223--75Amax-- Varget

[1holeaddict]

I found that 25 grains of Varget and 75 gr Amax shot well out of my 223rem then worked up to 26.5 with no pressure issues. 26.5 shot better than the 25gr node. Has anyone used this load or am i in the danger zone. COAL 2.528, Win brass, rem 7 1/2

 

[Scott Harris]

My max load with similar COAL is 25.0. How long your primer pockets last will ultimately tell you how hot your load is.

 

[TAJ45]

Were you equipped to chrony? You may try to avail yourself of one and see what kind of increase you get as you move from 25 to your high load.

 

[XTR]

More than once I've found that there were no overt pressure signs at the range only to find that pockets were trashed in short order. I've started a personal policy. When I start working on a new load/bullet/powder I do all my testing with the same lot of 15 or 20 cases until I know that I'm not breaking anything. (I threw away 60 Lapua 308s last yr after one shot, and there were another 40 that only lasted about 2 or 3. ouch!)

Decap them and seat new primers. See how soft they feel. I'll bet you are in the one to 3 reloads range with that charge.