One of these kids is doin their own thing...

[jaybird]

see if you can find where i should have (and did) stop when i was shooting these test groups...





this is why it is important to "work up" loads when experimenting... i should have been going in smaller increments, but let's just say i'll surely be doing the smaller increments from now on... especially when i get close to book max like i was here...

i realize i will probably take some flak and a bunch of "i told you so's"... but i realize i was lucky here, i just hope any of you guys that are just getting into reloading or new to the idea take my advice... i am meticulous about charge weight when loading, and also about inspecting my brass after each shot, the load just under where the problem occurred showed no problems, maybe a small amount of flattening on the primers...

any of you guys who looks real close will see cratering of the pin mark on the soft federal primers, this new savage really slams the cap, craters occur even with factory loads and harder primers like cci , so for this rifle in particular firing pin craters aren't a real good indicator of over pressure, just gotta give that spring time to relax a little...

sidenote, rifle is fine, bolt is fine... just a little feedback through the soft primer...

[Buckwheat]

Jaybird
Nice to see you are aware enough to post this information. I like to work my loads up in small amounts also. I also us a chronograph to check speeds of what the book says, this can help some for seeing pressure problems. Like if your not at max and your speeds are faster then the book says you could be over loaded already and have problems. Also a gun as it gets dirty pressure will rise, something to keep in mind. If the bolt starts to open a little stiff after a shot you are already having problems and stop. I never try and go past book speeds. Thanks again, you might have saved some one from getting hurt by talking about this.
Ernie

[uncle buck]

Jaybird thank you for sharing that with us... I appreciate it..