This may well fit more appropriately in the "Reloading" section but I posted here since it was done in a Contender.



Several years ago I bought a powder that was offered at a very reasonable price and was supplied with a one page data sheet.



This all is written to discuss several points mentioned by the experts on this and other TC sites:



1. Watch all data even published data.



2. Sharp shoulder minimum taper cases yield less "bolt thrust".



3. Sharp shoulder minimum taper cases do not get sticky extraction (even at "advanced" pressures).



4. Campare velocities with expected velocities in all loading. This iss a good reason to own or have a friend that owns a chronograph. Even the cheapest will do fine!



5. The 223 size case is good as it leaves "lots" of steel in the barrel and has a small head.



People do something stupid once in a while and get away with it , by sheer LUCK!



So much for background info.



Early last year I bought a 14" 7mm TCU and decided to develop a whitetail load.



I had several powders available and all produced suitible hunting accuracy, but I quested for the best velocity/bullet performance and accuracy combo.





I had shot all but the powder I mentioned above, In earlier tests with the 30 Herrett it performed within

10 fps of the published data.



I reduced the max listed and tried it in the TCU. All was well, EASY extraction and flattened primers. This batch of WSR had seemed to be soft in other loads, so I (stupidly) ignored this and went on with load development quest.



I shot all loads up to the max listed on the sheet and extraction was ALWAYS easy and primers flattened. The final load I settled on was was significantly below the listed max and perforned well on paper and both methods that I use for comparative bullet performance ( maybe next fall I will write the method up with pictures, because half of the test is a "seasonal" thing)).



Finally this spring I was going to chrono some factory 44 Mag loads given to me by someone I had allowed to borrow my 44 Mag wheel guns to get a feel for 44 mag recoil(Moore on this later).



When I set up the chronograph I try to test a lot of different loadings.



The chrono had been stored for a while and the 44 Mag loads were shot after the TCUs so the disbelief at the first shot over the Chrono screens seemed reasonable AT THE TIME! Normally the first thing I do is fire a string of 22LR over the screens every time I set up the chrono but did not bring a 22 on this day.





Anyway back to the 7mm TCU. I had the loads that I wanted to run across the chronograph once I got it set up. The loads were developed for deer season, but and one thing or another kept me out of the woods throughout the season. A year without deer hunting is just missing something!!!



I thought it would be interesting to see how closely the TCU velocities were to my predictions since bullet performance had been FAR beyond what I had expected by my test methods for that velocity.



I shot the first load, looked at the chronograph and doubted the reading after all I had shot a lot of these over the winter . . .



So I sent a second shot downrange over the chrono screens expecting to see a more reasonable number on the display . . . .



Oh Oh, within 10 fps of the first shot



Both velocities were in 7X30 territory . . . NOT the bottom end of that territory either. OK, less powder capacity and same velocity , , , know the formula on what it takes to get there ? ? ?



OK, pull the bullets on those puppies and DON'T reload without Chrono data again!!!!



All of this written to pass along a message:



LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES



BACK to The 44 Mag data (Factory 180s)



I had to shoot some of this stuff across a chrono to see if the performance matched the intense noise they produced (1672 fps with 180 grain bullet). As an aside the performance was ok, but not compared to the horrendous muzzle blast and intensity (almost as penetrating as 357 Mag), not a boomer like 44 Mag is supposed to be.