I just got a mod 111 savage in .338 lapua mag. Shot S&B 250 gr hps to sight it in 5 shots 1" + moa at 100 yds good to start with. Got some 250 gr Nosler gold partitions H1000 and started at 10% below max load from hodgdon, and worked up from there, Now something that has never Hapened to me in 30 years of reloading when I reached the min load I got a stiff bolt lift the rifle has a 1 in 9" twist rate I do not think that should have anything to do with it But? Has any one encountered this situation before? Thanks in advance for any information and happy shooting.

I haven't had this happen quite this way. But I did have an episode recently with 250gr TTSX's for .375H&H that is similar. Ther is no loading info in my Barnes manual for this bullet, so I did a linear interpolation between the 235gr and 270gr recipes to get some loads figured out for min/max values. I started roughly 10% below my calculated max and was immediately getting pressure signs.

I'm sure you're going to get some responses here as I have read since that 10% below max is not enough of a buffer. I'm going to guess you'll get advice to go more like 20-25% below max.

My experience otherwise has been like yours that 10% was plenty and more often than not I can load to book max and beyond. In the few instances I couldn't, I was still quite close to book max. Perhaps a sign of lack of experience on my part?

Yes i had stiff bolt lift and strange hard recoil with a min. load in 3006.We changed powder and got normal performance.
Is the hogdon load for partion?

Ray:
First of all, I don't load nor shoot a .338 Lapua but the following is what I came up with on Nosler's reloading site. Use it at your discretion. The data reflects the use of the 250 gr. Partition Spitzer. No mention of the Partition Gold.

VVN-165 Max. = 87.0 gr. @2873 fps
Min. = 83.0 gr. @2759 fps

H-4831SC Max. = 86.5 gr. @ 2877 fps
Min. = 82.5 gr. @ 2772 fps

H-1000 Max. = 94.0 gr. @ 2898 fps
Min. = 90.0 gr. @ 2803 fps

IMR-7828 Max. = 87.0 gr. @ 2899 fps
Min. = 83.0 gr. @ 2762 fps


Since you mentioned that you started your loads at 10% below max, using H-1000, that powder charge would be 84.6 grs. I wonder if it could have been too light of a powder charge. I don't know, think I'd give a call to Nosler & discuss it with a tech.
Good luck.
Bear in Fairbanks

i'd double check the case capacity of the brass.

In the .350 RM, there is a variance of 6 grains in the max loading with the 200 gr Hornady SP and IMR 3031 between the Hodgdon and Lyman manuals, with the Hodgdon at the high end and the Lyman at the low end. I used the Hodgdon data, and had very stiff bolt lift. When I dropped down to a modest load with the Lyman data, the problem disappeared.

The only time I had something like that happen was with a custom .330 Dakota and the issue was brass length. It shot fresh brass fine, but the chamber was cut to min specs and reloaded brass was just a bit too long. Trimming the brass fixed my issue. But if you have a factory chamber, I doubt that's your issue.

Ray, how much freebore are you using?

Quite a few years back I was playing with a 308 Norma Mag. I have always been a firm believer in "seating them up close", and I started at the absolute bottom of load data for the chambering and 180-grain projectiles,seating approximately .010" off the lands. First shot had hard bolt lift and signs of leakage around the primer. Thank goodness for the strength of a 1917 Eddystone!

Following that "oops" I did a fair amount of reading, and learned that Norma originally designed the 308 Mag with a whole lot of freebore. Mea Culpa!

quote:

Originally posted by Ray Fryar:
I just got a mod 111 savage in .338 lapua mag. Shot S&B 250 gr hps to sight it in 5 shots 1" + moa at 100 yds good to start with. Got some 250 gr Nosler gold partitions H1000 and started at 10% below starting load from hodgdon, and worked up from there, Now something that has never Hapened to me in 30 years of reloading when I reached the min load I got a stiff bolt lift the rifle has a 1 in 9" twist rate I do not think that should have anything to do with it But? Has any one encountered this situation before? Thanks in advance for any information and happy shooting.

Sorry Guys, this should have said, below max load, for Hodgdon and Mid load, I used my Nosler #7 guide and the information from the insert in the bullets said to use data for Partition's every load 10 out of 10 did this at mid range (92 gr)

And what brass are you using; they vary in capacity quite a bit from brand to brand; I shoot an AR-30. I have to keep Normas and Lapuas separate as they vary a LOT. Check your velocity; Savages have good barrels and might be a tight one. And brass varies in hardness so you might not have a pressure issue at all; what do the primers look like?

Ray,

What velocity were you expecting to get? What is the velocity of the loads that gave you this problem?

Had it happen in a 7mag. I suspect it was "reloader error"

Never did figure out why. Hasn't happened since.

Had it happen one time. Loaded the same load I'd been using in my 30-06 for 30+ years. First shot was hit high and I had a heck of time with the bolt. Brass was the right length, I pulled the other bullets and weighed the powder, no problem there. I was really very perplexed until I checked my scale. Can you guess what was wrong? Yep, my old RCBS scale was showing just over 5 grains light. The load I was using was from a first edition RCBS manual, so it was a bit smokey compared to the newer "lawyer compliant" loads I see in newer manuals. With that all added up, I was already over the max according to the newer manuals...now I was WAY past the max!

Might check you scale. Mine was the balance scale that I got with my first Rock Chucker in the late '70's. Don't have any idea why it went gunnybag like that.

I called RCBS and they sent me a new scale no questions asked. They even paid the postage to send the old one back. Good folks right there.

My Dad ran into this a few years ago when he bought a .243W. He started with a below min load thinking he would move up in charge until he found a sweet spot. His first loads had excessive pressure. I think it was two things really, he had seated the bullets with very minimal jump to the lands and his load density was low. (don't remember exactly how low now) The extra space seemed to allow for a quicker peak pressure. He went to a higher density load that was still minimal and the problem solved itself.

How does the primer look on the sticky round?

I had this happen with a jug of wcc846 had to drop a full 20 percent below min to get it to work.