Question for the rifle reloaders

[dustoffer]

What little you may gain in velocity isn't worth the risk and potential damage to the rifle--

[tpepper70]

Every rifle is a one of a kind, safe in one may not be in another.... i have an old book for the 60's and the data would make most people flip their wigs,,, it is mostly way hotter than anything published in the last 40 years,,,, from that un-named book i worked up a load for a 30-06 that was 6 grains hotter than anything else with a 150 gr bullet,,, i was pushing a 150 gr ballistic tip and just over 3050fps,,, with no pressure signs with a powder i will not name either, but it is still made,,, groups averaged at 7/16" all the time,,,, but that same powder is now listed in most book as loads no more than 57 grains, some as low at 54 gr,,,,,,,, i know it was a hot load,,, but make a single change and the pressure would really spike,,,, I switched from the ballistic tip to a Remington bronze point 150 gr,,,, velocity jumped to 3174 fps! but it would also blow the primers out of the case, loosen the pocket so the case was ruined along with splitting the case neck a bit.... everything but the bullet remained the same,,,,, im 40 years older and survived it all without getting hurt and ruining a gun.... but i would not do it now because i know more than i did back then.... live and learn..... his loads were very likely from an older book, most of them showed a lot hotter data than the lawyered up books do now... ,, what ever you do, do it slowly and methodically and keep a log book.....
Just another fyi i had a 45-70 marlin,, factory 300 gr hollow points were all loaded at about 1800 fps,,,, pretty mild.... but I found data for the marlin and some newer guns and would up with a safe load with a 300 gr H.P. at 2050 fps,,,,,, and stayed with that load for over 40 years,,, accurate and a bang flop guarantee every time i pulled the trigger...... you can still find hotter loads than that if you look,, but i was satisfied with the results so i quit looking for any other data......

I understand and will be backing this down and prob starting over as I found some VV-N555 powder I've been wanting to try so,,,,this was a fun learning experiment that I'm glad I tried. Appreciate the reply.

[Mike D]

I see nothing in any of those that would concern me from an overpressure perspective. The primer flow you are seeing is typical of Remington 700 style bolts unless they are a full custom action.
The load data published when your data was loading and now is because of lawyers. If you compare load data 2 identical books from then and now you will see the downward trend in charge weights.

That said, Hornady brass is garbage and you will lose primer pockets in 2-3 loadings if you are running close to pressure. When the time comes I would get ADG, Alpha or Lapua brass.

[tpepper70]

I see nothing in any of those that would concern me from an overpressure perspective. The primer flow you are seeing is typical of Remington 700 style bolts unless they are a full custom action.
The load data published when your data was loading and now is because of lawyers. If you compare load data 2 identical books from then and now you will see the downward trend in charge weights.

That said, Hornady brass is garbage and you will lose primer pockets in 2-3 loadings if you are running close to pressure. When the time comes I would get ADG, Alpha or Lapua brass.

Thanks for the info. I have roughly 1000 cases of Hornady brass and am not concerned of ruining them. Lol. Appreciate it.

[wickll]

As stated above there is a significant deviation between reloading manuals. I have old reloading manuals, and newer ones. It continues to surprise me in the differences, and I have been loading for forty three years.

This is what I have noticed as well. It seems like some of the older manuals have somewhat higher max loads. I don't know if there is more concern over liability and/or litigation OR maybe powders have changed slightly over the years. I don't have quite the number of years, but I do have over 30 years of experience.

I also like to compare my loads to a website called Stevespages.com . I do not know if the page is still maintained, but I can still view it. It is pretty amazing in some of the powders that it shows being used on different cartridges. AND the loads seem to be on the high side. But I think it could be pretty handy if I am ever run out of my favorite powders.