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Titegroup throwing flakes of burned powder everywhere


DonovanM

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Anyone have this problem? After I shoot even 100rds I get a bunch of flakes of what looks like burned powder on my forearms.

I've looked at high speed video testing recoil springs and firing pin stops and I can see it just dumping flakes of crap out of the chamber like a damn volcano, it gets everywhere.

I've been shooting TG in 9mm for years and never had this problem. I'm loading about 4.8 of TG behind a 180gr Berry's FP with CCI SRP.

I'm thinking it's the rifle primers burning too hot or something?

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Not a lot but yes. After a day of steel I would say about ten specks on both arms. 115 xtreme TMJ's 3.6 of Titegroup 1.142 OAL and a CCI #500 out of a Glock 34 with a 13# recoil spring.

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I notice flakes mostly when shooting lower pressure TG loads. I'm not sure what would be causing your loads to burn differently for no reason. New lot of powder, different primers, exposure of powder or primers to high humidity?

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I use a lot of TG, with minor and moderate power loads. I have not experienced what you describe, but I have noticed from time to time a "flash" right above the ejection port on my Glocks when shooting in matches. That is probably a less violent version of what is happening to you. I have loaded as little as 2.9g under 180g bullets. No extreme amounts of soot on my arms yet.

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I get some of these carbon flakes as well. Mostly I just see them on my forearms. I used to do more shooting with long sleeves (probably why I haven't noticed it more in the past) but have been shooting with short sleeves more recently and see them. I'm not terribly concerned. No pressure signs, still get my velocity, and it's not as bad as some powders I have loaded.

tl;dr version... yep, no biggie, keep shooting it.

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I use Titegroup quite a bit. I have noticed the burnt-powder flakes on my forearms after a match or a long practice session. I notice it more with "older" reloads (a couple of months old). Not sure why that would make a difference . . . maybe I'm imagining it.

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Someone I know was having a similar problem with his .45acp loads. His arm would be full of powder flakes. Coincidentally, he was loading near max for the load, and also using Berry's bullets. But his loads were too long, sometimes not completely chambering unless he bumped the back of the slide. And his crimp was too tight. Once he adjusted the load, the oal, and changed bullets, problem went away.

Could've been the pressure was too high, and the brass was being ejected too quickly before all the powder burned in the gun.

Your loads are past the max listed on the Hodgdon site. And combined with a possibly hotter primer and maybe too short an oal, you are creating very high pressures. What is your oal anyway?

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I find some speckles of titegroup on my arms at the end of the day.'I switched to a gun with a tighter chamber and now I very rarely see any and my brass stays cleaner.

I wouldn't worry about it honestly.

Argh. I cut my chamber with 3 thou excess headspace with a Manson reamer. I only get a smidge of black around the case mouth, they stay pretty clean. I'd rather not go any tighter than that.

I set my crimp as little as possible to get the most accuracy out of plated bullets. OAL is 1.18. I didn't think I'm pushing max on this load given the extra length?

I loaded some up with SPP, haven't gotten to shoot them yet. We'll see.

It isn't really a big deal, I don't get any weird SD or ES variations. Just something I've never seen before.

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I notice this happening for the first time this last weekend when I shot my 40 in a match for the first time. Gun shot well but I remember running thorugh flakes on one of the stages. I accidently loaded up some 180 pf rounds when I first reloaded for my TS and I don't remember seeing the flake cloud. I think it has something to do with low major power factors.

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  • 3 months later...

I had, what I believe to be, a case head separation in a Glock 35 MOS. The load consisted of the following: mixed cases, CCI 500 small pistol primers, Montana Gold 180 gr JHP bullet, and 6.7 gr of HS-6. I had only fifty rounds of the load remaining when the accident occurred. The remainder of the match ammo was the same with the powder charge changed to 4.7 gr. of Titegroup. The cartridge length was 1.130" with sufficient taper crimp to prevent setback. Damage to the pistol was limited: thrown mag release and extractor and a stuck case wall in the chamber of the factory barrel. After rebuilding the pistol and replacing the barrel with a KKM Precision to eliminate case bulge, I am seriously considering disassembly of the remaining reloads to prevent another occurrence of case head separation. I disassembled the remainder of the HS-6 load to check powder charge weights and found no problem. Additionally, I have sorted all of the reloads by case head and culled the odd head stamps and head stamps reported to be defective, i.e. the head stamp "FC".

Is the Titegroup charge too heavy with the MG bullet fired through the KKM barrel? The load is listed as maximum in several sources of reloading data.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Are we all talking about the same flakes...about 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch flat carbon with random shaped edges and light enough to float down slowly?

I've seen them randomly and with more powders than just Titegroup. For the longest time, I thought they were just coming out of our ventilation...lol

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