Load,139gr. Hornaday SST, Remington case, CCI standard large rifle primer,44gr.Varget.
Rifle Winchester Md 70 lightweight with 20in. barrel.
The average velocity of this load in my rifle is 2875FPS.The accuracy has been outstanding with some 100yard groups at.5in. I have not experienced any signs of excessive pressure.I read elsewhere that higher than normal velocity is a sure sign of to much pressure.The loading info this load is based on indicated 2900FPS from a 24in. barrel which is 4 inches longer than my rifle. This is slightly below the max. load listed. I would be interested if anyone has an opinion on this.
Thanks in advance, Mark

Mark-

Sounds like a reasonable load. I shoot 41 grs of Varget & a 140 gr Nosler BT. It's below max, but extremely accurate. I'd think 44 grs with your Hornadys should be just fine. Don't base your "fears" on the velocity published in a manual. They are nothing more than a guideline that has "some" validity in comparing loads in *that* book. Mostly for marketing though, more than accurate, real-world numbers.

My Tikka 7-08 shoots .6" with 40.1 gr H4895 and a 140gr Nosler B-Tip. Muzzle velocity is 2,700 ft/sec which is as fast as I want to go. I'm hoping that the lapua brass will last a long time. Shot 6 groundhogs with this load on friday, 4 of them were between 200yds & 250yds.
I get the same speed with 42gr of Varget and nearly the same accuracy.
Oddly enough, my rifle hates the 139gr SST and group size doubles. The 139 SST shoots quite well from mt 7STW.

Mark H:

I also have a 7-08 w/20" bbl. Mine does not deliver the velocities that you mention with 140 bullets. But components, and rifles vary so you may be OK. If all the standard pressure signs are OK, then you are probably fine.

If you are still concerned, try the single case pressure test.

Take a new case, trim to minimum, chamfer etc. and load it with your chosen load. Take 10 other new cases, primed, load with your powder charge but no bullet. Pack your 10 cases in a box, block 'em in place so they won't spill, then take your press, dies, hand priming tool, primers and bullets and go shooting.

Fire your one loaded round, resize, prime, dump in the pre-measured charge from one of the other cases, seat a bullet and shoot it.

Each time you repeat this step, note the resistance to seating the primer.

When you reach the point where the pocket starts to feel too loose, stop. If you are able to shoot one case 10 times and still have snug primer pockets, you are probably just fine with pressure. But!! if that new case develops a loose primer pocket in 5 or 6 loads, then I'd say you are bit warm.

This is not as much of a pain in the a** as it sounds, it'll take you 45 min or so.

JimF