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My uncle ran into a problem the other day, and when he told me what he did, I immediately told him how he had messed up. Now we're not so sure that was entirely the problem. He had 2 primers get damaged as in a sharp ridge formed around the dent formed by the firing pin. He had yet another get a hole blown through the primer where the firing pin had struck, and one get blown out completely. He loaded Hornady 55 grain v-max using Sierra 55 grain spitzer data. I told him the most likely problem was that when he seated the bullets to the depth sierra stated, he reduced the case capacity, increasing the pressure. Well...we looked at Hornady data and found a COL difference of .030" for the loads (hornady seated longer), and the powder load that he had problems with was 0.9 grains below the max listed by hornady (24.9 grains). (I don't remember what the powder was that he used). So my question is this: would seating the bullets .030" deeper, and thus reducing case capacity by about 1.1% (I previously miscalculated this at about 5%) with a load that's nearly a full grain below max cause high pressure signs, or is there likely to be some other problem that we're not seeing? | ||
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First of all, the problem you describe is from high pressure until proven otherwise. Seating depth may be part of the problem. The bottom line; if you want to seat the bullets that deep, decrease the powder charge. Also, just because a manual lists a certain "maximum load" doesn't mean that will be a safe maximum load in a different gun. Whatever the manual says, pressure signs indicate that it's more than a maximum load in the gun used. | |||
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Sure it's possible. Anything's possible. Was this load (24.9 grains) the first one that gave these primer problems as he was working up his loads? | |||
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Manuals are meaningless when it comes to high pressure. Use them to find an efficient powder and a starting load, your rifle will tell the rest. | |||
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| One of Us |
I've not found seating bullets deeper to cause pressure problems. Sometimes a tight neck (seems fairly common with custom 222's) can cause it as can cases too long which cams them into the bullet on closing the action and raise pressure. You'd p[robably need some more info to diagnose the problem.
"You can lead a horticulture, ... but you can't make 'er think" Florida Gardener | |||
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I`d suspect a longer bearing surface with the Hornady bullet instead of the seating depth causing your problems. Did your uncle work up to the load? ------------------------------------ The trouble with the Internet is that it's replacing masturbation as a leisure activity. ~Patrick Murray "Why shouldn`t truth be stranger then fiction? Fiction after all has to make sense." (Samual Clemens) "Saepe errans, numquam dubitans --Frequently in error, never in doubt". | |||
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| One of Us |
Obviously you're dealing with high pressure. I don't think that seating depth nor bulet bearing surface is the culprit. I'm gonna guess that you have a short chamber and the bullet is pressed into the lands: adjust your bullet jump to your rifle, not the book. Or Your cases are too long and are staking the neck of the cartridge into the bullet: trim the cases to book values. In either case the round would have required a little extra push to chamber the round?? Have you double-checked your scale?? When loading for a small capacity case like the .222, it doesn't take much of a powder increase to change pressures dramatically. | |||
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This is a prime example of each rifle is unique with regards to reloading. Can seating a bullet deeper cause an increase in chamber pressure? Yes. Deeper seating means less chamber volume for same powder charge = increase pressure. Enough to cause a charge .9 gr under max in a small volume case to be dangerous? Probably not. Greater bearing length of the bullet vs. the bullet the data lists will also lead to an increase in pressure. By itself at .9 gr below max not likely a problem. Couple this with a slightly tight chamber,a slightly tighter case neck tension, variance in powder charge, etc. Add all these up and YES you can get excessive pressure for that rifle. As was already mentioned several times.This is exactly why each load should be "worked up" from well below maximum. muck | |||
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