loads

[Tom Thomson]

I read charts showing max & min loads. The max I understand (don't blow up your gun) but the minimum is a puzzle to me. What happens if I go below min? What happens if I go a lot below min. Savage 110 / 308
tommyt

 

['Freak]

Gun go kaboom has potential. Instead of a burn that’s spread out over time, too small a powder charge might decide to detonate all at once causing a seriously high pressure spike.

 

[savagedasher]

You could have a flash over or a hang fire. KABOOM. Larry

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Speer reloading manual shows reduced loads for pretty much every catridge.

 

[fourpower]

I will tell you what can happen! back in the 70's I had a 25-06 and a very small wife that wanted to hunt with my gun but couldn't handle recoil so I tried reduced loads for her. I was loading 100gr bullets with 4831. I was going below starting loads a gr at a time and thank god I was shooting the gun! when I got down to around 50grs it was shooting good a very little recoil so I went 1 more gr less to try. I was shooting off hood of my truck and when I shot gun it knocked me on my ass and gun went flying over my head and landed back behind me!! the bolt was half open and wouldn't move. I took gun to a great gunsmith and boy did he chew my ass out. any way he broke the handle off bolt trying to get it open and had to weld a piece on to get it open. we broke the brass off as it had melted half inch into bore and it had also put a crack in the stock. I still keep the gun hanging in my reloading room to remind me to not below published reloading data. I was very lucky that the bolt held instead of coming back into my face!!!!

 

[Ledd Slinger]

You can only do reduced loads with certain powders. Thinking you can make reduced loads with any powder can easily create a total disaster. The Speer manual lists safe reduced loads. Often a reduced load is conducted using powder with a much faster burn rate than a powder you would normally use for full case fill.

I have developed many of my own standard loads through experimemting using burn rate charts. But I would never experiment creating reduced loads. Extremely dangerous. So much so that the results can be more catastrophic than a load creating an overpressure when pushed beyond max listed data.

 

[amlevin]

What happens if I go below min? What happens if I go a lot below min.

The likelihood of the following will occur:

If you go low enough you could have a bullet lodged in the barrel.

Your load could detonate blowing out a piece of the case

Your load could detonate and blow out one or more pieces of your firearm which would lead to the following:

You'll need to change your shorts
You'll need to buy a new rifle
You'll need one of your friends to call for an Aid Car (which happened to a friend who lost an eye and piece of his skull as a result).

Of course you could have nothing happen which would lead to a false sense of security which is in itself extremely dangerous.

Personally I'd rather have a load on the high end and risk a stuck bolt or sticky extraction than have pieces ejected from any part of my rifle other than the muzzle.

 

[1shot]

When I was a novice re-loader I substituted IMR-4350 for H-4350. Same powder but different number so I think. Same number but different Mfg. so what could possibly go wrong? Pulled the trigger on a Remington 700 in 243 and I know three reasons that hole was designed into the receiver. .

1. Remington put that hole there to protect dumb a$$'s like I was. (BTW, I was about 14-15)

2. Just because the numbers are the same but the Mfg. are
different doesn't mean they are interchangeable.

3. Most importantly, there is a God in heaven and he goes by whatever name you choose to refer to Him as.

I hope this is of help,
Lloyd

 

[amlevin]

3. Most importantly, there is a God in heaven and he goes by whatever name you choose to refer to Him as.

True that but don't expect him to forgive more than one stupid stunt. The first one is supposed to be a wake up call 8)

 

[Ggmac]

AMEN . Those that don't learn take themselves out of the gene pool.
Gary