For my 375 H&H I am loading a reduced-load for plinking and possibly very close hunting. Open sights.
235 gr Speer with Somchem 335 powder.
https://www.somchemreload.com/search?c=8&f=127
Start load is 64.7 gr.
Is 60 gr too low?
If not, is a filler of tissue paper (I have no dacron) necessary?
If so, is a .75" square adequate?
Advice will be appreciated.

No knowledge of this powder.

But, 60 grains is 10% less than starting load, so should not be a problem.

I think you won’t need to use a filler for that much powder.

For reduced loads we usually use pistol or shotgun powder.

Works best.

Thanks Saeed.

dryer lint works just as good as Dacron.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
dryer lint works just as good as Dacron.

Excellent idea! Never would have thought of that.

I use S335 for .577/450 and .450 No. 2 Musket. About 35grs for 1200-1250ft/s with cast lead bullets in the order of 500-550gr.

In full-size cases I use toilet paper as filler, although most of the time I use reduced-volume cases.

If you want to use a toilet paper filler, determine what size you need to fill the whole available space when wadded into a ball. In my experience powder migrates into loosely-wadded material (whether dacron or TP) with handling, leading to inconsistent velocities in older ammo that has been handled some.

Thanks Peter
I was wary of stuffing too much paper in there, but you reckon that tamping it down is better?
I can see that if it is too loose then granules will slip around to the case mouth.

do not tamp a ball of anything down on top of the powder and leave loose room above it.

the filler material must touch both the powder and the base of the bullet.

think about an engines piston coming up against both valves closed.
only there ain't no spark to slow it down.

Agreed, a load with a filler should effectively be a compressed load.

The problem is not so much powder migrating past the filler, but even into the filler.

Capok is easy to get from Taylor’s.

And don't forget corn meal and cream of wheat.

Thanks for the points above.
Related question, though:
When is a filler required? Suggestion is that 10% below starting load it is not needed, but then at what point?

I load a lot of reduced charges, and I always use a filler.

Because I use fast pistol or shotgun powder, that leaves a lot of space in the case.

I am not sure what criteria one should use though.

I have never used filler in normal loads.

Try to get some kapok.

it's when you get down to super wide velocity variations but near the velocity you desire.

what your really doing it tricking the powder into 'thinking' it's in a smaller case.

for instance 28.5grs of 4895 in the 308 case gives about 1850 fps but with nearly 100 fps velocity variation.

add in a grain of lint,dacron,kapok etc. and you effectively have added in another grain or thereabouts of powder.
the velocity and pressure will kick up to about 1900-1950 fps. but the up and down on target will shrink from 2"s to about 1/2".

you've just turned your 308 into a short 300 savage.


some powders are more susceptible to wide variations at lowered amounts than others, but they will all suffer at some point.

Unique at about 8grs, 2400 around 16grs, 4895 at about 28-29, H-322 don't like being lowered without a filler and you'll know it right off.

even 4831 in the 308 will work, but your near 45grs. before it burns with enough pressure to clean up.
oddly it does fine at 34-35 in the 30-30 albeit at 1850 fps. [great place to burn up that yard sale,Idunno 4831?uncle bill had it in a sack]

One of the best and fool proof powders is Red Dot for light plinking loads.

I have loaded 3.5 to 4 gr of it alone in .300Win/M cases, and many hundreds in '06.
Generally, velocity runs 1500-1600fps with this very light charge.
I would have tried the same in .375 H&H but never had any cast bullets that size.

A friend used 15gr under 165gr hard cast to win many 200 yard CMP match's.


Mostly I used 158gr SWC cast slugs I use in a .38.

They do run out of steam at about 200 feet as so much velocity is lost.
But for closer plinking this makes a fun plumb cheap ammo.
More so with the cast bullets I used.
Primers were the major expense.
Back then I was getting CCI caps for about $9/1000.

Just make sure you use RED Dot, and not Blue Dot in reduced loads like this.

Great for teaching women and kids how to shoot the big guns with recoil hurting them.
For several years I'd load a 3# coffee can full of 06 loads and take them to the 50foot
indoor range for the kids and women to shoot up.
It was very popular.

Using that little of it a pound will go a long way.

George

A single base powder needs no filler. Double base powders dont reduce well.



FOUND- Somchem S335 powder is a single-base propellant. It primarily consists of nitrocellulose, unlike double-base powders which also include nitroglycerin.

HODGDON- Take the maximum charge listed and multiply by 60% (.6). The load may
be adjusted up from there to achieve the desired velocity and accuracy.

kapok is the old Lyman standard for filling the rifle case using pistol powders. Nothing else should be used, unless you want a ringed barrel.