A nice long range rifle with a sad life.

[Rapidrob]

I tried the new load today at the range and the wind was 25-40 MPH.
Once I found the zero at 385 meters, the load shot very well bucking the wind. ( 200 grain RNFB FMJ's) Velocity seemed to be normal and I will try them over the chronograph to see what they are really doing. No unburnt powder in the barrel. Recoil was what you'd expect. The brass did not grow,nor does it show signs of incipient case head separation.
One of the rounds had been reloaded five times by me so I think I may have solved the problem.
In previous loads I had tried IMR-4895 with 150 grain bullets, IMR4350 with 200 and 220 grain bullets and Reloader-15 with 175 grain bullets.
I may have bought a bad lot of brass. Today's brass is much newer than the bulk brass I bought years ago that fails.

[madsenshooter]

Which lot # of IMR7383 are you using?

[Rapidrob]

I have 50 pounds left. There is no lot number on this last batch of powder from G.I. Brass.

[madsenshooter]

I got mine years ago, lot #48000, it's very slow and hard to light.

[Rapidrob]

I have never had to use a magnum primer. It is not a .50 BMG powder and would be very dangerous to use it as such.
Any load over 75 grains in my magnum rifles really changes how it burns.
But in cases from .223 to .300 Win Mag, the powder has worked very well for me. It is close to IMR-4350, just slightly slower, Not 7828 slow.
In cases up to .30-06 and 7.62x54R, a load up to the shoulder of the case is just about right. You can go more but it is really not needed. Just never tightly compress the powder. It will spike like mad if too compressed.
I have many,many loads that work well.

[psteinmayer]

Hi all!

FWIW, IMR-4350 is about as close as you can get to the old Laflin & Rand .30 WRA powder that was used in the original .30 Army ammo. 40.0 grains with a 220 RN bullet is the standard load, and I've been shooting this load in matches for years. Graf and Sons sells new GRAF headstamped brass... and Hornady also offers brass (you can get this from some of the other online places). Both are excellent quality! As others said, neck size only after the initial sizing.

Which ship were you stationed aboard? I did 4 years and 3 deployments on the USS Ranger CV-61 based at NAS North Island during my Naval Career!

[Rapidrob]

I was a plank owner and served 5 years on USS Joseph Hewes DE-1078,
Plank owner on USS Hewitt DD-966 three years
Served on USS Paul F. Foster DD-964, USS KinKaid DD-965 and USS Stump DD-978.
I did TAD's on the USS Guam LPH-9 and a couple of old Fram cans later on.
I did the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club a couple of times.
We sailed with the Ranger,Kitty Hawk, Roosevelt,Midway and the Big E.
I was a Gunnersmate,Guns.

[Rapidrob]

As it turns out,the brass is at fault. The Remington brass fails on the 1ST or 2ND loading every time. Winchester brass has been loaded since I first posted this topic five times with no problems at all. I will contact Remington to see if I can get replacement brass or my money back. Since the brass is failing right at the web,I cannot safely anneal the brass cases.
At least now I know it is not my rifles fault.

[psteinmayer]

Well... you certainly did chew some ocean!

By the way, I use a magnum primer with my Krag loads (Hornady 220 gr RN, 40.0 grains of IMR-4350, and a CCI 250 or CCI #34 (mil spec) primer).

[Rapidrob]

The load I'm using this weekend is 40 grains of 7383 and a Remington magnum primer to see if the load shoots to the same spot.
With 40 grains the powder is slightly compressed. I tried 41 grains,which was more tightly compressed and the primer took on the face of the bolt and was almost completely flat. This is the characteristics of this powder when compressed more that just slightly the pressure will climb sharply in some bottleneck cartridges.
The rule of thumb with IMR-7383 is that you work up the load and keep checking the bore for unburnt powder grains. Once you find none, stop, and go no farther,you found the ideal charge with a given bullet.
As I posted earlier, I bought the powder to load my magnum rifles. In particular I wanted the powder for my "mile rifle", a custom 8 MM Remington Magnum with a 32" barrel firing a 220 grain Match King over 3,200 FPS . With today's triple based powders the charge weights were between 100 - 110 grains. No signs of pressure problems as the cartridge operates at 65-68,000 PSI.
With IMR-7383 I had to stop at 89 grains. The case was only 3/4 full but the pressures were getting excessive with the 220 grain bullets. Accuracy was good ,not great because of the low case density.
However, in the smaller over-bore cartridges,the powders works very well indeed. In the 6.5 Swede and the 7.5 Swiss with 160 and 175 grain bullets respectively accuracy is first rate in these rifles.( '91 Swede and M1911 Swiss)
The Dwell time for semi-auto rifles using gas pistons is a little long and I don't use it in them. Gas impingement as in the French 49/56, Swede AG42B, AR-10, AR-15 seem to like this powder and the brass last a long time.
For night time Hog Hunting or the like, this powder is ideal as there is no muzzle flash. A small,dull red glow is seen from a bystander.