I finally tried something I'd read about: filling the remainder of a cavernous revolver case with cream of wheat.
My test was with 45 Colt, 255 grain cast powder coated bullets, and Titegroup powder. All groups had the same powder charge, bullet, seating, crimp, primer; same everything except the cream of wheat.
I made 3 groups: the control group with no filler, Cream of Wheat (COW) group 1 with 1.0cc COW (red stripe), COW group 2 with 1.3cc COW (black stripe).
I shot the control group, a standby I've put through my Ruger Blackhawk before to get the feel of recoil. It's a warm load that is at the top of the chart according to Lyman 50th edition and is off the chart according to Hornady 8th edition.
The red stripe group was next and recoil was a little stouter. Also noticed the sweet smell of burnt cream of wheat. Upon ejection of the empties, there was some unburned COW and/or powder still in the cases.
The black stripe was next and that was noticeably more stout than the other two. Besides the recoil, I also noticed that COW group 2 sealed the chambers up much better than the other loads, see the blow-by in the picture. There was no unburned COW or powder left behind.
I did not bring my chronograph so I don't know for sure that the velocity was higher with the COW loads but that was not the point of using cream of wheat, it's to keep the small amount of powder next to the primer and help build uniform pressures.
Has anyone here used cream of wheat in reloading? What were your observations?
My test was with 45 Colt, 255 grain cast powder coated bullets, and Titegroup powder. All groups had the same powder charge, bullet, seating, crimp, primer; same everything except the cream of wheat.
I made 3 groups: the control group with no filler, Cream of Wheat (COW) group 1 with 1.0cc COW (red stripe), COW group 2 with 1.3cc COW (black stripe).
I shot the control group, a standby I've put through my Ruger Blackhawk before to get the feel of recoil. It's a warm load that is at the top of the chart according to Lyman 50th edition and is off the chart according to Hornady 8th edition.
The red stripe group was next and recoil was a little stouter. Also noticed the sweet smell of burnt cream of wheat. Upon ejection of the empties, there was some unburned COW and/or powder still in the cases.
The black stripe was next and that was noticeably more stout than the other two. Besides the recoil, I also noticed that COW group 2 sealed the chambers up much better than the other loads, see the blow-by in the picture. There was no unburned COW or powder left behind.
I did not bring my chronograph so I don't know for sure that the velocity was higher with the COW loads but that was not the point of using cream of wheat, it's to keep the small amount of powder next to the primer and help build uniform pressures.
Has anyone here used cream of wheat in reloading? What were your observations?
