SmallCaliberCentral

Alright guys, I'm having a problem with my loads and barrel fouling. I'm loading in a cz 527 sporter, and so far have been loading both 40 gr bergers, and 34 grain dogtown bullets. I'm using remington brass, have tried both rem 7 1/2 primers, and also federal small rifle primers. I have been using varget, and h4895 and have been all over the scale from 26.5gr up to 27.5gr on both powders. Both powders I have got to shoot fairly well around .4 with the bergers and .6 with the dogtowns, however after shooting only 3 shots, my barrel looks like a shotgun barrel after shooting a case of shells, tiny little balls of powder residue, and I'm going through on average 15 patches using montana extreme bore cleaner just trying to get it clean. I called hodgdon and all they would tell me is that I'm using the right powder just need to ad more. I told them that I was already close to max and they told me I just need to ad more. I was expecting them to recommend a faster powder but they wouldn't. After getting frustrated talking to them I then called accurate powder co. and explained what was going on. The guy at accurate suggested aa 2520. I asked about the burn rate once again thinking I needed to move to a faster powder but he wouldn't suggest any others. It seems to me that I'm not burning all the powder and therefore need to move to a faster burning powder, but am I missing something? I have saw that reloader 10 has been suggested alot, but it seems like I've read alot of stories about it being either dirty or temp sensitive. I am not really after velocity mainly just a powder that is clean and that I can use year around without having to worry about developing a load in winter and running into pressure during the summer

Sorry guys I meant to put this in the 204 reloading section

I've shot Varget with good results,but switched to IMR 8208 XBR because it is not temperature sensitive at all.It does produce higer velocities without excessive pressure.Another bonus, is that it is a joy to load.The powder is a small cube.I call it super short stick.LOL.Had a big surprise yesterday when I tried a group with
Hornady 45 gr SP in my 204r #1 with 1:12 twist.I didn't expect them to stablize at all,but 26gr of 8208 put them into .292.Probable the best I've shot with this gun,ever.Only loaded 5 rounds just for grins,so don't know if I'll get a repeat or not.The next group w/32 SBKs was .302 (also good with this gun).Learn something every day,when load testing.

I've also had good luck with 8208XBR. With a load of 26.2gr I can get 40gr Vmaxs to group at .264". Reloder 10X does even better at .246".
You should also try CFE223. I'm working up loads now for it and it really does leave much less carbon residue.

As noted above 8208 is a good option, i also highly recommend Ramshot Xterminator and Tac. Both powders burn clean and should produce less fouling. I use Xterminator in my 204 and 17 Fireball, i get great results in both.

I would have to agree with wiseguy i used tac today and had .25 inch groups with multi loads. Plus it burn very clean compared to RE-10X.

Look at the residue, especially the "powder balls" you talk about. IF they are hard, sounds like Hard Carbon; common in small calibers.