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

You deserve an ATABOY. for standing up and admitting you made a mistake. Which most want do. Hasbeen

I love the temperature sensitivity thing about H335. I have shot 10’s of thousands with H335 and no issues. I do shoot 40 and 50 grain bullets, however, and don’t shoot heavier fast twist.

I am not saying it hasn’t happened, but I’m saying it hasn’t happened to me…

The results sure could have been much different..... Glad you came out ok.

Tip of the hat for being man enough to admit your mistake. Hope this serves as a example for us all....and yes, that includes me.



Sometimes experience is the best (and most cruel) teacher.

Shrapnel & Ingwe: I have been a many decades long user of H 335 and have shot countless thousands of handmade cartridges that were made with it - knock on wood - to date I have had no issues with it - just great accuracy and consistent velocities (according to my Oehler chronograph).
I must add that "I" am a notorious non-hotrodder when it comes to my handloads - I have NEVER loaded a single centerfire cartridge "above" book maximums, since I began handloading 63 years ago.

I also am so happy the O/P was not injured.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Waaaay too much TAC.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/18147804/1


Thanks for the kind words. This is the only load I’ve ever done above book max. Won’t be doing it again.




P

New firing pin assembly on the way from Midwest Gun Works.

Went over to Mountain Tactical and ordered a new bolt handle just for fun.

Gonna go back to my Varget load and fiddle with seating depth.





P

Understood. AA2230 behaves better with a hot gun on a hot day than TAC, which at atime was to be temp insensitive. Not in my experience.

I think the infatuation with a 223 and fast twist has done the shooting world a real injustice. The 223 is a small to moderate case designed for different ballistics than what it has become.

Somehow the desire to make the 223 a long range cartridge is like putting a 250,000 BTU furnace in a 6,000 square foot house. Certain things can be achieved, but at what expense?

I am no ballistician, but I can see how heavier bullets, spun faster in a barrel could create more pressure than it would equally balanced with a lighter bullet and slower twist.

I have killed deer and antelope with a 223, and I know it can be done, but I will continue to hunt big game with larger bullets in a larger cartridge and save the 223 for varmints, as it has proven itself to be one of the very best for just that purpose…

Good words. Thanks.

Exactly the same experience here with the same round and powder.

I tested my TAC loads on a hot day as hot as I knew I would get the gun(s) in question. They failed and I ended up getting safe results with an extruded powder.

They were both 1-14 twisted guns with 40gr. bullets and I'm betting ingwes loads were too.

Its about pressure at the chamber and heat generally makes it go up if you're already at max.

[align:right][/align]Now I have about 250 loads to pull. Never had to do this before. One or two finding OAL but never full loads.

PITA.

Gonna toss all the fired brass, too. I have lots.





P

Thanks for sharing and just glad your OK - a good reminder just what we are dealing with each time we pull the trigger and why it is a very good idea to pay attention to all the cautions read or voiced - at ALL times when reloading.

PennDog

Similar situation to this happened to me with standard albeit maximum data from a mid 90's Hornady manual and the 30-06 with 165gr Interlocks and Winchester 760 powder. The max load was fine on cold days and during cold weather deer hunting, but would blow primers at the range on a 90° day. The load must have been developed without considering the effects of summer Texas temperatures.

I wouldn't kick myself too hard over this. Stuff happens and lessons are learned. I also have a keg of Military Surplus IMR-4895 that's the fastest lot I've ever seen. I have to be very very careful. Normal data doesn't kosh too well on the upper end with this stuff. I now use it primarily for reduced loads and cast lead bullets.

😁 Hornady manual early 90’s loading 25.06, 117 grain Hornady and RL22, max load listed was 56.5 grains got to 54.5 and couldn’t lift the bolt then had to have a smithy get it open. Never have trusted that manual or any other Hornady manual since.

I've blown primers with normal 308 win data using that military IMR-4895 mentioned above, so it's not just temperature swings that cause trouble. There's also a tolerance in slow vs fast burning lots of the same powder.

In the world of statistical variation, if you do something long enough you'll stumble across the worst case scenario and something happens.

Mix an upper end (say the heaviest possible charge of the run) of fastest burn rate powder in a least possible capacity case. Maximum diameter bullet seated with a primer with maximum compound touched off with your hardest trigger squeeze..on a hot day.

It's hard to say what really happened here. Was the metal inherently flawed during manufacturing? Who's to say?

I'd like to think I'm a little wiser now than in my younger hot rod reloading days. Yes the hotter loads tend to burn cleaner and are often the most accurate, but at the same time I prefer to use no more resources than necessary to get the job done.

I’ll tell you what, pulling 75 gr bullets with a kinetic hammer is a bitch. It took me a while to figure it out, not a lot of momentum with that little bullet. Got through the partial box of 55, called it a day. 200 more to go. Bullets look good, tips are fine. I’ll run the primed cases over the expander ball before loading again.

I have enough Varget for about 2,000 rounds.




P

Buy a collet puller, way faster than an inertia and less likely to damage the bullets.

Never heard of them, how do they work?



P

Be careful!

That collet puller can crimp the bullet quite easily on any light jacketed bullets. The inertia puller, although slower, is still a better way to go on light jackets...