Dacron vs cotton

[RicinYakima]

back in 1980s, my friend's grandfather (RIP) owned a 25/20 in a Win m92. it was farm and hunting gun for years. he liked to use 85 or 86gr SP Winchester ammo for deer. his furthest shot was around 60-70 yards, but mostly 20-30 yards. i should have bought that gun, but nooooo, its ballistics are meh. dumbarse, you should have bought it when you had a chance is what i tell myself.

Well, you have to remember that no 85/86 grain jacketed bullets have been made for years. While Hornady lists an 85 one, when I called the tech said they haven't been made in 10 years, and are not on schedule to ever be made again.

 

[CZ93X62]

I think Speer shut down their excellent 75 grain FNSP about a decade ago, too. 25/20 brass was getting scarce about that same time--and I lucked into 450 pieces of new/unfired R-P. Dunno if Starline has or will take it up, they have a nice trait of making runs of oddball cases from time to time.

 

[Barra]

About the Dacron smell.
I do shoot under roofing at the range but there are no sides.
It does smell a bit and I was mostly was using bullseye .
The inside of my cases after many firings would leave a black sooty tar type deposit.
I tried some bamboo /nylon filler and worked but the smoke was worse.
then came a blend of wool and nylon.
It stinks like a burning corpse smell.

I don’t use it much anymore.

It did take the vertical out of my groups thou.
I tried forward powder positioning and against the primer and yes they was a slight difference in velocity and poi shift.
So if you plan shooting up trees and down gullies then a tuft may help you.

I’ve used it for powder retention if I debullet a round in the chamber and lube buffer for powder instead of a wad.
But a wad might stop the little gremlins beating their little hammers on the base of my pb bullets, but then I would be worried about the wad falling /moving in the neck of the case, so I would have to use a filler.

urrrghhhh decisions.

 

[dale2242]

I would stick with Dacron.
It has been said that cotton can create a fire hazard,
I have read that cotton may not burn completely in the barrel and cause a fire when in lands in dry material.
I can`t vouch for that as I only have used Dacron.

 

[todd]

Well, you have to remember that no 85/86 grain jacketed bullets have been made for years. While Hornady lists an 85 one, when I called the tech said they haven't been made in 10 years, and are not on schedule to ever be made again.

i still should have bought when he died. he was an Italian until he came to the States. he would have called me "Asino" (dumb arse) for not buying it. he was only 5' tall, but he was built as a fireplug. i wouldn't slap him and stand there. he would knock me on my butt and go from there, cursing in Italian. i miss him, even tho he called me Scott.

they quit making an 85/86gr jacketed? i know he had about 1000 rounds that he bought in the 1950's or '60's. it might have been in the early '70s too. he taught me if "you use it, buy it now and buy alot, because you never know". i probably buy a mold that included FN HP, maybe a gas check.

 

[burbank.jung]

Does the dacron plastic every melt and get in the barrel or does it just blow through the barrel?

 

[johnnyjr]

What is the purpose of dacron anyway? Does it protect the base of the bullet or just to keep the power next to the primer??
I don't understand....

 

[Brad]

It acts as a positioner to keep powder against the primer.

 

[RicinYakima]

It acts as a positioner to keep powder against the primer.

Especially if you choice too slow of powder.

 

[Barra]

I’m of the school of you should leave a small gap between powder and filler so the powder can slump.
Charley Dell could ring a barrel by using powder and positioning the rifle vertically.

The Dacron burns up and supposed to vapourise with the Powder.
Kapok will do the same and is orgasmic.
I’m liking it at the moment but more work to reload.

It is not supposed to wad up and compress.
things like cork plastic sheet, flour ,grits and such are wads.
these are supposed to protect the base of the bullet from powder peening and or gas cutting.

I used to use a little fluffy ball and position it on the powder,but have ceased such malarkey .

 

[beagle]

I have used Dacron over the years off and on. I prefer not to because of the potential ringing hazards. It has its place. I tried cotton but went back to Dacron finding that quilting sheets from Walmart easy to use with squares cut giving consistent quantities.
Another option is florist foam. The green stuff. Visit the local cemetery after a wind storm and you’ll get a years supply. A friend used this for years and it works well in straight wall cases.
Many ways of doing this. All we are doing is reducing case capacity./beagle

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Maybe just quit screwing around and buy the correct stuff whose properties and techniques are well documented? A lifetime supply is $6 at the fabric store.

100%. This row has been howed and is what works. If something else was as good we would know of it as we know Dacron.

As mentioned very cheap and readily avalibel.

Amazon will have large bag on you door step
In days for cheap.

 

[dale2242]

I have just finished loading a large amount of cast loads in 7.62X54R and 8X57 using a 1 gr. Dacron filler.
I have been using it for more years than I like to remember without ringing a barrel.
Larry Gibson has done extensive testing with fillers.
He suggests when to use them and with which powders.

 

[Tom]

I used to hear of kapok being popular. I have no idea how it compares to other fillers. Out of curiosity, I checked Amazon. It's still available, but kind of spendy, around $10 a lb.

 

[Barra]

I am just starting to get into kapok.
First blush results indicate that is all consumed and no left overs.
No plastic smell, on firing or in cases.
Being an x smoker I don’t need any help

 

[johnnyjr]

When using Dacron,do you push it
down on top of the powder or just put it in the case ?? For 223 cal.. thanks. Is it the stuff in stuffed animals.. How much do you use??

 

[JonB]

Ideally, I measure and cut a put a piece of Dacron the size of the empty space (powder to bullet base). I insert the piece to touch the powder, but NOT compress the Dacron with the tool I'm inserting it with, or the bullet when seated.

 

[JonB]

Dacron is typically used in quilts.
Looks like this.

there is thin and thicker rolled sheets.

 

[dale2242]

As I said in post #33, I use 1 gr of Dacron in a 308/30-06 size case.
Don`t pack it down tight against the powder.
Leave it loose and fluffy between the powder and bullet.
! grain of Dacron will take up a quite a bit of space when left loose.

 

[todd]

i've got this from another forum about using Dacron. i use the hardwood floor.


Dacron is long fibered and springy, and can hold powder in place that weighs considerably more than the dacron, but you must give it some help by:

1) Ensuring that the dacron fills the entirety of the available space, and
2) is of sufficient density to fill that space with enough resistant dacron that the powder cannot shift around.

I suggest inserting some dacron in a charged case, then removing it and comparing its volume to that of the space you want to fill. What you see is similar to its condition at repose in the case.

Further, once you add dacron, slam the case, mouth down, as hard as you can manage against the top of your loading bench. Toss it against the carpeted floor, then, to ease your mind, against a hardwood floor if you're the inquisitive sort.

See how this holds up and if it fully prevents the powder from position shifts.

It should be able to resist some pretty serious G's in terms of impact and ability to hold the powder in place.

Depending upon the size of the case and the space to be filled, amounts can range from a small fraction of a grain to a few grains or so.

It should not be "packed" in as in the sense of tamping it down hard. Just push it in the case until resistance is lightly felt, ensuring the available space is filled from powder to where the bullet's base will be. Ensure that the dacron, before seating the bullet, will be a bit above the final position of the bullet's base.

Now test it. Visibly, the dacron should be substantial enough, when viewed from the top, that the powder cannot be seen through it. It should look "filled in" but not solid. Start the inertia testing after this is verified.

After the inertia testing, carefully remove the dacron and examine it. There should be no substantial amount of powder contained within the dacron fibers, and powder should not come out of the case along with the dacron when it is removed. The dacron should still be resting above the powder as it is withdrawn with no intermixing of the two after the inertia tests.