I need a reality check here. I loaded up some different rounds for the Taylor the other day, went to range yesterday and tried them out. The load that is giving me problems is 70gr of IMR4320 for 400gr bullets, new Win brass, Federal 215 primer. I loaded the same powder charge for Kodiak, Swift and Hornady. Only the Kodiak is showing signs of high pressure, ie. blowing primers and ejector mark on face of the cartridge. So I'm thinking that the Kodiaks might be slightly larger in diameter or maybe "harder" than the Swift or Hornady thus giving me higer pressure. They were compressed loads as well. Does that make sense? All the shots were very accurate grouping within 1-1.5 inches, with the exception on when I flinched after 20 rounds! UGH! Your opinion is appreciated. By the accounts of most recipes I've seen this is not a maximum load, strange isn't it?

John

John,

Anytime you try a new component, you must back off 7-10% and work back up. It may be that the Kodiak has a harder or 'rougher' jacket, a very slightly larger diameter, greater bearing surface, etc.

George

A couple of things come to mind....(1) the Kodiak may have more of a "bearing surface" which means more of the bullet may be touching the lands than the others, and (2) it's unlikely that these three bullets have the ogive so although your OAL may be the same, the Kodiak may be seated closer to the lands than the others.

Hey John, I see you are from Juneau also! I'll let you shoot my 375 Taylor sdmetime if I can shoot your 416 Taylor. I've shot quite a few Kodiak's in .308, .338 and .375 caliber and never really noticed a difference in pressure from partitions or Hornady's or Speer's. I don't have a real good answer for you, but I can tell you two things: (1) this bullet must be causing some sort of obturation as it is forced into the lands and (2) primers falling out of the primer pockets means pressure is way high.

I'll give you a somewhat similar story. I was loading some 180 gr B-Tips in my 30 Gibbs. Determined what was a safe max load for field use - chrono'ed just over 3,000 fps. Shot a blacktail buck in August at 70 yds and decided this was too much for the B-Tip. I decided I would try the new 180 gr Partition Gold. Backed off 1.0 grains and tried it. 3,080 fps and primer fell into my hand. Now in this case, the jacket is a lot thicker and there is a steel cup. When it gets harder to obturate the bullet, the pressures to up. Normally, I'd say you don't need to back down much with bullets of similar construction, but it is always the safe thing to do. If you want to contact me, try my user profile. ~~ Lars