In a thread about black bear cartriges Mule Deer raised the issue quoted below in response to someones .35 Whelen load. Since I also use R-15 it caught my attention and led me to ask, what the heck is going on here? When I read the statement that the previous poster was over by perhaps five grains I thought it was a typo. I've read a lot of JB's work and made use of a lot of his writing so I know that he knows his stuff. I checked the Alliant website and lo and behold it is now saying 54 grains is the max load with R-15 when it used to say 59.5 which agrees with my Modern Reloading, Second Edition . This is a huge difference in charge weight. Did R-15 change that much or was the previous pressure testing that bad? According to Modern Reloading the pressures were quite reasonable at 59.5 grains of R-15 and a 250 grain bullet in the Whelen. I've used probably five or six pounds of R-15 and this exact load in my Whelen and everything has seemed great. Do you think they changed R-15 and I've simply been using the old version?
Chuck
Originally Posted By: Mule Deer
Since you are a relatively new member, you have probably missed the discussions of how the traditional "pressure signs" aren't very accurate. Your load is WAY above what Nosler recommends (and they pressure tested it) for the .35 Whelen, by 5 grains. You may not be seeing any signs of high pressure, but your rifle is. The .35 Whelen is simply not capable of .338 Winchester muzzle velocities at normal pressures.
