Load Suggestions

Ammunition, reloading, shooting, etc
madsenshooter
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by madsenshooter »

BR's loads above must not have produced enough pressure to fully expand the neck, or he has a very tight chamber. When fully blown out I wind up with a .314-.315 ID neck. Some of my cast .314 bullets I could load without sizing the neck. You should have plenty of room in the chamber for neck expansion with a .311 bullet. I was thinking about getting some of the PRVI .311 150gr FMJBTs myself. I notice in the reviews that they don't have the crimp groove as illustrated. I've sized a few .311 jacketed bullets through a Lee .308 sizer and they're reduced to .309. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort with my big Redding press, I can't see shooting them, even in a .308 groove diameter barrel, raising pressure a whole lot. That'd be an interesting experiment for someone with pressure tracing equipment.

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butlersrangers
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by butlersrangers »

Some Rifles have tighter chambers than others.
Cartridge case dimensions and wall thickness can vary, (different makers, different lots, different reloading practices).

My point was that 'Charlesmep' needed to make sure that .311" diameter bullets were compatible with his rifle's chamber & cartridge cases, as well as, with his bore dimensions.
(He asked if he was overlooking potential problems. I shared my perceptions and cautioned the need to 'measure' and check).
Last edited by butlersrangers on Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

KWK
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by KWK »

butlersrangers wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:19 pmMy point was that 'KWK' needed to make sure that .311" diameter bullets were compatible with his rifle's chamber & cartridge cases, as well as, with his bore dimensions.
That wasn't me! I have a modern rolling block in .30-40 and use .308 jacketed bullets.

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butlersrangers
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by butlersrangers »

Sorry 'KWK', I've corrected my error to: 'Charlesmep'.

operavoice
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by operavoice »

Mike4MSU wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 9:04 pm 37gr H4895
Sierra Match King HPBT 175

Both with CCI 200 primers
Hi Mike,
Is this a modern rifle load, or an antique load?

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butlersrangers
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by butlersrangers »

FWIW - I checked "Mike's" H-4895 load against a couple of manuals, listing loads suitable for antique arms.

The Hornady 'starting load', for 180 grain projectiles & H-4895, would be 31.8 grains.
The 'maximum load' of H-4895 would be 40.0 grains.

Mike's 37 grain load of H-4895, with the 172 grain Sierra "Match King", looks reasonable.

I imagine, he started with a lighter weight charge of H-4895 and worked his way up.

Mike4MSU
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by Mike4MSU »

butlersrangers wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:57 pm FWIW - I checked "Mike's" H-4895 load against a couple of manuals, listing loads suitable for antique arms.

The Hornady 'starting load', for 180 grain projectiles & H-4895, would be 31.8 grains.
The 'maximum load' of H-4895 would be 40.0 grains.

Mike's 37 grain load of H-4895, with the 172 grain Sierra "Match King", looks reasonable.

I imagine, he started with a lighter weight charge of H-4895 and worked his way up.
That’s correct.

Depends on the desired outcome. Both loads are fun to shoot in their own right. Part of the beauty and fun in owning a Krag.

Mike

operavoice
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by operavoice »

I don't suppose you have a velocity reading for that load?

Hornady manuals are extremely conservative with the Krag, 180gr projectiles.
10th edition states maximum charge is 35.1gr with a 2100 fps velocity for H4895.

Now. . . in an apples to apples comparison,
the Hornady manual states that IMR 4064 starts at 32.6gr minimum for 1900 fps, 37.4 maximum for 2200fps.

the Lyman manual states that IMR 4064 starts at 38gr with 2148fps, ends at 42gr with 2389fps, and the Lyman manual includes pressure ratings as well:
38gr = 29,700 CUP, 42gr = 39,300 CUP.

That being said, the Lyman manual is a specific bullet (Speer 180gr Jacketed soft point), and the Hornady manual includes a bunch of different 178 & 180gr projectiles, but I can't wrap my brain around that much difference.

It seems to me that 29,700 CUP should be fine in an antique action.

Thoughts?

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butlersrangers
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Re: Load Suggestions

Post by butlersrangers »

FWIW - Maybe unjustified, but, I have become a bit leery about 'Lyman data' and always check it against other sources.

operavoice
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Re: Load Suggestions + Sight windage issue

Post by operavoice »

Kind of a resurrected dead thread, but I'm confused about a range trip yesterday.

Background is this:
I was having a hard time over the past year dialing in an accurate load.
Really hard to do now that SPNR bullets are hard to come by.
So, I bought a "lot" from GunBroker, and loaded up what I know to be a reasonable load in the gun (a carbine).
36.6 gr IMR 4064 is the baseline.
180gr Barnes XTP (This bullet is a flat out NO-GO!!!!! more on that later)

180gr Sierra MKBT ran an average of 2072fps - A reasonable all around speed for a carbine.
180gr Remington Special (RNSP) 2050fps
174gr Sierra HPBT 2026fps *also added 36.8gr (2050fps) & 37gr (2090fps) test loads because the bullet is 5gr lighter.
The results are very promising as they are all roughly hitting the same point on the target, so I have multiple potential loads, and bullet profiles at my disposal.

The problem now boils down to my sight. It is still firing LOW, even on the 400 yard adjustment.
That in and of itself is not insurmountable, because I was still able to hit an 18" gong at 300 yards using the 500 yard adjustment and left hand Kentucky windage.
The problem is the Gen 1 battle sight has no windage adjustment, and ALL projectiles dance around 4" to the right.
That is not acceptable. My quick question is this:
Will a 1902 rear sight with windage adjustment and peep sight bolt directly onto an 1894 receiver?

Back to the Barnes issue.
These are REALLY long bullets, and seat DEEP.
My first two shots were 2147 & 2151fsp. A little hotter than I wanted, but not unreasonable.
Shot 3 read 2701fps (didn't feel different than the first two), shot 4 read 2962fps according to the chrono.
Now, I suppose that it is possible that the chrono misread the shots, but the things that confuse me are:
1) the brass was cool after ejection
2) the primers didn't flow - they looked identical to all of the other fired primers in the batch.
3) the brass showed no signs of overpressure. No neck cracks, case separation. Nothing.
My personal experience has been that at 2800fps+ in my .308 win, primers usually start to flatten out at least a little bit.
Still enough scare for me to not want to use the Barnes anymore.
Thoughts?

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