Odd fire on 357 mag load and 00 buck questions

[unfy]

Was at the range today, shooting a mix of .40 and 357mag.  I really need to go ahead and get a better .40 powder than what I'm using (Unique) .... entirely too smokey.  Don't have another use for Unique tho... so... might just have to trudge through the 6 pounds that are left or something.

Anyhoo, one of my 357 rounds fired very... oddly.  *something* caused the round to properly seal the barrel or something.  It was a gas escape and low pressure situation with quieter report and softer recoil.  Had the standard feeling of getting a light sand blast across hands as well.  Made sure barrel was clear and inspected the brass for that particular round.

It's a nickel plated brass and had some... burnt powder 'sand' (lack of a better word) on the outside of the brass about 1/4 way from the mouth.  The primer was also not as flattened as is typical of 357mag rounds (even factory).... so... it was obviously a low pressure situation as the round fired.  Inspecting the brass, I don't see any cracks, and no signs of head separation.  Placing the wall of the brass against a flat surface (ie: edge of calipers), there are bulge(s) in the case.

I use an extremely light to non-existent crimp.

Are there any ideas as to what happened ?

I've marked the brass and will be keeping it out of my recycle bin... just... to try to study it more.  I'd really like an idea as to WTF happened.  I don't like surprises like that


And for surprises, I bought a Mec 600 Jr for shotshell reloading.  My only interest is loading self defense rounds of 3" 12ga with 14-15 pellets of 00buck.  Got some Fiocchi primed shells and RP12 wads along with some hornady shot and some blue dot (and appropriate powder bushing).  Getting pellets to rest in groups of 3 (per 'layer') is difficult and sometimes make the shells slightly difficult to load into the chamber.  14 pellets doing figure 8 loadings is easier, but not my desire.  I've got a few ideas / plans on how to get loading the pellets to be less labor intensive, we'll have to see how they work out.  If 14 pellets is the max i can do reliably... then so be it.

Although, I wouldn't be adverse to someone pointing me to a recipe / wad combination that makes this easier.  I've seen mentionings of the fiber disc wads in lieu of a shot cup wad combo... but... without a formal recipe, I'm scared as doggy doo doo to try it.

in ... 5 - 6 hours, heading to range to try out the shot shell experiment... always so nervous about firing first reload of a given 'cartridge'... wish me luck

Oh, if anyone's got any suggestions of cheap 00 buck pellets, I'm all ears.... think BC's 8 pound jugs, especially when on sale when buy four... is ... closest i've come to 'good deal' territory, but still over priced IMHO.

[Dan W]

Sounds like that .357 didn't have a full load of powder or the powder was bad.

I have no answers for the 00Buck question.

I shoot a lot of shotgun, so I don't need any practice with SD loads, and I just buy what I need for SD new.

My thinking is that as long as the recoil and POI are the same, it matters not if I am practicing with 00Buck or with 7.5 shot

[unfy]

The 357 being a squib would be hard to accept.  I *can* accept it, but I tend to be cautious in my auto progressing press and have a 'powder check' die that I use rigorously.  Lack of powder, weird ignition problem, something... I guess I can accept.  So far out of 50 rounds from that batch, it was the only problem round.


In regards to the shotgun loading ... my home defense shotgun is a Mossy 500A 'Persuader' in pistol grip only.  I've got tiny doorways, so the PGO is preferred. The lighter 00buck is tolerable, but the magnum charges are brutal on my poor hand & wrist.  Was able to get through 15 shells today before having to finally just puss out and give up. 

Out of the 15 shells ... patterning was generally on the ugly side (as expected).  How the Rem Express Mag 15pel shells get a neat asterisk pattern I have no idea .  I'll have to just cut one open and see how they assemble the shell.

Kind folks at the BH suggested I look into getting a Knoxx Stock, and indeed I will end up getting one ... an alleged 75% recoil reduction sounds very nice hehe

[unfy]

Knoxx stock should be here Tuesday the 24th, I hope.  It's shipping to work, so I'll bring my shotty & tools to work on Tuesday so I can swap it out here at work then head to the range afterwards .

I also finally had some success at digging around for 00 buck pellets ... and was able to finally find someone who offers it semi-decent prices at semi-decent quantities.... rather than 5lb and 8lb rape that is typical.

Apparently Remington has a 25LB bag you can get at some places.  I dunno what shipping is, but it still cuts the cost of 00 buck shells at home by half.  One example is:

http://www.precisionreloading.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PRE&Product_Code=SHBUCKRM00&Category_Code=BUCKSHOT

----

Granted, it's not too hard to come across different brands of 3" 15 pellet 00 buck shells for around $8 per 10 in factory loads.  At $65 for the buckshot, reload still comes out ~33-50% cheaper.  Also, I'm wondering if after the Knoxx stock, if I'll even need to concern myself with how hard the 3" magnum shells bite... meaning ... i... may not need my press cause i won't need to put so many heavy shells through as reminders ? 

But... it's fun to load your own shotgun shells!  i still need to take apart one of the remington express 3" magnum 15 pellet shells to see how they get it to pattern in a star shape.  all my shells do is punch a big hole in the paper with very little expansion (which, i *want* some expansion).

annnnddd... i still need to load peppercorns once and see if i can flavor inject a chicken / turkey.

waaaaaaah! 

[unfy]

Knoxx Stock arrived.

I love the thing.

After 8 high powered shells with absolutely no recoil induced pain in my hand / wrist, I thought I could try two high powered shells in moderate succession.  That... didn't work out so well  ... see pic ...  I'll be getting some liquid bandage stuff and what not tonight on way home from work hehehe.

After a quick trip to the bathroom to clean up (and a ciggy break), went back in and finished the remaining shells.  14 high powered shells in total and my hand is no worse for wear.... doesn't even feel like I've been shooting the shotgun today at all.

So --- Knoxx Stock Breacher's Grip with recoil reduction, I whole heartedly approve of! It worked so well I was stupid and thought I could do something I obviously couldn't 

[Toster]

annnnddd... i still need to load peppercorns once and see if i can flavor inject a chicken / turkey.

Check out:

http://www.seasonshot.com/About.cfm

[unfy]

annnnddd... i still need to load peppercorns once and see if i can flavor inject a chicken / turkey.

Check out:

http://www.seasonshot.com/About.cfm

Yeah, it's a fun mock sight.  Unless they were really working on coming up with a heavy flavor-packed resin .

Mine is more out of sheer curiosity.  I'm a bit nervous about having to remove the wad... but... it seems like it might be an interesting experiment.  Gonna have to make sure that barrel is ULTRA clean before trying it tho.  I prefer my birds unleaded...

The other thought was to try a ham with cloves...