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Reloaded some 16 ga. Gamebore shells 2 9/16". Cheddite hull, loaded it with Herco powder, Cheddite 209 primer, 1 oz. load, R-16 wad under 8,000 psi.
Noticed when I cleaned gun that there was unburned powder residue in barrels. Temperature was in the mid 30's. I am using some old powder that I have to use up for these shells. Shells shot and sounded fine as a few pheasants found out.
Any hints as to why? I'm reloading about 1.3 grs. lighter than stated because the bushing stated for Herco was throwing more.

Herco is a fairly dirty powder. Older Herco was dirtier yet. Softer loads will leave a lot of residue in the bore.

That said, Herco is a good powder and usually is uniform over the chronograph even with the sooty barrel. If they sound good shoot'em!

Slidehammer

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

You also may be getting some powder migration past the wad, using the R-16 wad, with the Cheddite hull.

Try placing a 1 inch square patch of plastic cut from a lawn and leaf bag over the base of the wad before ramming it into the shell. The patch will help prevent powder migration and will not raise pressures noticably. The patch simply blows out the end of the barrel with the wad.

8k psi is a bit on the low side to get a real clean burn rate with most double based flake powders like Herco. However, if you are getting decent velocities, no bloopers, and the shells are sufficiently effective on birds, I'd not be overly concerned. The little bit of residue in the barrels won't hurt anything between shots.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was not used to seeing unburned powder still in the barrels and couldn't figure out why it was unburned.
I had read your post before 16gaugeguy about the use of the plastic., and Dave I had read about the powder migration in another post you were in on, and this is probably what happened.
The shells like I said shot good, I probably won't be reloading a lot more, only have a little powder left and most liklely will not use it again.
Thanks

The plastic patch tip is worth remembering for any similar loading projects. Some folks here have adopted it and have had very satisfactory results. Its just one more tool to help us componant challenged 16 gauge reloaders along.

Maybe some day we will have a wide enough selection of componants so filler wads and other stop gap measures are no longer needed. Until then enginuity will get us by.

Joined: 16 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

Herco is considered a somewhat fast powder, but may not be a good powder in colder weather. Usually slower powders is where you will notice unburned residue in your barrels. You may try a little hotter primer.

Fast as compared to what? If compared to the entire gamut from Bullseye or WW231 Ball to the slowest magnum rifle powders, certainly. If used as a shotgun powder, it is considered moderately slow. It is well below Red Dot or 700X in burning rate and is suitable for small bores like 28 and 32 gauge guns. It is below Unique in the Alliant line up. Unique is listed as a moderate powder in any shotgun reloading manual

I've found Herco can be a bit sooty if the load pressures fall below 8800 PSI. It definately performs best between 9000 and 10000 PSI in shotguns due to the bigger bore expansion ratios and faster peak pressure fall off shotguns have. It really shines in the 28 gauge for fast 3/4 ounce loads.

In a modern steel 16 ga. it does not do quite as well as Unique for moderate 1200 FPS 1 ounce loads. However, Herco shines for use in the faster, 1300 FPS 1 ounce and moderately faster 1-1/8 ounce loads at more reasonable pressures. It is a tad more flexible than Unique and a bit denser for this purpose. However, other, more modern, more flexible powders like 800X have replaced it on my loading bench for faster hunting loads in the 16. In it's day, it was a well respected choice for 12 and 16 gauge express rounds.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

Dave the only way to get consistant powder charges with 800x is to measure each one on a scale. Its ok for hunting loads but not for target. I like the listed loads and the performance but agree with you I would never load big runs of the stuff very bad in the metering department.

I use an accurate pistol powder measure with a knocker. I set it to throw a 95% charge. this gets me very close without going over the desired charge weight. I then use a dribbler to bring up the charge to perfect.

Since I use 800X only for certain high speed hunting loads, I'm not bulk loading the stuff. I resize and prime my hulls on the press as usual and remove them to blocks. I then charge them with 800X all at one time and reinsert them into the loader to seat the wad, drop the shot, and crimp them closed as usual.

My MEC Grabber is very quick and handy for this procedure. It's like having the best of both a single and a progressive press. That is why I like a grabber so much. It is versitile.

Member Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 279 Location: Mn

I use a rcbs chargemaster and weigh every charge. Kind of expensive and takes a bit longer, but I get what I am looking for.