How hot is too hot?

[Bishopus]

So I'm curious to find out how many load hotter than the listed max, and what signs you look for to tell you it's time to quit.

Standard disclaimers apply: don't EVER load hotter than the listed maximum--your gun could actually go ka-boom. Pressure signs aren't 100% reliable, never have been and never will be. Handloading is inherently dangerous and should not be undertaken by anyone who isn't ready to accept responsibility for his or her loads. Insert other ass-covering verbage here.

 

[todbartell]

a combo of stiff bolt lift, ejector marks, flat primers, too much velocity, will tell me when to stop, but some cartridges have such little body taper that they dont put much rearward thrust on the bolt face, so bolt lift isnt always a good sign, as sometimes it wont show!

I always do load development with a chronograph, and stop when I am getting speeds that are what factory ammo is rated at (ie 223 55 gr @ 3250 fps, 30-06 165 gr @ 2800 fps, etc). If I want more speed, I will buy a larger cartridge, not try to turn something into something its not, by overloading

 

[Lefty Dick]

x2 for the chronograph.
Most of what you list in the poll are signs that you are in the 70,000 to 75,000 CUP pressure range.
If you rely on stiff bolt lift or primer condition as a pressure sign, you are maxing out your rifles pressure tolerance rating.
Cumulative metal fatigue is the end result of repeated over max(+10%) reload usage.

 

[senior]

So I'm curious to find out how many load hotter than the listed max, and what signs you look for to tell you it's time to quit.

Standard disclaimers apply: don't EVER load hotter than the listed maximum--your gun could actually go ka-boom. Pressure signs aren't 100% reliable, never have been and never will be. Handloading is inherently dangerous and should not be undertaken by anyone who isn't ready to accept responsibility for his or her loads. Insert other ass-covering verbage here.

LISTED MAX Every manual you look at is different, the old ones are usually higher than new ones.
I had a batch of primers a few years ago that flattened on every fireing on loads I'd been useing for years (I believe they were Winny primers)

I you'sta try to slip up to max Velocity listed in the manuals with-out showing the primers flattening or especially extractor makes, but them most chrony's I've seen vary as much as 100fps too

Now days when I get the best accuracy close to max velocity I'm happy

 

[maynard]

The load I use in my target rifles is likely slightly over what the reloading manuals suggests. These loads are carefully worked up, watching for all the above signs of over pressure. I have not seen any signs of over pressure with this load and there is still room in the case for more powder without compressing the load. This load shoot 1/2 MOA or better elevation wise, out to 1000 yards.
Velocity does not equal accuracy. You could find out .2 of a grain of powder more turns a 1/2 MOA group into a 1 MOA group. More barrel harmonics thingy then pressure in my opinion.
Does trying to get that extra 50 fps that is published in the manuals or on the box of purchased ammo warrent you blowing up you gun? Will the paper target, groundhog or moose know the difference if your load is 100 fps lower then what the book says it should be?
Load for accuracy not velocity.

 

[bushwhacker]

With my .257 Roberts, I find start to get hard extraction and flattened primers and bolt face tool marks showing before maximum pressures shown. The new Winchester freebee mini-reloading booklets show a +P loading that is about 2 Gr. above the loading in my older manuals. Obviously I haven't gone with that loading, but it makes me wonder. The 722 action should be good for the pressure, but there is no use having a loading that may leave you with a stuck case in a hunting situation.

 

[Cocked&Locked]

what, no choice for load till she blows, back of half a grain and buy a new gun?

 

[mjcurry]

i just cross reference with three manuals and i usually just pick the most accurate load thast in those ranges but i never exceed a manual. but im a newbie and dont have a chronograph so im just gunna stick with the way im doing it.

heck ive only blown off 1 finger, cmon theirs ten for a reason!

 

[(((Echo)))]

I reference several manuals to see the max limit, back off a bit and then go looking for accuracy. I keep the max limit in mind, but if the most accurate load is way below that, so be it.

(E)

 

[martinbns]

Combination of all of them and a chronograph.

 

[Gatehouse]

If I am not getting any pressure signs, I will keep going until I get to the velocity/accuracy combo I want...

I dont' want any more velocity than what is published velocity, though.

In modern rifles, I find the best accuracy rigth around maximum loads, and find that I rarley go over max published loads for anything other than the 7RM.

PS I have used case head expansion measurments, (liek Ken Waters technique) but now just use the chrony.

 

[Gibbs505]

All of them except #1

 

[Boomer]

One useful sign which comes from the chronograph is that maximum pressure has been reached when the velocity plateaus. When I am working up a load, and I see that I do not get the velocity increase I expect, I drop back to the previous load and consider it maximum. This technique is useful when you are using a bullet or powder combination for which there is no data. This situation does not occur very often, but it proved to be the case when I was working up the 380 gr loads for my .375 Ultra. As it turned out, I was 100 fps below what I though I could get, although, in hind sight, I realize a bit of simple math would of told me that. Do not let assumptions get you in trouble. I have owned two rifles which reached maximum pressure below what the loading manuals called maximum. One was a custom .222, the other a factory M-700 in .30-06.

 

[ivo]

I am probably the same as most here, I work on a load, find the best accuracy all the while watching for pressure signs. In my experience you can't kill a moose deader than dead.

 

[bigbull]

Most all of those conditions are signs and I watch all of them but the sticky bolt lift is what tells me enough is enough.
bigbull