpful info. I have been using CCI LP primers. Will try hotter primers and measure throat.
Thanks again.
That is a very light charge for a 200 grain bullet so I am not surprised you are not getting the pressure you need for a clean burn. I would bump it up to 7.5 grains and maybe even a heavier bullet (but check printed load data first).Quote:
Originally Posted by jkl56
If you are looking for a very light load see if there are any low velocity loads with Bullseye powder. It is a fast powder and burns much cleaner
Good advice from others.
Remember early on having a yellowish deposit from a load with 231.
Bumping load pressure alleviated it.