I just came in from shooting the first rounds I have loaded in my .243 w/ a Nosler 55 gr. ballistic tip. The load is 41.5 grains of Varget w/ WLR primers. They were loaded in 1x fired Win. brass trimmed to the proper length. I seated the bullets to an OAL of 2.6 per some advice I read on this forum.

I don't get any other pressure signs, but the primers are pushed out of the pockets to were they are .002 to .004 above the top of the pockets. None of the primers came all the way out of the pockets nor was there any tell-tale black residue around them. Any ideas/suggestions/things to investigate as to why this is happening?

I have loaded some of the powder in this cannister in my 22-250 up to max and have had no signs of excessive pressure.

I am sure I left out something important information wise so if you need to anything else I will be more thn glad to supply the info. Thanks in advance for the help.

See, I knew I would forget something I thought I should include. I seat primers w/ the RCBS hand tool. When I seated these primers in the cases they felt perfectly normal.

I think you have excessive headspace! It's hard to tell by words but if it was too much pressure it would just flatten them not back them out.
Were the cases sized to the gun to just close with bolt. In some cases it's possible to shorten the case too much. Mismatched compontents in sizing, odd shell holders and dies.
I would try sizing just enough to be able to close the bolt.
David

stronics,

I have not had this problem w/ any other load in the rifle. If that was the case I feel I would see this, especially w/ factory loads.

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May your chambers be true to your bores.

Did you full length resize your cases? If so I suspect you have pushed the shoulder of the case back slightly giving you slightly exccessive headspace. Is there a ring above the case head? Try neck sizing the fired cases to about two thirds of the neck and then seating your bullets out till they are .o30 off the lands. I'll bet your backed out primer problem goes away.-Rob

ultramag, sorry I didn't make myself clearer but I meant excessive headspace due to resizing the case, not in the gun. I'm sure the gun is fine but the shoulder on the case has been pushed back too far in the resizing.
David

You might want to check out this thread.All indications to this same problem seemed to point to low pressure . Might be your problem.

http://www.reloadbench.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000186.html

jim81147,

That was exactly what I was thinking might be the problem per a conversation w/ a really knowledgeable reloader my dad works with. He also suggested that since the load density for this load is so low, below 80%, that detonation might be part of the problem. My fired cases also had soot around the neck as addressed on that thread. He also suggested to try a different powder but he suggested IMR 4350. That is slower instead faster as the guys on that thread are suggesting.

I don't beleieve I have a headspace problem but I am not 100% sure because I didn't size particularly for the rifle but adjusted the dies properly per instructions. I have not ran into problems w/ this method before. I know how to fit the case to the chamber I just usually don't w/ a new rifle or load so I can see what makes the real improvements w/ that load and/or gun.

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May your chambers be true to your bores.

Classic signs of low pressure load. Increase powder by at least two grains and I suspect that your problem will go away.

I have to agree with the others regarding low pressure. Primers will often back out with a low pressure charge. The pressure is enough to hold the case in place, but not enough to push the case back a few thousandths to seat on the bolt face.

If you want to adjust your dies to just be able to close the bolt on the case, this will cure the problem. However I would not do that for a hunting round. Murphys law rules. You try to make them so they just fit and you will have a problem.

Me, I full length resize, make sure they work 100% reliable, give me a good velocity, and trim them once in a while. If I only get 10 to 15 loadings, so what? I'm not so destitute that I can't afford to buy brass once in awhile.

Some guys want their brass to last a lifetime. If that's their thing, cool. It's just not mine.

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Surely we must all hang together, for separately we will all surely hang.

Hard to believe 41.5 grs of varget and a 55 gr BT is a low pressure load in a .243. I have used 43grs of varget and a 70 gr bullet and it sure was nota low pressure load. Factory reloading dies are just approximations of your rifles chamber and can easily set the shoulder back causing an increase in headspace. Yes this happens with even custom dies. Thats why experienced folks sometimes make their reloading dies using the same reamer they cut the chamber with. Adjust your fired cases to neck size only and I'll bet your problem disappears.-Rob