Lil-gun....

[woodperson]

About 15 years ago when I started hand gun loading I bought a small bottle of Lill-gun because that is what the shop said was good. I did not load it much because I was more interested in lighter loadings. I loaded Blue Dot in my .41 Mag. Since I am not supposed to use the Blue Dot any more and because I wanted to try some full strength loads I loaded up some 210 XTP's with the minimum recommended dose of Lil-gun. Somewhat to my surprise they were very accurate and not all that bad to shoot. So I like it. But the internet is full of flame cutting stories and forcing cone erosion stories about Lil-gun. So my question is "is 20 grains of Lil Gun behind a 210 XTP likely to wear my gun a lot more than other loadings in the same velocity range?" It may be a slightly moot point, because I will likely only shoot 50 or so over the next couple of years but I would still like to hear any current fact or opinions on Lill-gun in the .41 mag and .357 mag.

 

[WIL TERRY]

NO!

And so it goes....

 

[Tom W]

It will do just fine. I used it with my .454 and liked it. It seems to mimic H110.

 

[powder smoke]

I load a couple of calibers with it, I too was concerned and keep an eye out
for flame cutting and erosion. Haven't seen any. ps

 

[Three50seven]

Hodgdon lists the range for Lil'Gun under a 210gr XTP as 20.5 - 22.5gr.

It seems that Lil'Gun has gained a bad reputation for some reason. It is my go-to powder for 300 BLK in my Ruger American Ranch. Try Googling "Lil'Gun 300 BLK" and you will be flooded with warnings from basement commandos about all the horrible things it will do to your gun. If it wasn't safe, Hodgdon wouldn't publish data for it. They have nothing to gain by ruining people's guns.

 

[woodperson]

Got a chance to go to the range today and shoot some of the new Lil-gun loads. 20 gr under 210 XTP in .41 mag. The gun did get warm. I shoot 5 shot groups and stop and reload and probably check the target between. Not hot, but warmer to the touch than from the other loads I was shooting. Maybe burning 100 grains of powder in about the same time frame as burning 25 or 30 grains of powder from the weaker loads does make the gun warmer?

Interesting to me is the accuracy. I started out a little recoil sensitive and have been working up to the heavier loads. It really surprises me that the faster Lil gun loads give me smaller groups that all of the slower loads I have tried so far. I can not really explain that. I shot some Tight group loads at about 1150 and the Lil gun at 1500 (book value) and got consistently smaller groups with the Lil gun. I would have bet the other way.

 

[Three50seven]

Interesting to me is the accuracy. I started out a little recoil sensitive and have been working up to the heavier loads. It really surprises me that the faster Lil gun loads give me smaller groups that all of the slower loads I have tried so far. I can not really explain that. I shot some Tight group loads at about 1150 and the Lil gun at 1500 (book value) and got consistently smaller groups with the Lil gun. I would have bet the other way.

I'm not surprised by that. When working up loads for my 300 BLK and 30-30 earlier this Spring, I found both rifles performed best with near top-end loads. It's not always the case, but I have found more times than not that starting loads and lower velocity loads don't perform as well.

 

[jsh]

....

 

[Laserbait]

Yes, it will, but only if you're foolish. Let me explain: My first Ruger is a GP100, and I shot the heck out it with 16.5 grains of Lil'gun an a 158 grain bullet. It was my only gun at the time, and I would put through 2-300 rounds in about 2 hours or so. Only giving it a break when the the frame was hot to the touch (60+ rounds in a row). So now, that I'm older and wiser, I can see the damage that was done. It's forcing cone is pretty cratered and spits out burning powder when fired, but it's such a damn good shooter, I won't send it to Ruger. I'm just really sorry I did it to to the poor thing.

Fast forward to many years later when I got my 4" Redhawk 44 Mag. I still shot the snot of it with 24 grains of Lil'gun and a 225 GC-SWC, but I never let it get hot. I know that I've put over 15K of those rounds through it, as well as over 10K light loads (7.5 grains of 231 with a 200 grain plated bullet) through it, and the forcing cone looks great on it.

Moral of the story, If you're using Lil'gun, don't let the gun/barrel get hot when shooting it. Let the gun cool and it'll be fine for a long time to come.

 

[Tom W]

^^^^^^^^^what he said^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[mohavesam]

Never had a problem with Lil Gun. But then I have always followed manuals and try not to tilt at windmills...

And I clean my bores and don't shoot like they do in movies.

 

[RUFFBIRD]

One thing I could never understand about LilGun powder is it produces lots of velocity with less pressure than other powders. I tried it one time in .357 mag & was impressed with it, but never need that much speed to shoot targets. Should be a good powder for deer hunting!

 

[Shaggy357]

Phffffttttttt.....so much BS.....Try to find a Super Blackhawk in 357 Max with flame cutting and throat erosion. They were notorious for it, remember? Ha. I have one with many 1000s of rounds thru it without even a mark in the top strap. I have also never see a gun that was destroyed by Lil Gun. It wouldn't be on the market if it really did that.

Not saying that folks do not have throat erosion, flame cutting, top strap cutting, etc. I have seen plenty of that. All high velocity or high pressure rounds that, more often than not, were shot even after the gun was realistically too hot to shoot.

Go shoot your Lil Gun loads. If they eat your 41 mag, let me know. I will buy you a new one and keep your old one.

 

[BIgMuddy]

Will you buy me a new FA 454?

Dan