Thread: Pistol powders in rifles question

Use AP70. I use it for small game loads in most of my "big"" rifles.

Unique and Universal/AP70N was specifically designed for low powered loads. In a high velocity cartridge, such as the .303, .308 or .243 try 12-14 grains; will get you about 1600 fps depending on bullet weight. In the 30/06 I have gone up to 16 grains. I use it in the .223 as well, with 7.5 grains and a 55 grain bullet giving me 2000fps, which is my new ".22 Magnum"". (And its much more accurate than any real .22 Mag I ever met in person, and guess what, its actually cheaper.)

You will find that it is extremely accurate as a low powered load in a big cartridge. Every load you make will shoot well.

As for fillers..., I have experimented a fair bit with paper, cotton wool, cornmeal, semolina...all of this is to try and get consistent ignition and therefor velocity when using position sensitive powders. H4227 / 2205 was the main culprit. I found that fillers sort of worked, and also sort of didn't because they were not reliable. Four rounds would be bang on, and the fifth would fly wild. I tried folding paper different ways. I tried cotton wool and paper together. I tried semolina. There was confetti and cotton wool fluttering down in clouds.

The upshot was that any filler increased pressure a great deal, and sometimes it would spike higher or lower because the filler would move, or the powder would. And this was just taking them to the range. I remember that after I had taken a batch of cartridges back and forth to the range in the car, hiked it around hunting, reloading the cartridges it in and out of the rifle several times, I started to wonder what was going on inside the cases. Weeks later I dissassembled a few rounds and then found that in every single one of them the filler had failed to keep the powder in the right place and I just had a case full of filler and powder mixed together. So I gave it up.

Later I got some AP70N, and life became sensible again. AP70N is position sensitive to an extent, because I have tested it, but much less than some other powders, certainly less than 2205, and I can live with it.

The only filler I use now, is black powder. But that is a tale for another day.