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Question for Nononsense
ChetStafford
Member Posts: 2,794
2-3 weeks ago you posted a reply about .223 wssm loads building up a carbon ring in the throat with hot loads.
Is there any powders that are more or less prone to this than others?I am starting to experience this condition and I am loading 2 gr. under max load I am loading H380
Would it help to switch to magnum primers?
My rifle will shoot good groups when clean then accuracy will degrade after 30-40 shots.
After a cleaning the accuracy is back on par.
Is there any powders that are more or less prone to this than others?I am starting to experience this condition and I am loading 2 gr. under max load I am loading H380
Would it help to switch to magnum primers?
My rifle will shoot good groups when clean then accuracy will degrade after 30-40 shots.
After a cleaning the accuracy is back on par.
Comments
"2-3 weeks ago you posted a reply about .223 wssm loads building up a carbon ring in the throat with hot loads."
This is what I wrote:
"The most common problem that I've found is that your barrel may appear to be clean but upon close (and I mean CLOSE) examination with a good borescope, you'll find a ring made from hardened carbon fouling that didn't get scrubbed out with your barrel cleaning procedure. It should be close to the front of the throat. This hard ring is extremely difficult to get rid of using standard cleaning practices.
I would use a black powder foaming bore cleaner followed by a good brush and if necessary use a tight patch on a worn brush coated with something like JB or USP bore scrubber. Keep checking with a borescope and repeat the process until all of the carbon ring is gone.
Using a powder like H4831sc aggravates the problem because it's too slow for this cartridge and bullet combination. I suggest using AA-XMR-4350 and maybe a Ramshot product or VihtaVuori powder, both of which are noted for clean burning characteristics."
I didn't state that hot loads caused the problem. Just the opposite in my opinion. These short stout cartridges need to operate at the very upper end of the safe pressure curve in order to NOT leave a carbon ring, so long as you use an appropriate powder. Higher pressure, hotter plasma and powders that don't use deterrent coating such as the Ball powders are needed to prevent the evil carbon ring for as long as possible. Magnum primers will work well as long as the load is safe, test to be sure.
H380 is a Ball powder and as such uses deterrent coatings to control the burn rate but which make this powder harder to ignite. It also has a tendency to burn dirty especially if the load is little below the upper end of the pressure curve. I know Ball powders are easy to throw with a measure but in this case you're working against yourself. Try another powder like Ramshot Big Game which is easy to meter and throw yet burns cleaner and has good burning characteristics. VihtaVuori N-150/N550 work also, it's just not going to give you a completely full case.
Best.
Emmet