Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles I am here to eat crow, having learned my lesson

Overpressure is a thing. I’ve seen it. And when you’re pushing the envelope and then the temperature gets into the 80’s, you’re fúcked.

Remember the 75 gr ELDM load I was so happy with? The one some of you guys said whoa Nelly you dumbass, that’s overpressure? And then I said I’m not getting any serious pressure signs and it shoots fantastic? And then you said okay it might shoot fantastic now, but what about when it gets hot? And I said I wasn’t worried about shooting in the heat?

Well, I shot in the heat. Fúck.

Normal bolt, see the little ledge? That ledge holds the bolt shroud on.






I’ll bet some of you already know where I’m going with this.

So here’s the bolt on my .223. Notice anything different?






Kinda odd, the bolt shroud blew off and landed in my shirt pocket. Made it pretty easy to find. Ripped that little ledge clean off.

Lesson definitely learned. And the important question, what’s the name of the piece I need, and where can I buy it?


If anyone wants to kick me when I’m down, feel free, I deserve it.






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Glad you are OK.

Learned my lesson as well.

Maximum book charge weight or book velocity, whichever comes first is my max max. I reserve the right to tone it down from there.

Looks like I have to buy a complete firing pin assembly. There goes $140.






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You got off easy.

Got any photos of the brass?

No, but the primers were cratered badly.




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Just glad you weren't injured. Parts can be replaced much easier than eyes.

Did the case rupture or the primer get pierced? If not, I don't understand why the bolt shroud blew off.

Glad you came out ok other than a broken part.

It's funny how things happen like that.

I remember reading your post and you came off pretty cocky telling everyone how safe your load was and quite a few members we’re trying to let you know that you were more than pushing the envelope, but you kept coming back with your smart a$$ remarks on how safe you thought your load was!

Sometimes it pays to listen….

Glad you got off so easy. $140 is barely a stern reminder. Now go buy quickload. 😁

I'm glad you're Ok and the damage is only a modest amount of cash.

I deserve that.



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Primer might have gotten pierced, I didn’t recover the last case.






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What was/are the load specs, so no one repeats the offending load?

Glad you're okay, and the price for a lesson learned was not drastic....

Speed comes at the expense of pressure, not being a way around this fact.
In a tight, concentric, properly assembled throat-barrel-bolt, pressure signs will not appear until pressure is not way above maximum already.
A .223 will never make it safely to 22-250 speeds.

With this said I am glad that the lesson cost you so little. I was as lucky as you have been.

Learned the same lesson, but not as harshly, with a .223AI and H335. Shot GREAT here in Montana at 40 degrees. First and only shot with it in Texas at 90 degrees blew the primer, End of H335....

that gets a lot of people. of course some powders are much worse about that than others

This sums it up for me.

Thank you, Pharmseller, for having the humility to share your experience - it's good us to be reminded periodically about the need to err on the side of caution.