308 pressure signs

H4831 said:
OACL is the most meaningless figure in all of reloading and I pay no attention to it, other than checking to see if the cartridge will work through the magazine.
Here is my procedure for seating a bullet and setting the sizing die.
I take an empty that has been fired in the rifle to be loaded and squeeze the neck down a tiny bit, just so a bullet will hold securely in the neck. Then start a bullet of the type you will be loading into the neck.
Bring out your rifle and carefully start to chamber the empty with the bullet sticking out of it. If your rifle is a controlled feed, like a Mauser, take the bolt out and set the empty in the bolt face, behind the extractor. Carefully put the bolt, with the empty sticking out, into the rifle and slowly push the bolt forward and close the bolt handle.
The bullet will hit the rifling and will be pushed back in the case. When the dummy cartridge is removed the bullet will be seated to just touch the lands.
Screw the sizing die into the press. You don't want to crimp for a bolt action rifle, so screw the die down until it comes to within about 1/8 inch of the shell holder, when the handle is full down. Lock the die in that position.
Loosen the lock nut on the centre shaft of the die and turn the bullet adjusting screw well out.
Put your dummy load in the press and push the handle full down. Carefully turn the bullet adjusting screw down until you feel it touch the bullet. Remember, the bullet is not a solid fit in the neck, so be careful not to accidentally move it.
You likely will want the bullet to clear the rifling a bit, to ensure the bolt of your rifle will close. So turn the adjusting screw, maybe half a turn, after it touches the bullet.
Lock the adjusting screw with the lock nut.
Remove the dummy load and check it to see if it will work through the magazine, if desired, and go from there.
If it doesn't take you long to get to the range, or other safe area where it would be OK to shoot, load only one cartridge and take it and your rifle to your safe area and see if it will chamber and the bolt will close fully on it.
If the bolt closes OK, go home and load away.
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Agree with most of this.

Two points - nothing wrong with loading the bullet longer than your dummy round. The bolt will close fine, the bullet well just be started off in the rifling.

Two, you could always pull the firing pin out of the bolt and chamber your loaded test round at home. Or you could always just load up a proper dummy round with a normal neck tension on it and you could try it at home. But either way, I don't see why you are checking if the bolt will close? The bolt will close even if you seat into the rifling by 20 thou.... lots of guys do it. The bigger concern with a rifle you're going to fire at a proper range, or for hunting, is when you go to remove a chambered round, there is the small chance that the bullet pulls out and the powder spills everywhere. I kind of think this would be a sign of too little neck tension too though, as I've taken many chambered rounds out that were seated into the lands and all was good
 
Pop said:
IIRC 178gn Amax are quite long, so if you're loading to a COAL of 2.80 they might be sitting pretty deep in the case. Would that reduce case capacity enough to bring the pressure up? Maybe that's why Hornady's manual has a lighter charge range.
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Very good point, could certainly be the case here. I know that when I asked Berger for advice loading their 70 and 64 grain bullets touching the lands, in cases with bigger than normal capacity, I was given max loads a decent amount over normal max, so volume it's a decently big deal..... But even then, Varget, I have read many times, shouldn't be able to fit enough in to get excess pressure. Maybe I'm wrong here, but that's what I was lead to believe, for both 308 and 223
 
labrador76 said:
Depends on the case, some have smaller capacities than others. Combine a smaller capacity case with a deep seated bullet and you have added two good reasons to have higher pressure. I'd be intereseted to see the chrony results.
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Yea fair eng, didn't think of the deep seating. Still.....Varget? Interesting to know I just got a 308
 
krprice84 said:
Yea fair eng, didn't think of the deep seating. Still.....Varget? Interesting to know I just got a 308
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I shoot a 270 Redding (308 necked to 270 w/ 30 deg shoulder) I can easily reach excessive pressure w/ Varget. Not sure how well that relates to this scenario, but that's the case for what its worth. Currently my go to load is 45gr Varget under a 130gr pill. It flattens primers real good:)
 
Rod B said:
:agree: I shot some S&B 308W match loads in my Savage 112 BR. After firing the brass I found that a bullet would not fit in the case neck, this was prior to resizing. I also found the primer pockets to be tighter than normal.

I have not encountered this with Federal, Winchester or Remington brass. I have 20 of the S&B cases that I will likely scrap.
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Wouldn't a trip through a FL die take care of the neck size issue?
 
I know this is a bit different than the rifle in question, but I have a Remington Model 722 in .257 Roberts, that shows high pressure signs well below listed maximum loads. If you push it up too close, the bolt starts getting tight to open. I have to size down a bit with the full length resize die. If you try to neck size only, tight bolt opening. This rifle just has a tight chamber. I do not have the same problem with the Model 700 in .35 Whelan or the Model 760 in 30-06.
 
yomomma said:
You sir have an ugly thumb....
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Real men who work with their hands can do ugly things to other peoples necks if you make them mad.

And I'm guessing Mr. Pierre-Luc is a gifted mechanic and good with his hands.

I'm also psychic, I see a fast white and orange KTM motorcycle and four wheeler and working mans hands from doing engine work. (just a psychic guess using my mouse) ;)
 
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bigedp51 said:
Real men who work with their hands can do ugly things to other peoples necks if you make them mad.

And I'm guessing Mr. Pierre-Luc is a gifted mechanic and good with his hands.

I'm also psychic, I see a fast white and orange KTM motorcycle and four wheeler and working mans hands from doing engine work. (just a psychic guess using my mouse) ;)
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my hands are always full of injuries ... can't find gloves bigger then XL here.
electrician but my father is a mechanic so i've learn to do my own work on my toys :p

back on the topic , i will have acces to a chrono this week end i will test my reload for speed
 
Pierre-Luc said:
my hands are always full of injuries ... can't find gloves bigger then XL here.
electrician but my father is a mechanic so i've learn to do my own work on my toys :p

back on the topic , i will have acces to a chrono this week end i will test my reload for speed
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Real men know how to take a joke. I'm not that good at putting up smilies when I should.
 
If that is the case and primer this thread is about, please tell us again how it shows excessive pressure.
I'm a psychic also and my inner mind tells me the chronograph will show those loads at 2420 fps, just like a light load should show.
 
labrador76 said:
I shoot a 270 Redding (308 necked to 270 w/ 30 deg shoulder) I can easily reach excessive pressure w/ Varget. Not sure how well that relates to this scenario, but that's the case for what its worth. Currently my go to load is 45gr Varget under a 130gr pill. It flattens primers real good:)
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Fair enough, I would expect that you would find even less pressure issues with a necked down cartridge, as there is less resistance to the expanding gas and less weight to push. Having said that, you also have a 30 degree shoulder.... more powder capacity and case volume, meaning you can fit more powder without excess pressure.

I will be running some quickload stuff tonite for 308, for my M1A, but I'll see if you can get enough Varget to exceed 62kpsi
 
H4831 said:
If that is the case and primer this thread is about, please tell us again how it shows excessive pressure.
I'm a psychic also and my inner mind tells me the chronograph will show those loads at 2420 fps, just like a light load should show.
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That sounds pretty reasonable to expect. I wonder what is going on here.

Has the op measured the water capacity of his cases yet?
 
From that picture is see no sign of flattened primer. The outside edge of the primer looks the same as when its installed prior to being fired. A flattened primer will fill the primer pocket so there is no indentation between the primer and the primer pocket. I reload all my 308. I use 44 grains of varget behind 150 gr hornady btsp. That's a light load
 
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