Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Going over published max

What increments do you guys climb when going over a published max load. Ive hit the max load data for my .204 with Benchmark according to Hodgon and my groups are getting alot tighter with more powder. Max load with a 32 gr. V-Max is 28 grs but am thinking of working up to 28.5.
I have no signs of pressure at 28 and spent brass looks to be holding up fine at 28 grs. So should I jump to 28.5 or go up in samller increments?

Cheers!!

It depends on the case capacity of the cartridge. I usually use increments that are 0.5-1% of the load I'm using.

I would go up in .2gr increments to 28.4grs. The groups might just open up by going higher than it is right now. A slow lot of powder, or a bullet that has .030-.060 jump, if not more, can give the impression of being underloaded.

The caution I will state is to check your fired rounds and see how tight the primers seat in them after sizing. Brass will look ok, but if the pocket has swelled enough so that the primers are loose, you have went too far already. This for me has always been a good indicator of the pressure of a load and will show up before just about anything else that says high pressure.

Thanks guys, i think Im going to work with the published max and seat the bullet out further and test.

Cheers!!

Yeah, try seating out. It almost always works. The jump on the 204 is ridiculous anyway.

I NEVER go over book max....

according to some of our resident armchair ballistic experts, my rifle will explode and I will kill myself and everyone else at the range that day and anyone else within 10 square miles of there....

always pay strictly attention to these guys and ONLY the LATEST reload manuals available...

after all they are experts...

What you should do is look for the reloading manual with the heaviest powder charge and go with those. Since it's a published load it will obviously be safe even if extraction is hard and primers pierce.

The sarcasm here is getting thick...

I only go over if I'm working with exceptions to the rule, such as moly coating or a a very long throat. What if one manual tests their 243win loads in a Lilja tube and I'm running a somewhat sloppy factory chamber with a generous bore size? Holding all other things the same, I doubt I'll make their velocities as my pressure will likely be a good bit lower. I don't mind bumping over max a bit in some instances, but only if I'm using a chronograph to keep things realistic.

Each rifle, is it's own story.

Max, is a guideline max. Many rifles top out below the published max with certain loads (COAL, capacity of brass, pressure due to bore constrictions, etc.), and some don't top out until over book max (same things).

Use your head, a little common sense, and good judgment. Accuracy first; everything else follows that.

"Use your head, a little common sense, and good judgment"...

evidently our resident armchair ballistic experts think we leave all of those out of the equation....

hence why its so important to them for us to follow exactly word for word what a reload manual states in the latest edition.....
which they admit may be obsolete when the next edition comes out... but until it does, we have their approval to do so...

When talking book max vs. real life a chronograph is a truth machine. Then you have real data to go on for your rifle vs......

Really???

Are you aware that as a load is increased to dangerous levels bullet velocity actually goes DOWN? In the worst case scenario, the action blows up, the bolt goes into your face and the bullet doesn't go very fast at all.

I am aware of many things.

Bummer is, there is no data or manual with RL-15 for a 400 Whelen, Benchmark loads for a 222 Magnum; RL-17 loads for a 220 Rocket. I could go on.

Wildcats and new powders should just not exist I guess.....

People who have the experience and knowledge to move past book limits know it, they don't have to ask. Anyone who asks is NOT at that level yet and should stick to the book loads. They ain't as wimpy as some think and sometimes even they are too hot.

I recently met a fellow who was shooting mid-level loads in a newer Md. 70 in .22-250 but was blowing primers. The admonition to start low and move up is well known. Seems a LOT of people leave out the part to watch for pressure signs as we go and STOP if they appear.

Load books are excellant guides but they are only guides. Reloading is NOT a precise scientific procedure so ONLY the wisdom of the loader can provide any assurance of safetly.

Using manuals, the many other data sources, and cross referencing such you should be able to figure out what velocity your cartridge/bullet/powder/ barrel length,PSI rating of cartridge and why it is so, any other variables, should be capable of.
It is then a simple matter to start low and add powder till you get to to the velocity or pressure signs show.
If you are using a cartridge appropriate powder and realistic velocity expectations based on reliable data you will hit the velocity before pressure.
Done it a 100 times for cartridge/powder combos I had no data for.

I would not say that wildcats and new powders should just not exist but they are certainly not for everybody. You might be on that list.
As to the original question shooting over a chronograph would tell the user if his velocity is at the velocity given in the book taking into consideration barrel length differences.
If it is comparable and the cartridge does not have a low PSI rating I would not keep adding powder looking for accuracy.
OTOH,if it was 100 or more fps slower than it should be I often will add powder until I reach that velocity.
The reality is that leaving printed data or exceeding it requires discernment and reading of nuances skills that many do not have.

Here is another one for you Einstein. Are you aware that though many people are killed in falls of various types it is the stop that kills them?
I also do not believe velocity will drop as you add powder until things are way beyond prudent and something is giving release to the pressure other than the bullet. In other words everything is not copacetic and velocity dropping as you keep adding powder until that catastrophic event.

I was being sarcastic for Einstein....I have done two of the riddles in question despite what some feel is "unsafe".

Cast loads with powders from Unique to RL-22 shouldn't be tried either

Sorry. I am a bit slow on the uptake at times

Not really...you were just distracted