I have been given a small supply of Federal HE brass that I intend to load with 165 gr bullets over 44.5 grains of IMR4064. This has proven to be an accurate load in my Rem 700. My Nosler manual shows that loading density should be about 91%. When I load this brass, the powder fills the case into the neck (a compressed load) Is it safe to proceed or does the Federal case have enough internal difference to cause a problem (ie, high pressure)?

I've never loaded the FC HE brass before so I have no experience with them. Does anyone know how they differ from normal FC brass?

Any time you change ANY component, re-work your load.

Hmmm.. have you compared the weight of the FC HE cases verse a standard FC case? Try filling a standard FC case with sugar (or something like that)( fill it by using your powder funnel) and then pour it into the FC HE case. Not very scientific but it should kinda answer your question.
Please post your findings, I'm curious if that brass is "stronger" than standard brass.

You can also use water

quote:

Hmmm.. have you compared the weight of the FC HE cases verse a standard FC case? Try filling a standard FC case with sugar (or something like that)( fill it by using your powder funnel) and then pour it into the FC HE case. Not very scientific but it should kinda answer your question.
Please post your findings, I'm curious if that brass is "stronger" than standard brass.

Good idea. It might be the same as regular Federal brass just marked that way since it isn't for use in autoloaders IIRC.

LWD

Full length size both brass (once fired or new if available) and trim to the same length. Ant variation in weight id a variation in the internal capacity. typically it is one grain of powder for every seven to eight grains of brass weight.

I haven't compaired the volumn in the Federal cases vs the Federal HE cases yet. I have weighed the brass and the FC brass samples average 175.4 grains and the FC HE cases average 174.3 grains. I am using the Nosler manual for my reference; it is just that I have never encountered this much difference in loading density before. I will weigh the contents of several cases to compare.

Sand or sugar is a little easier to completely get out of the case, if you are just comparing the two different cases.( pouring between the two) I've often wondered if I got all the water out of one case and into the other.
And as for the weight comparision... I had some factory primed FN .308 cases that held the same volume of sand as LC cases, yet weighed more than the LC by 10ish grains, leading me to believe that the brass itself was denser, hence heavier. Great brass BTW, to bad it is Berdan primed.