A good friend with whom I have shot precision rifle and PRS for several years is having some pretty bad issues with his loads. Now, he is an experienced reloader and recently had a rifle blow on him with a hand load. He bought a new rifle and shot it today for the first time. Again his hand loads, one he has used for years. The case base is swollen to the point that it is going to have some serious issues coming off the bolt face. He's loading 43 Gr of H4350 and a Norma 130 GR Golden Bullet. I have run the same loads in my guns without issue. Before you start squawking about the loads being above max, know we both worked up to these loads and until his experiences, neither of us had any pressure issues or signs,

The lot number of the Hodgdon H4350 is 1081115/5429. 1 lb bottle. This powder was loaded in both instances. Please check your lot numbers and let me know if any of you have experienced any "hot" loadings with a known formula using this lot or other lots of H4350. We both have used Hornady brass without issues for years.

Thanks,

RMD

Looked at my lots... none similar.

When was the original load developed?? If in the winter.... it’s now hotter than hinges of hell. That’ll over pressure a load.

Was this barrel recently cleaned?? Carbon ring could cause a pressure spike.

Personally, I’d clean the barrel, remeasure the distance to lands, drop back 1-1.5gr and go up again watching for pressure.

Andrew

My H4350 is a different lot.

Did you workup a load for the new gun? If not you have a different set of chamber dimensions. You may be jamming the bullet into the lands.

I would check for the bullet/brass being pinched when chambered, too.

Read the string on Snipers Hide and see the clarifying info that the person in question took the load from the blown up rifle and assumed it would be good in the new rifle.... BAD ASSUMPTION.

The component that has run afoul of physics is the "Nut behind the Butt". You've been around long enough to know that a load worked up for a particular weapon is not always safe to use in another weapon.

I'd continue the advise that he Stop Everything. Clean it, measure it, and develop a load for the new rifle before he blows this one up as well.

If he's too impatient and just wants to get some trigger time.....go buy some off the shelf factory load.

Andrew

Yes, I agree that is the one mistake he made - not working up a new load in the new rifle.

However, this still does not explain the blown first rifle. This is not a guy who casually loads just to shoot. He and I have worked together on maximizing the utility of our loads for the rifle.

He made a silly mistake with his new rifle and escaped harm.

So the real question is what happened to the first rifle? I seriously doubt that you can stuff enough H4350 behind a 130 to blow a chamber.

Thanks again for your insight.

RMD

Looking at the Hodgon Reloading Data.... He is WAY over max. They list 35.2 to 39.2 as their tested range.

I realize that these values/loads are very conservative. But that is the published data from the manufacture.

I'm betting the local conditions (? Hot ?) and the over max load was the culprit. There had to be some signs of excess pressure - hard bolt lift, ejector swipes, flattened primers, ect.

Andrew

I agree with El Cid, 43.0 is too hot. I run 40.0 of H4350 in my 6.5CM with a 140gr bullet and it keeps me supersonic out to 1000 yds with room to spare. Even with a 130gr bullet, 43.0 sounds pretty warm. Always start low with a new or rebarreled rifle and work up from there.

I know all barrels are different. Several years ago I loaded for a 6.5CM, my 4350 load was higher with 130 VLD's, Krieger barrel.

Rifle blow on him... gotta be more then just a warm load caused that. Powder mix up, bore blocked....

2nd rifle. Case base swollen. Same reamer used in first rifle? Headspace the same fired cases from both rifles?

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

Rifle blow on him... gotta be more then just a warm load caused that. Powder mix up, bore blocked....

2nd rifle. Case base swollen. Same reamer used in first rifle? Headspace the same fired cases from both rifles?

1. Ruger claims it was an over charge.

2. New Rifle reamer: IDK.

Thanks for the responses. Cause remains unknown.

RMD

Generally I have found H4350 pretty stable lot to lot, certainly not going from fine to that far over pressure.
It sounds like he needs some tutoring on proper reloading. If you are running a max load with one brand of bullet & switch, load dev starts over. Very little is plug & play when working the top end. This includes switching case brands & primers.
The other thing is to check his gear. Is his scale accurate? More here than meets the casual eye I think.