I decided to use up some 150gr Triple Shocks that I had on hand. I took a look in Barnes reloading manual(No. 4) and decided to give RE22 a try.

According to the manual 60.5 grains is the max load. I took a short-cut(big mistake): I didn't consult any other manuals to see how their RE22/150gr load compared.

I loaded two starting loads(55gr and 57.5gr) then loaded four rounds with 60gr which was half a grain below book max. (Yes, I should have worked up 1gr at a time.....) I seated the bullets .060 off the lands and headed for the range.

The first rounds looked great. The first 60gr round seemed fine. I did notice that the primer was a tiny bit cratered around the firing pin indentation but the primer did not look flat at all and everything else was normal: easy extraction, no shiny marks on brass, etc.

When I pulled the trigger on the second 60gr round everything seemed normal but when I sat up I noticed smoke coming out between the receiver face and barrel. Bolt lift was fine but I grabbed the case and before I could inspect it I noticed that the primer was gone!

I found the primer and inserted it back into the case. It rattled around!

Long story short: the rifle was fine and I shot a few more(proven) rounds.

On my way home I began to think that 60gr of RE22 seemed pretty hot for a 150gr bullet in a 270Win.

When I returned home I confirmed that 60.5gr was listed as max for the 150gr Triple Shock. I looked in 3 other manuals and found that all listed much lower charge weights as max for the 150 gr bullet in a 270:
Barnes #2 listed 56gr as max
Nosler #5 listed 56.5 as max
Lee listed 58.5 as max with a pressure of 61,800psi.

I am wondering how Barnes came up with this load as it is 4.5gr above the max listed in their earlier manual and it is well above the other manuals I have.

I am interested to hear what you all think(other than comments that I am a dumb-shit... I have already accepted that).

Also, could anyone run a quickload on the load I used. I want to know just how stupid I was.

All rifles handle different loads differently; assume nothing.
You blew a primer; no big deal; drive on. With a slightly lesser load.
It happens.

As dpcd said and also different lots of powder produce different results. Had you worked 1.0 or 0.5 grains at a time you would have got the pressure signs earlier, maybe. Some powders in some cartridges in some rifles can produce erratic pressures when you get up there.

Using a different primer can cause higher pressure or lower pressure. I worked up a load with H4831 in my 270Win using CCI primers that is very accurate, with no excess pressure; but when I loaded up some more rounds I grabbed Winchester primers ( the brand I use most often) it caused excess pressure and accuracy was horrible. I usually don't worry about brand of primer I use but start low and work up in small increments. I wonder if the primers differs between the several data manuals you consulted?

Barnes specified a different powder charge weight than other manufacturers because all bullets have different pressure characteristics based on their construction and composition. Powder lots can vary substantially too.

If you google the following you should be able to find a research report conducted by Elya Courtney and Michael Courtney for the U.S. Air Force Academy titled Powder Lot Variations: A Case Study with H4831 Hodgdon Extreme. It is documented on a Standard Form 298.

They tested six different lots of H4831 in the 25-06 and 300 Win Mag. In the 25-06, lot to lot velocity variation ranged from 11.9 fps to 111.9 fps and in the 300 Win Mag, lot to lot velocity varied from 13.6 fps to 111.1 fps.

So, careful load workup when you try a new powder or change lots of your existing powder is a prudent idea. As is using a chronograph to get some idea as to how your load is performing in relation to the reloading manual.

Jason,
Thanks for the heads up. I know you are an experienced reloader and I have to admit to being a little too nonchalant at times with subbing components. I'll be a little more careful in the future.
I have settled on most loads somewhat under max unless the rifle tells me it wants to be there.

I had a similar experience with Barnes Load Data in 308 win with AA2550.

Before Barnes Manual No 4 came out Barnes would say you can load about 1 grn over the X bullet max charge for the TSX because the driving bands reduce pressure.

When No 4 came out, I was in a hurry and jut picked a mid point load 1.5 grains under max for the 180 grn TSX in 308 Win with AA2550. I had to beat the bolt handle open.

When I compared the X load in Manual 3 to the TSX load in #4 the TSX load was max load was 4 grains over the X load. All other cartridges, powders, and bullets its about .5 grains.

Yours is the second such anomaly.

I called Barnes and they were like "Nope the load data is good." I said "really...this is like the only one with a 4 grain difference." They said "nope good data".

Yours now makes two anomalies.

I've had blown primers in at least a dozen rifles, pistols and shotguns over the past 50 years using loads from load manuals going back longer than that. Most I could determine the "what the hell and why" after working at it for a while, but 4 I never could work out the whys...a 221 Fireball - 10" XP100, first one that hit that town when they first came out, 50 gr Sierra load from the first manual that listed loads for the 221. I pull down other loads, checked weights, OAL, etc couldn't find any discrepancies reloaded them and they all shot fine...??? 25-05 factory Rem BDL...again couldn't find anything wrong with the loads, the barrel wasn't plugged but one load did a dirty dance on my head. 250 Sav Imp Douglas bbl, Rem 788 and a destroyed Rem 870 12 ga that I was very lucky on....The stock and forend survived the barrel "looks OK" but I will NEVER stick it on another receiver and the receiver is permanently mounted, prominently, right over my loading bench just above eye level as a constant reminder...it is in view pretty much no matter where I stand or what operation I'm doing...loading OR smithing.

Only one shot for each, most were the first or second shot...25-06 went to the Rem shop for a new bolt head, XP-100 got the "soft hammer treatment"...I was using H414 in the 250 Sav Imp and had one strange stiff bolt prior to the blown primer. I pulled down the loads tossed the powder and didn't use H414 until it became a twin of WW760 and haven't had any problems with either powder since. I loaded the shot shells using an RCBS multistage cheapo loader and probably what happened was the powder bridged so I got one light load and one that blew things to shite. I was using a flake powder, 1 1/4 oz shot, plastic once fired Rem Nitro cases...I DON'T use multi stage presses any more...a Lee "LOAD ALL" works just fine and I can load all the shot shells I want or need just fine.

I think we reloaders/shooters need a "wakeup call" every now and then to get our heads re-aligned and jolt us out of our reverie.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
All rifles handle different loads differently; assume nothing.
You blew a primer; no big deal; drive on. With a slightly lesser load.
It happens.

Agree, and you were lucky the case didn't get stuck.

Always work-up to max loads.

Pretty much every thread like this one comes with those sage words something like "start low and work up slow"...good words to follow...except not all reloaders follow them AND even following them can get you in trouble due to all the various vagaries such as thick case necks, tight chamber necks, oversized bullets, excess headspace, old or wrong powder, bullets jammed into the lands. etc...all of which come from assuming the rifle is within factory specs or outright ignorance on the shooters part.

I came across these problems early on in a wildcat I had built while in high school. I was just starting out in reloading, information was sparse on reloading, especially wildcats, and I really didn't have the specific tooling OR specific knowledge to do what was required to make the brass, accurately measure OAL and all the rest of it...today that knowledge and tools are readily available AND relatively cheap...yet people STILL ****-up.

I blew primers, heads off cases, stuck the bolt MANY TIMES using "beginning" loads The "gunsmith" who did the rifle was long gone but I hustled a job cleaning a local 'smiths shop, yard, fed and cleaned his rank "horses" and stalls etc for him to "fix" this wildcat which only had a tight neck and longer than usual headspace, plus I didn't have my sizer set up right...I was following what most of the reloading books recommended.

What this "ancient" "smith taught me was HOW to SEE, all the "secret knowledge", again readily available online...and what NOT to do more than what to do. The first tool I bought from that jobs paydays was a 1" micrometer and the second was a caliper...one of the old timey ones without the fancy dials or digits, and I still have and use BOTH on a daily basis along with all the various dial and digital tools I've acquired.

I make a chamber cast of EVERY rifle I build or buy, measure the hell out of everything I can lay hands on but start loading near the top of the average of several of the newest reloading manuals and the software programs as long as the measurements indicate a relative "standard" set of measurements. I've found over the many years that the most accurate loads fall at or near SAAMI MAP +/- a couple percent....but each rifle is individual and what works for one doesn't always work for another, and I DON'T have to reinvent the wheel with every new acquisition.

I have rifles that WON'T stand for loads much over beginning loads with monolithic bullets and others that go 3-5 gr OVER average MAP and still have long, 15-20 reloading lifetimes and others that have been reloaded 40-50 times and still show NO outward signs of deterioration and very little trimming required.

Jason,

The single biggest factor that has given me unexpected high pressure is differences in case capacity between brands and/or lots. For this reason, I try to use Winchester brass in most cases, because they tend to be thinner and have more capacity. Not always, but in most cases with the cartridges I load for. This is no substitute for sensible reloading practices, but helps keep pressures low with book loads.
Matt

Reloading books are only a guess and by gosh, they all differ and in many cases such as yours a great deal. Barnes load you mention would be fine in my .270 but I don't use that load or Barnes bullets in my 270...

The books are only a starting place, and I have stated more than a few times to reach a max load start at book minimum loads or 5% below book max and work up one grain at a time, it it gets sticky or whatever, your OK, just cut back a grain or two at that point.

In your case you hurt nothing, and just need to cut back to 59 grs. IMO..You found your rifles max.