Lil'Gun and Your Forcing Cone?
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FrankenMauser
New member
I have used Lil Gun in .300 Blackout, .44 Mag, and .327 Federal; and it was the dominant powder in .458 SOCOM for several years (90-95% of my loads).
Probably somewhere in the range of 500-750 rounds, total.
I never saw any measurable impact on the revolvers and rifles.
They did, however, get hot a lot faster than with loads using other powders.
I have stopped using Lil Gun in metallic cartridges. What I have remaining has been set aside for .410 and similar shot shell loads.
Heat is bad. Why keeping using something less than ideal, when there are other options without the risk?....
Probably somewhere in the range of 500-750 rounds, total.
I never saw any measurable impact on the revolvers and rifles.
They did, however, get hot a lot faster than with loads using other powders.
I have stopped using Lil Gun in metallic cartridges. What I have remaining has been set aside for .410 and similar shot shell loads.
Heat is bad. Why keeping using something less than ideal, when there are other options without the risk?....
Sometimes you dont have options. When i started using lil gun i could not get H110. Yes it gets my gun hotter faster. However when dealing with hunting loads that i dont rapid fire, and only shoot 50-100rnds a year of, it works just fine. I do use and prefer h110, but i have no problem using lil gun either.
FrankenMauser
New member
When I started loading .458 SOCOM, there was a two-fold reason for Lil Gun:
1. It was all I could get.
2. It had the most data (lucky me).
But I have better options now.
No point in going with "hot" when I can choose something potentially less damaging.
1. It was all I could get.
2. It had the most data (lucky me).
But I have better options now.
No point in going with "hot" when I can choose something potentially less damaging.
IF temp is the only issue, there are hotter (temp) powders for sure that don't cause problems. The reports of erosion after only a handful of rounds may be hyperbole, but really, you are not going to get flame cutting from the max temp that LilGun can burn in the range of pressures by shooting single rounds. There is just not enough energy to heat up even a very thin forcing cone.
Thin forcing cones, larger cylinder to cone gaps and shooting cylinders full at a time, depending on the material and heat treat of the forcing cones, one could get there.
Thin forcing cones, larger cylinder to cone gaps and shooting cylinders full at a time, depending on the material and heat treat of the forcing cones, one could get there.
reynolds357
New member
What is it about lil gun? There are hotter powders used that are not being complained about.
too much effort to resize pics and up load. And obviously am not a photographer. About 10 rds through Ruger 32 mag ss with max loads lil gun and speer 75 jfp. Start of throat erosion and top strap cutting. While not serious damage, it happened too quickly for my preference. Stopped using lil gun for this application.
This doesn't mean this will happen in any or all applications someone may try to use it for. And no one said it would.
This doesn't mean this will happen in any or all applications someone may try to use it for. And no one said it would.
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Never ceases to amaze me how some will postulate without the actual experience or knowledge. Then try to say something someone actually experienced didn't happen. We used to "calibrate engineering models" with actually observed factual experience. Some engineers would try to argue their models were realty, in direct conflict with actual observed results.
Especially relevant when an acknowledged well known manufacturer states things based on what they say they observed in the revolvers they actually manufactured. So i accept it does not happen in the guns previous posters said it didn't. Because i don't have the specific experience they do.
Again, it does not mean it happens in every gun Lil gun is used in, as previously stated.
Especially relevant when an acknowledged well known manufacturer states things based on what they say they observed in the revolvers they actually manufactured. So i accept it does not happen in the guns previous posters said it didn't. Because i don't have the specific experience they do.
Again, it does not mean it happens in every gun Lil gun is used in, as previously stated.
reynolds357
New member
I want to know the reason.
Can't help ya with the reason, as i simply do not know.
Never ceases to amaze me how some will postulate without the actual experience or knowledge.
One data point (which is all you know) is not experience or knowledge.Only remarked on my specific case with a Ruger ss, and it is an observance of a physical result, not a postulation. Google is your friend, and it can provide definitions of words.
Course maybe you have some direct physical evidence using max charge of lil gun with Speer's 75 jfp in Ruger ss?
Or maybe your postulations are simply wrong?
Course maybe you have some direct physical evidence using max charge of lil gun with Speer's 75 jfp in Ruger ss?
Or maybe your postulations are simply wrong?
Perhaps an explanation of "no issues" may be helpful? Does it mean no throat erosion or top strap cutting in the revolvers?
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I'm really confused here. Lil Gun was developed primarily for reloading the .410 shot shell. If it burns so hot as to ruin a forcing cone in just a few shots, wouldn't it melt a plastic shot wad and then the lead shot, and leave a thick layer of plastic and lead in the shotgun's bore? Or, does powder act / burn differently in a shotgun compared to a handgun?
Aguila Blanca
Staff
You said it in post #27.Zeke said:
This argument is going nowhere. Read ALL the posts, read the links provided, and make up your own minds whether or not you want to risk using Li'l Gun for handgun rounds.
Thread closed.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
Clarification on my part:
Zeke has contacted me by PM to object that he did not say in post #27 that his forcing cone was ruined in a few shots.
Technically, he is correct. What he wrote was
I suppose I extrapolated in my understanding of that statement. To me, damage is damage. That said, the link provided in post #2 does clearly discuss forcing cone damage in a few shots. That's what Zeke asked in post #36.
Zeke has contacted me by PM to object that he did not say in post #27 that his forcing cone was ruined in a few shots.
Technically, he is correct. What he wrote was
I suppose I extrapolated in my understanding of that statement. To me, damage is damage. That said, the link provided in post #2 does clearly discuss forcing cone damage in a few shots. That's what Zeke asked in post #36.
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