Do Lil Gun or 1680 burn cleaner than IMR 4227

1

17freak

New member
Shooting a Browning Low Wall in 22 hornet with Hornady 45SP and Rem 6 1/2 primers. Seems I get lots of powder fouling with 4227 was wondering if switching to the other two powders would alleviate the fowling.
Incidentally I have shot a greater variety of critters with this gun than any of the 35 caliber rifles I own. Its addictive.
 
I used to use Lil Gun a lot but after trying CFE BLK I have been using that ever since. 12.5 grains of it should give you around 2500 fps with the 45 grain bullet.
 
Originally Posted By: RustydustI used to use Lil Gun a lot but after trying CFE BLK I have been using that ever since...
Rusty, are you saying it is much cleaner than Lil-Gun ? TIA
 
Originally Posted By: Bob_AtlOriginally Posted By: RustydustI used to use Lil Gun a lot but after trying CFE BLK I have been using that ever since...
Rusty, are you saying it is much cleaner than Lil-Gun ? TIA

Yeah. Seems to be. For so many years I used nothing but Lil Gun in my .221 Fireball but after reading somewhere (here?) about CFE BLK I decided to try a pound of it. What do you know? Less fouling in my barrel. Good speeds too. Now that's all in use in my the Furball as well as my .17 Hornet. Good speeds, fine accuracy and less cleaning. I think that I will stick with it.
 
Switching to Lilgun will give you impressive speeds, and much less pressure, in the Hornet.

Hodgdon says pressures are about 32,000psi vs 42,000psi with other powders.

Out of my Ruger 77-Sporter, with the 20" barrel, I get about 2,900fps with a 45gr Barnes XLC, and about MOA accuracy.

As to 'cleanliness', I don't recall, as I have not used H4227 in my Hornet since I found Lilgun, back in the early 90's. The higher speeds, lower pressures and greater accuracy of Lilgun trumps 'cleanliness', at least for me.
 
I spoke with Hodgdon after seeing Rusty's note and they confirmed that it should be cleaner. The caveat is that the Hornet generates such low pressure that the cleaning action won't be as effective as in a higher pressure cartridge. Still I get tired of dealing with the fouling after 50 shots so I will give it a try. I also have a pound of Lil Gun and if the results aren't as hoped for then I will switch to that.
I'm helping a couple of farmers with a critter problem that need to be addressed. Extra speed is not called for.
Thanks to all who responded
 
4227 is like dumping dirt in your barrel.

I dumped all of mine in the flower bed, would not even consider giving it away.

I shot a lot of AA1680 it is very clean burning, but today, there are better choices, little gun and CFE black for starters. I also had great luck with Win 296.
 
I like 1680 and Lil Gun both for their great metering. Some powders cleaner than others but getting them loaded into proper psi range helps all powders burn cleaner.
 
11.0 grains of Lil Gun produce a beautiful tight group for my initial test. Fouling was almost non existent so since I can't find BLK at the moment I will work with LilGun for the time being. I could go up to 11.7 for the max but 3/4 in edge to edge in this low wall makes me wonder why.
 
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