Hey guys, I have a couple questions about what's going on after yesterday's shooting trip. I took out my brand new 16.5" 6.5 saum for the 2nd time to do some pressure tests and get velocity numbers. I know the common powders for the 6.5 saum seem to be h1k, rl26, etc. I don't however have those specific powders. I have imr 4350, hodgdon h4350, hodgdon h4831 and retumbo. I tried all 4 yesterday. I started at what I thought was on the lower side and worked my way up in 1gr increments. All of the loads tested were using:
- brand new adg 6.5 saum brass (no prep/nothing, seated primers, poured powder and seated bullets)
- hornady 143 eldx loaded .020 off lands and 2.220 cbto (didn't measure oal)
- cci 250 lrm primers
I tried:
52-55gr of imr 4350
52-55gr of Hodg. H4350
52-58gr of Hodg. H4831
55-60gr of Hodg. Retumbo
Everything hit pressure faster than I would've thought it would. Both the h4350 and imr 4350 had noticeable ejector marks at 55gr. The 4831 had an ejector mark from 54-58gr but the Mark never seemed to get any worse or better. And didn't have any heavy bolt lift. The retumbo had heavy bolt lift, ejector wipe, and very noticeable ejector mark at 58gr so I didn't shoot the hotter loads.
One thing I noticed was the lighter 4350s and 4831 loads all had quite a bit of room under the bullet so I'm not sure if they were too light causing pressure signs etc? All of the primers looked fine in fact they almost looked brand new aside from being fired obviously. The primers didn't flatten or anything. All pressure signs were found in the form of ejector wipes, ejector marks or heavy bolt lift.
Is there something I'm doing wrong? Has anybody else noticed this with the adg brass? What else should I be looking for? Etc if any of you want pictures or have additional questions I will try to clarify the best I can.
- brand new adg 6.5 saum brass (no prep/nothing, seated primers, poured powder and seated bullets)
- hornady 143 eldx loaded .020 off lands and 2.220 cbto (didn't measure oal)
- cci 250 lrm primers
I tried:
52-55gr of imr 4350
52-55gr of Hodg. H4350
52-58gr of Hodg. H4831
55-60gr of Hodg. Retumbo
Everything hit pressure faster than I would've thought it would. Both the h4350 and imr 4350 had noticeable ejector marks at 55gr. The 4831 had an ejector mark from 54-58gr but the Mark never seemed to get any worse or better. And didn't have any heavy bolt lift. The retumbo had heavy bolt lift, ejector wipe, and very noticeable ejector mark at 58gr so I didn't shoot the hotter loads.
One thing I noticed was the lighter 4350s and 4831 loads all had quite a bit of room under the bullet so I'm not sure if they were too light causing pressure signs etc? All of the primers looked fine in fact they almost looked brand new aside from being fired obviously. The primers didn't flatten or anything. All pressure signs were found in the form of ejector wipes, ejector marks or heavy bolt lift.
Is there something I'm doing wrong? Has anybody else noticed this with the adg brass? What else should I be looking for? Etc if any of you want pictures or have additional questions I will try to clarify the best I can.