The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Pressure trouble..Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Pressure trouble.. | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
Much talk about pressure signs from time to time...but who has experienced this in the field..? I have twice, both in .375H&H. The first one many years ago shooting some RWS 300 grain Kegelspitz ammo, clearly overloaded..had to bend the bolt to open every time, gave it up after a few shots..that ammo was just plain downright dangerous...and we shot in subzero temp. The other last year in Africa..had to zero in the scope, fired 4 shots and the bolt started to stick.. Reloads with 80 grains of Norma N160 behind a 300 grain Swift-A frame bullet..temp. was 40 degr. C.. The rifle both times was a ZKK 602.. On the other hand I have used .458Win. with compressed loads behind 480 grain Hornady DGS with no trouble in 38-40 degr. C.. What are your experiences and it what calibers/rifles..? With factory ammo or reloads supposed to be well within limits..? | ||
|
| One of Us |
QuickLOAD is a good tool for predicting pressure. I am an avid reloader, but presure is always a concern. | |||
|
One of Us |
I have had one experience,I am in MI,I was going to Port Elizabeth for a plainsgame hunt,about an hour away from Jamestown,it was hilly,I was using a Rem 700 MLR in 338 Lapua,all my ammo was handloads,I shot quite a bit before the hunt,in camp when I fired the rifle to check zero?the bolt would not move,it opened with a sharp whack of my hand,it was obvious my ammo was somehow more pressure than back in Mi,I chalked it up to the altitude,since that experience I do check location specs more carefully for altitude & Temps. DRSS | |||
|
one of us |
I never push the pressure envelope. Rather give up 100fps than have problems in the field.  Have gun- Will travel The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark | |||
|
| One of Us |
Never had it in the field because I found it in testing before I went. Even an established load I run at least 5 through the rifle before I go, in conditions as close to hunting as I can. | |||
|
One of Us |
Do you have someone burn you with cigarettes while shooting to simulate Tsetse bites?  ______________________ DRSS ______________________ Hunt Reports 2015 His & Her Leopards with Derek Littleton of Luwire Safaris - http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/2971090112 2015 Trophy Bull Elephant with CMS http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/1651069012 DIY Brooks Range Sheep Hunt 2013 - http://forums.accuratereloadin...901038191#9901038191 Zambia June/July 2012 with Andrew Baldry - Royal Kafue http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7971064771 Zambia Sept 2010- Muchinga Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4211096141 Namibia Sept 2010 - ARUB Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6781076141 | |||
|
One of Us |
Only once, I was doing load development for my 500 Jeffery, my max load was pushing a 570g TSX at 2510. It was a hot day (95 degrees F) and the cartridges were hot to the touch before being loaded as these were my last six rounds to fire. Extraction was a bit harder than normal and the base had some bright marks on it. I have since backed off my loads to 2300 fps and even on very hot days with cartridges being in the sun on the bench for hours no issues. Regards, Chuck "There's a saying in prize fighting, everyone's got a plan until they get hit" Michael Douglas "The Ghost And The Darkness" | |||
|
| One of Us |
Two of us were taking turns shooting prairie dogs with my Sako Vixen 223. 25gr 4895, 55gr C/L's. We'd about shot off the one's to the south. Buddy walked over the hill looking while I sat with one in the chamber of a hot rifle in 105F temps. He came back and said: "there's hundreds of 'em over here". I walked over and sat down. When I fired, no glasses on!! A powder flake hit my contact lense, rifle wouldn't open. We gave it up and drove to the gunsmith and got my ass chewed for: "hot loads, hot guns and hot temps". Load was fairly mild, no safety glasses is stupid of course. Gun had cooled down and was easy to open the bolt by the time we got there. Had ruptured the primer, case was fine. Damned lucky I didn't lose an eye. Lesson learned: Safety glasses always, never leave a load in the chamber of a hot gun for long. George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
|
one of us |
me too! the game won't notice but you will if the gun blows up. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Pondoro: N160 is a VihtaVuori powder not Norma. VihtyVuori does not show any data for N160 for the 375 HH in their current Reloader Guide. However, the 1-98 Reloading Guide shows a maximum load of 81.8 grains with a 300 grain Hornady RN bullet. You substituted a pure copper clad spitzer bullet (Swift) for a gilding metal round nose (Hornady). Higher coefficient of friction from copper, reduced case capacity from not using a round nose and increase in outside air temperature while reducing max charge weight by only 0.0225%. Not surprised by a higher pressured load. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I truly dislike loading data without accompanying pressure data. Powder manufacturers with ballistics labs and pressure barrels seldom provide pressure data. Reviewing load data that has pressure data (such as IMR) is very revealing. Another issue is the temperature sensitivity of powders. John Barsness has done a lot of research in this area. | |||
|
| one of us |
I've never had pressure problems in the field, but I caught them before I went hunting..When working up max loads I found that some max loads with new brass are fine, but after a few reloads they are hot, as the brass wears..Always be sure and trim as that is a good way to turn a mild enough load into a hottie!! Weather has never effected my handloads mild or max..and Ive tested that on the hot hood of my pick up in 120 plus weather, and lately in below zero weather..I work up a sho nuff warm load so that I know my rifles max with a best powder, then cut back a grain or two as a rule, then test that load with 4 or 5 reloads at least with the same case. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
|
| One of Us |
Bob..I stand corrected that the powder is not Norma. My hunting pals and I have used that load for many years, both in Norway and in Africa...very accurate and never any pressure issues..but it is on the hot side in 40 degrees C in Africa..better back off a bit.. We also used the same load behind a 300 grain Rhino brass bullet for ele hunting with good results..never any issues.. | |||
|
One of Us |
One experience in my 1st year of reloading - 243 Win & 85 gr Barnes X bullets (old type no groves). The load was 1 grain below a 90gr cup & core load. I presumed that the pressure would be safe. OAL / seating depth similar to other loads. 2 shots in one hole - Chronograph was 100 fps above book. 3rd shot - big cloud of smoke and flash. Bullet in same hole. Bolt was stuck, & and had to tap it open. The case came out stuck to bolt head, primer pocket was blown. Brass had melted and embossed the case head on to the bolt face. Then I read an article about how the mono-metal bullets need to be seated 50 thou away from the lands and not thou like I had been doing will all my other reloads. Now all my reloads are minimum 30 thou off mono-metals are 50 thou. That same 243 load with deeper seated bullets was perfectly safe but not as accurate. "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
|
| One of Us |
I have only had a couple of sticky bolt lifts on hot days. | |||
|
One of Us |
Jim. is that how you practice for Africa hunts? ...I say that hunters go into Paradise when they die, and live in this world more joyfully than any other men. -Edward, duke of York ". . . when a man has shot an elephant his life is full." ~John Alfred Jordan "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." - Ayn Rand Cogito ergo venor- KPete “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” ― Adam Smith - “Wealth of Nations” | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia