h-335 problems

[idpasharpshooter]

so i loaded up some 7.62x54r rounds for my mosin nagant. when i shot them some were normal some would hang fire (my best guess .25-.5 seconds) then one squib'd on me i ejected the shell and powder dumped out and there was a big clump in the case. another thing i noticed is sometimes when i fired it something was getting in my eyes and maid them burn and water. i'm thinking some sort of gas as i did not feel anything hit me. does anyone have any idea what could be going on.

[Pukindog]

Sounds like you have some kind of contamination of the powder.

Jeff

[Franchi20/28]

What he said.

[andrewjs18]

so i loaded up some 7.62x54r rounds for my mosin nagant. when i shot them some were normal some would hang fire (my best guess .25-.5 seconds) then one squib'd on me i ejected the shell and powder dumped out and there was a big clump in the case. another thing i noticed is sometimes when i fired it something was getting in my eyes and maid them burn and water. i'm thinking some sort of gas as i did not feel anything hit me. does anyone have any idea what could be going on.

throw it out before you get hurt shooting your gun! can always replace powder but not your eye balls or your arm! I'm glad my safety glasses I wear have thick side shields; when I was shooting last weekend, a piece of brass hit my glasses on the side...probably would of caught me right in the corner of my eye had I had on glasses with no side shielding.

[762xIan]

Doing some reading, appears H335 may be a bad powder choice for larger rifle calibers.

Recommended for smaller rifle loads like .223 and such.

What load are you using? How many grains?, being a ball powder you might not be filling the case up like with a stick powder causing your ignition troubles.

From Hodgdon's website: H335

Originated as a military powder, used for the 5.56 NATO, or 223 Remington as handloaders know it. Obviously, it sees endless use in the 222 Remington, 223 Remington and other small cartridges. In particular, prairie dog shooters will find this a favorite, as J.B. Hodgdon has for years! Available in 1 lb. & 8 lb. containers.

Looking at the Hodgdon website for load data, they do list H335 for a powder for 7.62x54 but they don't go beyond a 150 gr. bullet for load data on it. Also looking at the loads for min and max....there is definately going to be some freeboard left in the case.

I had some similar issues you are describing with a powder and loads for an M-1 carbine, I wound up using magnum primers with my load for proper ignition, once that particular powder was used up I moved on to different powder.

[idpasharpshooter]

I'm using 50 grains of powder with a 123 grain bullet. i was trying to remember where i experienced that burning in the eye feeling before. it came to me that when i used to build model airplanes and i would get my face too close to something i was gluing together with ca glue my eyes would burn like that.

[Pukindog]

Rule of thumb applies here. When using any ball powder and the charge is 50 grains or more use magnum primers. The powder clumping together is a separate issue.

Jeff

[WVBob]

What the others have said, and...... What did you clean the case's with? Could they have lube/oil/water/something in them that would cause the powder to clump? Could something have gotten into the can? DANGER

[Xringshooter]

Sounds like the powder isn't burning completely (hang fires, squibs, etc) and as such it isn't creating enough pressure so it isn't expanding the casing enough to seal the chamber (which stops the gases from coming out the back around the bolt and such) and that is probably what is what you are feeling and causing your eyes to burn.

The powder not burning completely could be caused by using a standard primer (just not enough oomph to ignite the powder correctly), you might try a magnum to see what happens. The powder itself may be bad, it could have gotten contaminated some how. Clumping would have had to have happened inside the casing otherwise it wouldn't have flowed through your powder measure (unless the clumps are small). In that case, depending on how you prepped your cases, there could have been something inside the case that caused the clumping. If there is a lot of clumping that could mean that the powders' chemical composition may have changed also or what is causing it to clump is hindering the ignition.

[762xIan]

When I had my .30 carbine troubles, some of the unburned powder appeared "clumpy" or clumped together....I would say it appeared more "fused together" myself. Maybe from heat and not burning, definately wasn't case lube though.

Not sure this is what you are seeing with your clumps of H335.

Either way, magnum primers solved my issues.

I did fiind a few comments on other boards about H335 and other ball powders in larger rifle calibers and very cold weather not burning like you described. Consensus seems to be magnum primers.