Too little of a powder a charge?

[Franky4Fingers]

Is there such a thing? I've had small charges before and never had a problem. I read somewhere that they said you don't want too small of a charge becuase it could be hazardous as well.

Any thoughts?

[Wiley-X]

The most obvious thing is that you might not have enough powder to get the bullet out of the barrel.

Another thing is that if you have a small charge, it can wind up lying on the side of the case and can burn very erratically.

[normanvin]

The most obvious thing is that you might not have enough powder to get the bullet out of the barrel.

Another thing is that if you have a small charge, it can wind up lying on the side of the case and can burn very erratically.

What he said.

[Franky4Fingers]

I suppose that is why I heard to put toilet paper wading down in the case to hold the powder against the primer.

However, the cases of it being dangerous are most likely what I original thuoght....nonsense.

[brian]

However, the cases of it being dangerous are most likely what I original thuoght....nonsense.

and you be wrong, very wrong.
there are pictures about of at least one revolver blown up from a lite charge.
that erratic burn, is an uncontroled burn.

[Lycanthrope]

Secondary Explosion Effect is really rare, but not out of the question.

It's never happened to me or anyone I know so I can't really comment on it.


Lycangooglethrope

[MrBi11]

http://www.reloadammo.com/liteload.htm

[Tim Ault]

Is there such a thing? I've had small charges before and never had a problem. I read somewhere that they said you don't want too small of a charge becuase it could be hazardous as well.

Any thoughts?

Are you refering to rifle or handgun cases? As for reduced loadings in rifles and cast bullets Yes there is dangerous things that can happen IE :SEE
Can it be caused buy using small changes of fast burning powders in rifle cases? IMO no Caused by reduced charges of slow buring powders YES! I have shot literally thousands of cast bullets using small charges of pistol and shotgun powders in various 30 cal. rifles (my favorite is 6 grs of bullseye in a 30-06 ) and feel totally safe doing so . What I would never do is load half a case of 4350 or the like ! That is what causes SEE problems. If the SEE effect was caused by reduced charges of fast powder ,Why cant any of the powder manufacturers duplicate one in a labratory setting????

[phill]

Had this conversation with the rep. from Sierra several years ago. The only time that they were able to reduce the charge and increase the pressure was with 296. Do not reduce the charge below recommended with this powder.

[25-06shooter]

1) In a revolver, there is a danger that you don't get the bullet out of the barrel, and if you don't notice or are in rapid fire, the next projectile piles into and and splits the barrel.

2) In rifles there was a debate about this, decades ago. It was mainly a problem with serious undercharges of very slow burning powder (esp. 4831). I say "debate," because some said it couldn't happen and others produced reports saying that it had where that was the only explanation for the blowup. And blowups there were -- top of receiver ring blow out, receiver split and stock in splinters, very serious detonations. Back then, anyway, no one could produce a good explanation, and there were guesses.

3) One side effect: years ago I loaded round ball in my .44 Charter Arms, for plinking. I didn't have Bullseye and used small charges of Unique instead. I found it would accumulate unburned powder around the cylinder-barrel gap, and every now and then a shot would ignite this, resulting in a fiery puff at that location.