Starting loads high pressure

[DNorton]

I have a Remington 788 in 22-250 that has been in the safe far too long. I never shoot it. I took it out and shot some light “starting” loads in a couple of different powders with IMR load data. I loaded 38 gr of H380 and 34 gr of Varget, both with a Sierra 55gr soft point and loaded to book COL. With both loadings I experienced unusually hard bolt lift, and very flat shiny cratered primers. I pulled the unfired remaining bullets. What is the most likely culprit here? Thanks in advance, David.

 

[grovey]

What brand of brass are you using? Perhaps it has less capacity? It looks like you used Hodgdon's online data, and they used Winchester cases.

 

[Mulligan]

Higher pressure can be caused from a host of things.
Gunk in the barrel..... carbon and or copper fouled barrels restrict the bore a tad.
My Pops expericened the same thing in a 7mag that was cleaned with Hoppes at the end of each season and put away wet...... collecting dust and building up layers of gunk

If the brass you are using is thicker and heavier..... that “extra” brass could be on the inside of the case.

Old “dried out” powder can give a bit more “kick”.

Just some thoughts.
CW

 

[Clancy]

I’d bet on a fouled barrel or a faulty scale.

 

[Ggmac]

Have you shot it before without heavy bolt lift ? What do factory loads look /feel like ?
Was the chamber clean and DRY , no oil .
Clean the entire rifle , check bolt 9 locking lugs , check that it has the correct ser number on it .
If all else is good , check brass length make sure your not crimping the bullet with long brass , keep loads lighter than book and work up slowly .
Do not reduce loads with slow powders . Just reduce a little , use other books for the loads .
Try some factory and keep us informed , I love the 788 and had one or two of every one made , wish I kept the 30/30 and 44 mag .

 

[pacificman]

Have you shot it before without heavy bolt lift ? What do factory loads look /feel like ?
Was the chamber clean and DRY , no oil .
Clean the entire rifle , check bolt 9 locking lugs , check that it has the correct ser number on it .
If all else is good , check brass length make sure your not crimping the bullet with long brass , keep loads lighter than book and work up slowly .
Do not reduce loads with slow powders . Just reduce a little , use other books for the loads .
Try some factory and keep us informed , I love the 788 and had one or two of every one made , wish I kept the 30/30 and 44 mag .

Yep ...this seems good info...I would also say that 38.0 grains is considered a max load in the sierra manual...but can't say that about yer varget load...I used to have a 788 in 243 also...it was a good shooter ...as said check all 9 lugs for any dirt etc. along with a good barrel cleaning etc.

 

[DNorton]

Thanks for the thoughts. I have not had any issues with the rifle in the past, but haven’t shot it in over 5 years. Bolt is original to rifle w/ matching numbers. Never fired any factory ammo through it. Lapua brass w/several firings, trimmed and chamfered. Will inspect the chamber and lugs tomorrow, as well as clean the barrel of copper and fouling. I am leaning towards an oily chamber or fouling as the culprit.

 

[Zero333]

Did you scrub the barrel after the long storage period before shooting it ?

 

[DNorton]

Did you scrub the barrel after the long storage period before shooting it ?

Sorry just saw this...did not scrub but ran a hoppes patch down before heading to rang.

 

[Uncle Ed]

I would clean the bore with a good foam bore cleaner and let it soak overnight. And keep doing this until no more blue came out of the bore.

I would then use a jag with a patch tied to the jag with fishing line to keep it from falling off the jag. And then apply some J&B bore paste and Kroil to the patch and scrub the bore clean.

After sitting that long with out being fired the bore needs a good cleaning.

Below a 1943 .303 British Enfield rifle with a frosted bore and foam bore cleaner that was left sit over night. This removes the copper without any sctubbing. And the scrubing with J&B bore paste will remove any carbon form the bore.

Foam bore cleaner in a AR15 rifle and no scrubbing with a copper bore brush.

And a patch pushed through the bore.

Also before going to the range dry the chamber and bore and make sure no oil or bore cleaner in left in the rifle. Any oil or bore cleaners left in the chamber and bore can increase bolt thrust because the case is not gripping the chamber walls.

 

[Ggmac]

Love the stuff , especially in the semi autos . It does work , I foam it up and place it muzzle down on a sop rag overnight . You generally end up with smurf colored shop rags .

 

[DNorton]

Well it appears that at least part of the problem may be horrendous carbon fouling. I used wipe out and removed copper until patches came out clean. Then used a patch wrapped wire brush with bore paste for a 8 strokes. Cleaned with hoppes and patches came out black. Repeated this 3 times and just starting to put a dent in the carbon. Don’t really want to use any more bore paste on my barrel.

 

[nmkid]

Since you let it get that bad...Looks like JB's is on the menu.