I've been loading for a few years now, and I've worked up some really accurate loads for nearly every rifle I own, with the exception of my AR, just because it's a fun gun, not really intended to put 5 rounds into a single hole and on a single stage press, I can load for an hour and run out of ammo in 5 minutes or less. Anyway, my question is in regards to pressure signs.
When loading for a .223 TC Encore, my .308 Rem 700 and a .270 WSM, I get what I call cratering on the primers. Primer strike looks like a moon crater, has the indention and a little ridge of metal around it. I was always under the impression that cratering meant you were approaching unsafe pressure, if not just over the safety threshold. Okay, so, if that's the case, why do I get the cratering on minimum loads from a couple of published sources. When I load for Kaitlin's .243, I don't get the craters. When I get craters on the starting load, but no other pressure signs, such as ejector scrubbing, bright ring at the case web etc, I'll continue carefully. I've gone from starting loads to published max loads with craters from start to finish and never seen any other signs of high pressure. Never a sticky bolt, nothing. For the .223 and the .308 I'm using 165gr bullets over Varget and CCI primers. For the .270WSM, I'm using 140gr bullets over H4831SC and CCI primers. I've loaded .243 with 95gr bullets over both IMR4350 and H4831 with CCI primers and not gotten craters. It's really got me perplexed. Every time I get the craters, I'm scared to fire the next load, but when I get the same look from Min-max loads, I've come to the conclusion that craters mean basically nothing.
What say you, reloading gurus?
When loading for a .223 TC Encore, my .308 Rem 700 and a .270 WSM, I get what I call cratering on the primers. Primer strike looks like a moon crater, has the indention and a little ridge of metal around it. I was always under the impression that cratering meant you were approaching unsafe pressure, if not just over the safety threshold. Okay, so, if that's the case, why do I get the cratering on minimum loads from a couple of published sources. When I load for Kaitlin's .243, I don't get the craters. When I get craters on the starting load, but no other pressure signs, such as ejector scrubbing, bright ring at the case web etc, I'll continue carefully. I've gone from starting loads to published max loads with craters from start to finish and never seen any other signs of high pressure. Never a sticky bolt, nothing. For the .223 and the .308 I'm using 165gr bullets over Varget and CCI primers. For the .270WSM, I'm using 140gr bullets over H4831SC and CCI primers. I've loaded .243 with 95gr bullets over both IMR4350 and H4831 with CCI primers and not gotten craters. It's really got me perplexed. Every time I get the craters, I'm scared to fire the next load, but when I get the same look from Min-max loads, I've come to the conclusion that craters mean basically nothing.
What say you, reloading gurus?
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