Hello

I need some sugestions for case fillers for shooting reduced Cast Bullet loads in the 460. Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Mark

You can use various stuff fer fillin' the air space in a reduced load, kapock - toiletpaper -dacron - bran - cream of wheat etc. They all have different ways of being used so ask fer specifics when you decide which ta try.
I personaly use cream of wheat, fill Yer case to be slightly compressed and ifin' Yer seatin' to where lubes in the air space it'll keep it outa the powder purty good too.

It depends on the powder and how reduced the load is as to whether you need a filler or not.

On my first time out with my 500 Jeffrey, I loaded up some 470 gr cast over various charges of unique 20, 25 and 30 gr, with no filler. The loads were relatively accurately considering the iron sights and the action not bedded to the stock.

I also use unique with no filler in my 350 Rigby, and velocities are within 10 fps for a 5 shot string, yet the case is all of 1/4 full of powder.

I just don't like the idea of a filler in a bottlenecked case, seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Mark I've done a good deal of experimenting with fillers albeit not in a case that size. Usually I don't think their worth the trouble. Most often a guy is target practicing and shooting from a very similar position/gun angle which finds the charge laying usually fairly uniformly against a case wall. The ballistic uniformity is often quite good given that scenario.

If your going to use anything next to the charge I'd suggest cotton-- the real thing sold in those balls very inexpensively. That material should be ever so litely against the charge or just a minor fraction away from this position-- the quantity as uniform to wt as possible. Some make a seating punch of sorts to uniformly place that material in the same spot each trip, usally a wood dowel or similar cut to length.

Let us know how that cannon works out.

Addendum.. forgot something. Good neck tension as in uniform and firm goes a long ways to good ES's. I normally shoot a 312 check and rear band dia in 30's which gives around 3-4 thou of 'resistance' if you will. A crimp could help out too. Just make sure your ammo chambers safely to say the obvious..

[ 03-22-2003, 17:57: Message edited by: aladin ]

I have used Dacron II to great success. Fills the case, holds really well and easy to find and best of all, not messy. Most any fabric shop will sell you more than you will ever need for a couple of bucks. Can also steal a sample out of an old sleeping bag and try it out. Best regards.

There is a thread here about synthetics causing barrel ringing. Something about it melting?

I have used kapox for a long time in straight and bottlenecked cases. As far as I can tell it's ok.

Over the years,I've probably used all the more common fillers that are out there,except cotton.I have a bag of balls,that will be used(if Spring ever comes to NY).
For satisfactory results,nothing seems to beat Dacron.It's cheap,easy to get,easy to use and clean burning.
My two "next best" choices are Cream of Wheat,which is not clean burning,and Puf Flon,which aint cheap.
Frank

Kapok is a natural fiber and it burns readily with only an ash residue, I would think like cotton. It is very light. My kapok loads shoot better than without a filler. I use 12 to 13 grains of Unique under cast bullets in most of my mill surp loads. You can find it on Ebay. JB

I clocked some Blue Dot loads a couple weeks back albeit not low speed low pressure in my Marlin MR-7 06. The loading was 20 grs using Fed 210M primers in Rem brass with heat treated 170 LBT's seated hard into the lands/leade which still allows extraction of the rd w/o pulling the bullet. The ES for five rds was 11 fps which I'd say is good combustion efficentcy while clocking 1937 to 1926 over an Oehler chrono. The bullet was 310+ with a check dia of 312.

What this produces is fairly heavy bullet pull and good accuracy. I've experimented with alot of fillers but will say I've never seen a filler load nearly as consistent for accuracy IF the fuel is made to burn well, employing some of the techniques I outlined above.

While were an the subject of reduced loads in big cases. Anybody have any ideas for a reduced cast load for a 470 NE? I'm in the process of building the gun. Everythings ordered, so I'm not to the stage of shooting it yet, just gathering info. I've ordered the Lee 400gn mold and will have mountianmolds make me a 500gn mold.