Two or three years ago, a friend of mine's rifle blew up. I bought the recovered pieces for museum display, to show the possible results of careless or reckless handloading. I got more of an example than I expected.
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<br>Metallurgists who examined the pieces of the action -- recently manufactured by one of the best-known and most respected manufacturers of rifles -- noticed from the structure of the steel revealed in the ruptures that it had not been properly heat-treated in manufacture.
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<br>So we err seriously whenever we assume that any action is as strong as its design and its material can make it. In so assuming, we put ourselves at greater risk than we know. We can NOT safely assume that the steel in any individual specimen is perfect throughout or that it was properly heat-treated. Some experts who've examined these pieces of GW's action -- and knew precisely the overload that blew it up -- do not believe that the action would've failed if it'd been properly heat-treated.
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<br>-- yet another reason to NOT mess around with loads that may be maximum or a bit more
