Old Sandman 71
Member
I ran across a reference in Kuhnhausen's shop manual for the SAA that under-loaded cartridges, (loaded to less than the minimum charge listed in a loading manual) can produce "random spikes in pressure" (pg 27; figure 17) that can result in catastrophic damage to a gun.
I can understand charges that are too low can lodge a bullet in the barrel, but I've never seen any reference to this phenomenon in any loading manual that I've read. My guess is that these pressure spikes are related to cartridges that were originally designed to hold a large volume of black powder (.45 Colt, .38-40, 44-40 for example) being filled with a relativity smaller volume of smokeless causing problems due to the distance the powder is from the primer in a largely empty case. Am I in the ballpark?
Since I still consider myself a neophyte in the world of reloading, I wonder if some of you who have more experience could explain the and physics behind these spikes?
Thanks
I can understand charges that are too low can lodge a bullet in the barrel, but I've never seen any reference to this phenomenon in any loading manual that I've read. My guess is that these pressure spikes are related to cartridges that were originally designed to hold a large volume of black powder (.45 Colt, .38-40, 44-40 for example) being filled with a relativity smaller volume of smokeless causing problems due to the distance the powder is from the primer in a largely empty case. Am I in the ballpark?
Since I still consider myself a neophyte in the world of reloading, I wonder if some of you who have more experience could explain the and physics behind these spikes?
Thanks