Anyone ever load below minimum?

[shooter444]

Pale Rider,... I agree, I will just get the Chrony out, lessen the charge a couple of 10ths at a time, and watch for low pressure signs. I am still prepping cases, so, I may find that the recoil isn't so bad, at the minimum published charge,... and not have to lessen the charge much, if at all.

Good conclusion Pale rider,... SOP, is always a good route to take!

Thanks to all!!!

[Elk34]

Just re-read the OP, a little confusing, for sure,.... so I fixed it a little.

Flash, I am not interested in finding a different powder, or a different load,... I was just wondering about loading what I have at less than minimum load data,... and wondered if there were any down sides to doing such.

Never go under the specified minumum load

[Elk34]

Just re-read the OP, a little confusing, for sure,.... so I fixed it a little.

Flash, I am not interested in finding a different powder, or a different load,... I was just wondering about loading what I have at less than minimum load data,... and wondered if there were any down sides to doing such.

Never go under the specified minimum load on any power. There is a reason they don't want you down there. I shouldn't have to say why. If you don't want to change your powder and want to stay with the powder you are using that's it. If you go under the minimum it's on you. Now there are powders out there for subsonic 308. I talked to winchester and they use a pick and pull foam in there cases to take up the empty space in the case.

[shooter444]

Elk34,... first, I am NOT loading subsonics.

Second, the powder I am using is filling 80% the case,
even when going below minimum charge data.

Minimum load data was 50.7 grains, for this powder.
I have gone down to 50.4 grains and then 50 grains with no adverse signs, no problems,
they chrony out at between 2,800 FPS and 2,900 FPS.

Elk34,...when I load subs, I use Trail Boss, exclusively.
Fills cases better than any other powder I have!

[Flash]

You can go under minimum charge all you want as long as you're using fast powders and nothing bad will happen until you get down to where a bullet gets stuck in the barrel.

With handguns with barrels around 2-½" or shorter, a primer will probably be strong enough to blow the bullet out the barrel.

A friend of mine experimented pretty extensively with this over a wide range of calibers and found that if you used a magnum primer and no powder at all, the magnum primer would pretty reliably blow a bullet out of a 4-½" or shorter barrel.

Now with mid range burning or slow burning powders, you don't want to go below minumums.

[shooter444]

I hear ya, Flash,... I was only interested in going under minimum to see if I could get any decrease in recoil. Minimum load resulted in around 3,000 FPS. My "below minimum experiment" was only a couple hundred FPS slower,... and had no noticeable decrease in recoil, so,...all for naught!

Any less of a charge and I would be getting into the case, less than half full, mark,.... nothing I am interested in doing. I always choose my powder, by caliber, to fill a case 75%, or more,... just a crazy quirk of mine.

[Elk34]

Ok so you want to go below minimum on a powder load. It's not safe, but if you have the money to replace barrels have at it. Put some paper up so you know it left the barrel so you dont start stacking bullets up in the barrel. Good luck

[Flash]

It's perfectly safe if you know what you're doing.

You obviously don't, so don't do it.

[shooter444]

Ok so you want to go below minimum on a powder load. It's not safe, but if you have the money to replace barrels have at it. Put some paper up so you know it left the barrel so you dont start stacking bullets up in the barrel. Good luck

Hi Elk34,... fyi,... it is impossible to get a chrony reading, unless the bullet leaves the barrel,... which makes it a great safety tool for developing subs.

But, in this case,... projectiles leaving a barrel, at thousands of feet per second, don't have much of a chance of not exiting,... imo.

When loading for the slowest / subsonic results,... which is what I believe you are talking about,... I have loaded 223rem subs for my pump action rifle that were so slow they wouldn't cycle a semi-auto,... and, I had a half dozen squibs before finding that perfect sub load, that would not squib.

In other words,... been there,... done it!

But, thanks for your cautionary concerns, anyway.

[Flash]

Pro tip with reduced loads:

If the empty casing is ejected from your semiauto, the bullet definitely left the barrel.

What could be easier?

[Elk34]

Ok so you want to go below minimum on a powder load. It's not safe, but if you have the money to replace barrels have at it. Put some paper up so you know it left the barrel so you dont start stacking bullets up in the barrel. Good luck

Hi Elk34,... fyi,... it is impossible to get a chrony reading, unless the bullet leaves the barrel,... which makes it a great safety tool for developing subs. Projectiles leaving a barrel, at thousands of feet per second, don't have much of a chance of not exiting,... imo.

When loading for the slowest / subsonic results,... which is what I believe you are talking about,... I have loaded 223rem subs for my pump action rifle that were so slow they wouldn't cycle a semi-auto,... and, I had a half dozen squibs before finding that perfect sub load, that would not squib.

In other words,... been there,... done it!

But, thanks for your cautionary concerns, anyway.

Thanks for taking what I said with a grain of salt. I've been there and done that too. Working on a sub round for 300 bulk out I stacked 3 up before I figured out what was going on. After that when I put up my crono I put a target right behind it. Like 3 inches behind it.

[was21]

Ok so you want to go below minimum on a powder load. It's not safe, but if you have the money to replace barrels have at it. Put some paper up so you know it left the barrel so you dont start stacking bullets up in the barrel. Good luck

Hi Elk34,... fyi,... it is impossible to get a chrony reading, unless the bullet leaves the barrel,... which makes it a great safety tool for developing subs. Projectiles leaving a barrel, at thousands of feet per second, don't have much of a chance of not exiting,... imo.

When loading for the slowest / subsonic results,... which is what I believe you are talking about,... I have loaded 223rem subs for my pump action rifle that were so slow they wouldn't cycle a semi-auto,... and, I had a half dozen squibs before finding that perfect sub load, that would not squib.

In other words,... been there,... done it!

But, thanks for your cautionary concerns, anyway.

Thanks for taking what I said with a grain of salt. I've been there and done that too. Working on a sub round for 300 bulk out I stacked 3 up before I figured out what was going on. After that when I put up my crono I put a target right behind it. Like 3 inches behind it.

So what did you do with that barrel that you stacked 3 into????

[knockonit]

probably still shooting it. argh and making it a triple decker stacker barrel, rumor is they are gonna be in demand during this so called crisis.

[Elk34]

Hi Elk34,... fyi,... it is impossible to get a chrony reading, unless the bullet leaves the barrel,... which makes it a great safety tool for developing subs. Projectiles leaving a barrel, at thousands of feet per second, don't have much of a chance of not exiting,... imo.

When loading for the slowest / subsonic results,... which is what I believe you are talking about,... I have loaded 223rem subs for my pump action rifle that were so slow they wouldn't cycle a semi-auto,... and, I had a half dozen squibs before finding that perfect sub load, that would not squib.

In other words,... been there,... done it!

But, thanks for your cautionary concerns, anyway.

Thanks for taking what I said with a grain of salt. I've been there and done that too. Working on a sub round for 300 bulk out I stacked 3 up before I figured out what was going on. After that when I put up my crono I put a target right behind it. Like 3 inches behind it.

So what did you do with that barrel that you stacked 3 into????

Pull the barrel and pressed out the 200 grain bullets. Seeing that it was a heavy bull barrel, no real damage done. I rebarreled with same barrel and started shooting again.

[Elk34]

Ok so you want to go below minimum on a powder load. It's not safe, but if you have the money to replace barrels have at it. Put some paper up so you know it left the barrel so you dont start stacking bullets up in the barrel. Good luck

Hi Elk34,... fyi,... it is impossible to get a chrony reading, unless the bullet leaves the barrel,... which makes it a great safety tool for developing subs. Projectiles leaving a barrel, at thousands of feet per second, don't have much of a chance of not exiting,... imo.

When loading for the slowest / subsonic results,... which is what I believe you are talking about,... I have loaded 223rem subs for my pump action rifle that were so slow they wouldn't cycle a semi-auto,... and, I had a half dozen squibs before finding that perfect sub load, that would not squib.

In other words,... been there,... done it!

But, thanks for your cautionary concerns, anyway.

Thanks for taking what I said with a grain of salt. I've been there and done that too. Working on a sub round for 300 bulk out I stacked 3 up before I figured out what was going on. After that when I put up my crono I put a target right behind it. Like 3 inches behind it.

I at the time didn't put the cronograph up. I thought I had worked out my load data. First 2 went down range. Next 3 didnt. So I went back to using Acc 1680 instead of trying to find other powders to work.