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Okay guys, BIG HANG UP TONIGHT.......... Resized, trimed, deburred, chamfered, and then primed 800 pieces of 300wsm brass over the last four days. After figuring up about 24 different types and amounts of powder after three weeks of research, I was ready to dump some powder tonight and build some shooters for tomorrow. Well, my overall length was to be 2.83", with my magazine being only 2.84", that is as long as I could get. I started with H1000, and was going to try 71/72/73/and 74 grains......my first load was 71grs. I poured it into the funnel and filled the case....WOW. It was up to the base of the shoulder of the case. I threw another load to make sure I didn't make a mistake, but got the same result. I threw one at 74grs. to see the difference and it was an eighth of an inch higher, to the top of the shoulder, not much different. What I'm trying to say here is, I knew I was going to have to do compressed loads for 73 and 74 grain loads, but by compressed I thought that meant tapping the brass to get the powder to settle, then seating the bullet with minimal crushing of powder, maybe 1/8" crushing. Well, to seat this 220gr SMK bullet, I'll be crushing into it by a full half and inch or 5/8" or more. Not what I was expecting to have to do; I was so concerned by this that I stopped reloading, and decided I would put shooting off for tomorrow until I get the go-ahead and knowledge that this is totally safe and normal. I tried the Re22 and Re19 and it filled very close to the same volume level of the case, slightly less. Is this normal? Is this safe? To have to crush the powder this much? If so, do I tap it down with a dowel rod first, or just crush away.......... thx jordan You only live ONCE!!!!!!!!!! So LIVE it UP!!!!!!!! | ||
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Okay. Are you using a looong drop tube on your powder funnel? That is almost mandatory on loads that compress. Another thing to do is pour your powder into the funnel nearer the top so that it "swirls" going down. These two methods usually...usually work. I have another for some safe, but compressed loads. An old electric shaver is touched to the side of the case. The vibration allows the powder to compact better into the case. I load 6.5 WSM and .338 WSM (yes wildcats) so know what you are going through. .395 Family Member DRSS, po' boy member Political correctness is nothing but liberal enforced censorship | |||
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People always seem to get all bent out of shape over compressed loads. I use them all the time. While use of a drop tube is a good idea, the ONLY TIME a compressed load of a slow powder causes a problem is when it is so heavily compressed that it causes the case shoulder to bulge so that the round can't be chambered. And the problem then is, the round can't be chambered! A couple of my pet loads for cartridges like the 7X57mm Mauser are so dense that the powder comes up to within 1/10" of the case mouth, leaving just enough room to start the bullet. Obviously, this results in significant powder compression. Yet such loads give extremely small velocity variation from shot to shot, as well as impressive accuracy. The only thing I have discovered about compressed loads like this is that you can get away with significant compression of STICK POWDERS, but not nearly as much compression with BALL POWDERS. The reason for this is that there is still a lot of airspace between powder grains in a charge of stick powder, but not in a charge of ball powder. It is usually the ball powders that bulge cases when compressed. However, this space-saving characteristic of the ball powders generally allows you to get the charge in without using up all the space inside the case. (BTW, I have not seen or read of any evidence that compressing powder charges causes any untoward tendencies toward increased pressures!) "Bitte, trinks du nicht das Wasser. Dahin haben die Kuhen gesheissen." | |||
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I had the same problem with a 30-378. cant remember the powder but it called for 120 or 121 grains of powder. Well if you were not carful you would spill it out of the top just getting it to the press to put a bullet in, I never tried it and later sold the rifle so I'm not sure if it was safe or not. but the loads I used were close to the top | |||
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Just seat the farkin bullet. Personaly I'd work up in 1/2gr steps, instead of 1gr steps, but that's just me. As for having the powder up into the neck, that's normal for a compressed load. No special tricks or tools are needed, until your charge starts to rise above the mouth of the case. | |||
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What the man says I concurr. In fact with powders like 3100, 4831 and DP86 compression started right at the top in some cartridges.  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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I actually prefer a slightly compressed load of slower powder for almost everything I shoot. The SD just seems much better & accuracy is almost always better too. BTW, it's not compressed until you start hearing the powder crush.  I use a 6"-8" drop tube & trickle it in, then just seat the bullet.LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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Jordan, other than the usual over pressure signs the only thing to worry about with a heavily compressed powder charge is assuring that the bullet is not moved forward by the powder after the seating step. I have heard of some loaders having to crimp the case mouth to keep the bullet from moving with compessed loads, but crimping a case will increase pressure spikes. Dennis Life member NRA | |||
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Thanks for all the good info guys......guess I'm gonna Crush-Away tonight. It just scared me to have to crush the bullet into 5/8 of an inch of powder......just seemed like a lot. I will reload them tonight, then measure them in the morning to see if the bullets were pushed out a bit overnight............ You only live ONCE!!!!!!!!!! So LIVE it UP!!!!!!!! | |||
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I have experienced this but only noticeably with ball powder. I've also backed primers out and swelled cases by compressing ball powder.  Stoped compressing ball powder a long time ago. Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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Funny thing so far...... H1000.......had to compress the bullet into the powder about 5/8" IMR4350.......some room......no compression occured IMR 7828......some room......no compression occured RE19.........Tons of room....no compression occured RE22.........Tons of room....no compression occured Everytime I seated a bullet into one of the H1000 rounds, my butt puckered up something fierce. I instinctually shielded my eyes, and felt the desire to put hearing protection on....as I heard the powder crunching with each addition pound of pressure I put on the press... I hope one of the OTHER powders is more accurate, I didn't like the feeling of crunching powder......  Let you know how the range results were tomorrow. later, J You only live ONCE!!!!!!!!!! So LIVE it UP!!!!!!!! | |||
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after your cases are all fire formed you'll be able to stick in more powder. | |||
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I see this all of the time and one of the things that causes all of the problems is the factories making magazines so short a bullet can't even get near the rifling. I would never buy a rifle that needs the bullet seated so deep. If everyone quit buying them and complained to the companies that the short magazines are the reason, maybe they would get on the stick. Look at the Ruger .44 carbines and lever guns with that short rotary magazine. Only short bullets fit. | |||
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Well if you look at Hodgdon's site you'll notice that H1000 is not even listed. About the slowest powder there is H4831 and a 69.5 gr it shows it as a compressed load.  | |||
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 rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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Are you going to use your magazine? I think you are going to run into a good deal of cycling problems if you only seat them .001 shorter than the clip. I've tried getting all I could out of the clip length on short actions but it leads to feeding problems usually. H1000 may not be the best choice for the 300WSM but, you are using heavy bullets. R22 and H4831 should work well but, R22 will give you better velocity between the two. Are you dead set on using 220s? The cart was really designed for 180s and less. The longest bullets I load in the 300WSM are 180 NBTs and 180 ABs and even they get down into the powder a good bit. I think you are going to have your loads grow after you seat them if you are having to seat them that deep into the powder. Good Luck Reloader | |||
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If compression is really bothering you, try IMR7828ssc. It is the most accurate powder in several calibers I shoot. It makes compressing abit less of a problem in my .260ai. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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Right said fred. (sorry) IMR-7828ssc is a great powder for heavy bullets in the 300WSM and the .2443 winchester. ****************** "Policies making areas "gun free" provide a sense of safety to those who engage in magical thinking..." Glenn Harlan Reynolds | |||
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The compressed loads I did recently were for a 7.62x30 using 30 grains of Reloder 7. Filed the case to within 1/16 of the top. But I proceeded on anyway. My biggest problem was that I had to seat the bullet for each case as I dropped the powder due to my clumbiness (just a slight bump spilled powder) But at the range, that was my most accurate load.  Back to the still. Spelling, I don't need no stinkin spelling The older I get, the better I was. | |||
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