What the Hell? Over pressure

[CoronaCA]

Hello all,

Long time troller and first time poster. Please be gentle, I am delicate!

Loading for my Nosler m48, 280 AI. I have been using RL19 with reasonable success. I thought I would try RL22. Had some loads at 60grains that were okay. Worked up to 63.5, .5 under max according to Nosler #6 manual. The loads fired with a normal report but it took all I had to lift the bolt and eject. The two on the right were loaded with Nolser 140 AB, the two on the left were Barnes 140 TSX.

I have been loading for a number of years but never had an issue following the manual. It could be the primer pockets were a little sloppy (5 loads, Nosler Brass) or and odd lot of RL22, stay away from compressed loads? No damage the rifle or me and fired some factory loads just fine. Loads are a bit off the lands, 215m, 63.5 of RL 22, AB 140 and TSX 140, Nosler Brass with reloads ( wont be using these 4 brass again though). 70 Degree day, clean barrel.

Thought please!

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Did you work up to 63.5 or make the jump all at once? I would think you'd arrive at some sort of pressure sign before floating a primer- a stiff bolt lift at least.

Nosler gives 64gr as max for your combo, Hornady only gives 63.2. Either way shouldn't be that dramatic at 63.5.

Regardless of the load- you saw some serious over pressure. The very first thing I would do is verify my scale. You shouldn't see those sorts of results from worn primer pockets and the fact it happened repeatedly with a couple of different bullets is another warning sign that the scale might be throwing heavy.

 

[gbflyer]

Any way Re19 went in thinking it was Re22?

 

[OU812]

Did you work up to 63.5 or make the jump all at once? I would think you'd arrive at some sort of pressure sign before floating a primer- a stiff bolt lift at least.

Nosler gives 64gr as max for your combo, Hornady only gives 63.2. Either way shouldn't be that dramatic at 63.5.

Regardless of the load- you saw some serious over pressure. The very first thing I would do is verify my scale. You shouldn't see those sorts of results from worn primer pockets and the fact it happened repeatedly with a couple of different bullets is another warning sign that the scale might be throwing heavy.

I agree with the above. Some form of over pressure sign should have shown up prior to that end result unless there was something really different with those rounds. Maybe you were closer or right a the lans that you thought? Cases too long, over sammi max?

 

[1Shot]

I am being gentle. Common since should have come into play here. If you have this type of over pressure with one round you should NEVER shoot a second one much less three more. Loading manuals are just a guide that is the reason they have starting loads and always tell us to work up slowly watching for pressure signs. Remember by the time you start to see pressure signs you are already over pressure and should back off. I have a couple rifles that I can not get within a couple grains of book max loads. It all depends on your individual rifle and the components you are using. If you change anything from what the loading manual list then you are in really unknown territory. I had been handloading for about 20 years before I got a chronograph and when I did it scared me a little with some of the loads that only showed what one would call mild hints of pressure like slightly flatting of primers. Velocity does not come without pressure so when you are getting velocities quite a bit over what the manuals state, taking into count barrel lengths, then your pressure is higher than you think even if you don't see "pressure signs". A chronograph is well worth it's cost and can save you heart ache. In the past 20 years I have not tried to work up any load without having the chronograph out in front of the bench. Glad you did not break anything or loose any body parts.

 

[TackDriver284]

Wow, that is some serious pressure.

 

[30-338]

Hello all,

Long time troller and first time poster. Please be gentle, I am delicate!

Loading for my Nosler m48, 280 AI. I have been using RL19 with reasonable success. I thought I would try RL22. Had some loads at 60grains that were okay. Worked up to 63.5, .5 under max according to Nosler #6 manual. The loads fired with a normal report but it took all I had to lift the bolt and eject. The two on the right were loaded with Nolser 140 AB, the two on the left were Barnes 140 TSX.

I have been loading for a number of years but never had an issue following the manual. It could be the primer pockets were a little sloppy (5 loads, Nosler Brass) or and odd lot of RL22, stay away from compressed loads? No damage the rifle or me and fired some factory loads just fine. Loads are a bit off the lands, 215m, 63.5 of RL 22, AB 140 and TSX 140, Nosler Brass with reloads ( wont be using these 4 brass again though). 70 Degree day, clean barrel.

Thought please!

Nick

Could be Fed 215m primer. Nosler used Fed 210 that's in their current manual. My 280AI is not factory but I dropped couple grains using Fed 215m. Your lucky!

 

[RL338]

You are one lucky guy. Just a hunch your compressed load of RL22 might have grown in length and where jambed tight into the land and then being lit off by a magnum primer. Without a complete detail on case prep and complete load work up this is my guess.

 

[CoronaCA]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I think the best one was why the hell did I fire the second shot.

Being new to the forum, I hate to says this, but I made a mistake. I am falling on sword on this.

I weighed every bullet and the night before , I measured my 140 and 160 ABs. I chose to try the 140s. I put them back in the nice little bag and placed them in the boxes. I then placed the tops on the bottom half of the boxes. But, I mixed up the 140 and 160 tops. So, I loaded the 160 at half grain under max for 140. I was 3.5 grains over max for a 160. I discovered this when unloaded the remaining rounds with the goal of measuring the charge of each of the remaining rounds. Each one measured precisely 63.5 grains. As I sat there and pondered what the hell happened, I noticed those 140 grain ABs sure are long. It dawned on me and I weighed it and it was 159.99.

So, I made a rookie mistake. I feel lucky, nothing worse for wear and myself and rifle seem fine.

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

T I chose to try the 140s. I put them back in the nice little bag and placed them in the boxes. I then placed the tops on the bottom half of the boxes. But, I mixed up the 140 and 160 tops. So, I loaded the 160 at half grain under max for 140. I was 3.5 grains over max for a 160.

Holy cow!....yeah, that'd do it. I'm glad you're safe and none the worse for wear.

Just as a note for the bunch of folks who'll read this.. it is a very good idea not to store multiple components on the bench. I only put one powder, one primer type and one bullet on the bench at a time. Your story is a perfect illustration of how easy it is to swap lids or simply pick up one can of powder while thinking about another and cause a potentially dangerous situation. I did it years ago loading 45ACP and nearly wrecked a pistol. WST and WSF aren't the same....6.7gr of WST will not work like 6.7 of WSF!

It's far too common to have a whole pile of stuff on the bench- various powders, primers and components and it sets the stage for this kind of thing to happen!

 

[Guy Miner]

Wow! Bless you, and I'm glad you've got all your fingers & eyes for typing this.

Ya, that bullet mix-up... Wow... Would be an easy thing to do. Glad you're okay. Glad the rifle is okay.

Thanks for letting us know what the heck happened.

Guy

 

[1100 Remington Man]

I'm glad you are ok. I guess the old adage one powder on the bench when loading, will have to be one powder and one weight bullet.
Good News you are Safe and Will Never make that Mistake Again.

 

[OU812]

What happened to you could have happened to any one of us. Some times we get to doing to many things at one time even if it's as seemingly easy as checking out 2 different bullet weights, a different powder than normal, primers ect. Glad to know you and the rifle are ok. Thanks for letting us know what happened to cause the the over pressure issue. A reminder for all of us to be certain.

 

[mjcmichigan]

Yes, easy to do when you have two bullets on the bench, two powders, two primers.

When in doubt slow down and take a cartridge apart.

Very glad you are fin3e.

Happy to have you in the forum.

Welcome!


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[truck driver]

Switching brass brands can cause pressure problems also. Some are made from thicker brass and the case capacity is different. That's why you should always redevelop
your load when switching between brass brands .

 

[Nannyhammer]

Mistakes happen......fortunately nothing was damaged. Reminds me of the time I discovered the difference between 7.2 grains and 7+2 grains of unique. Sometimes the right side of the scale is very important. Fortunately I only pushed into 38-44 load territory but 1100fps out of a 4" 38 Special is way different than today's loads. A valuable lesson learned.

 

[SJB358]

Well, kudos to you for saying what happened. Honest mistake there.

I know it could happen to anyone here. I keep my powder right next to my dispenser until it’s cleaned out. I don’t like wondering. Same for Bullets. Easy to mix up if you were comparing them though. I can see where it’d be the same thing.

 

[TackDriver284]

Good to hear you are OK and that you got all your fingers. Have you checked the bolt face for any gouging, especially around the firing pin hole.

 

[frankm]

That mistake would be an easy one to make! As previous posters stated one component on the bench at a time!! Many experienced reloaders will acknowledge this but with a bias towards 'powder'
and this example shows how bullets can be the culprit too ... those darn Accubonds all with white tips! Look the same once seated in the case.

Glad this has a happy ending and you and your equipment wasn't damaged. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jpovey31]

Barnes should be loaded different than the nosler bullet. Nosler is a classic cup and core bullet. barnes is a all copper bullet. work your loads from scratch for the barnes bullet. reading the manuels and some research would have told you this.

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