fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

[kylongshot]

im trying to load some new 243win with retumbo and a 105 berger VLD. I started with 46 grains and when i seated the bullet i could hear the crush. I dont know much about compressed loads and i just pulled them until someone can explain that it is safe or not.
Ive loaded a bunch of others with other powder and my coal is 2.65. i had to go this short to get the bolt to close on them and the hornady book says 2.63 anyway. Am i doing something wrong???

 

[former naval person]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

Not necessarily. Compression is what you got. Check the loaded rounds for length. Heavily compressed loads can cause the bullet to creep back out of the case...if you are working at max pressures and the bullet gets jammed too much, you may spike pressures. Mild compression, with everything in specs, (within pressure limits) you won't have problems. My .243 does best with that bullet,accuracy wise, with RL22...just for your information.

 

[kylongshot]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

i just had the rifle built and im just working on a bunch of loads to try. Ive got a couple h4350,rl22,ramshot hunter,ect. I see a bunch of people shooting 49gr of retumbo and that fills my case all the way up, so thats why i shot all the way down to 46, thats the starting load.

All of my loads are all seated with a redding comp bullet seater.

 

[kylongshot]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

my bullet looks really short in the case... whats anyone think?
this is a 105 amax

 

[boudin]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

Some compression is okay. I load 105 A-maxes over 47.0 gr of Retumbo in Lapua cases, and they "crunch" a little every time. If it's new brass, you'll likely gain a bit more case volume over the course of the 1st couple of firings and the degree of compression will decrease.

Edit to add: SAAMI spec minimum OAL is 2.540, so I wouldn't worry that they're seated too deep. Max OAL is 2.710. My Remington 700 came with a throat like a porn star, so I seat mine to an OAL of 2.815 to have 'em -.02 off the lands. A fella at the range was telling me A-maxes were meant to be loaded to SAAMI specs, so I just seated 3 to 2.710 OAL to try this weekend.

 

[kylongshot]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

i tried some in lapua and some in hornady case, still about the same. I guess ill just shoot it and see what happens, i dont think i could get .020 jump even if i needed it, and i guess Retumbo is outta the question for me

 

[milo 2.0]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

KY,

There is nothing wrong with a compressed load. They usually come with a slower burning powder, bigger granules.
I have one load so compressed I need a homemade funnel with a 8" drop tube to get the powder in the case. Works just fine.

That 105 Amax is seated way to deep in my opinion.

As for "OAL" here is an example.
For the 7mm SAUM, max "COL" is "2.825",
my loads as the throat wore out were seated to "3.175", oops, I must have been out of SAAMI specs. When the throat was totally gone, I just seated them back to where I started with the load, and the gun shot just fine. It is getting rebarreled right now.
Hope you get something working!

 

[fw707]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

I think Redding says excessive compression will eventually damage the micrometer.

 

[milo 2.0]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

You sure it is not the seating stem? It costs $12.00 to get one fixed, has to be sent in.
I ruined one in 223, not from compressed loads, but failure to chamfer new cases, in a hurry one day.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: fairly new to reloading: compressed load ??

Is your gun even throated for heavy bullets. It doesn't appear your gun is made to shoot heavies and if it isn't they will likely not shoot well if they even hit the target.