Can reduced loads explode?

[trazman]

Is there any chance that a load under minimum make a rifle to explode? Why?

 

[Reloader222]

The answer is YES! Especially ball powder. The reason being that the powder density is low, ball powder ignites slower and the primer flash then only ignites the top of the powder. This is enough to push the bullet in the barrel. The bullet then stops for a few milli-seconds and then the rest of the powder ignites causing a secondary explosion. It is then that the stuck bullet must move forward again, the pressure goes overboard and you have an explosion.

Look up the link on reduced loads. There are certain minimums and certain powders to avoid. Do it with great care!

 

[Michael Courtney]

Is there any chance that a load under minimum make a rifle to explode? Why?

Yes, loads under minimum can cause overpressure conditions sufficient to cause catastrophic failures.

There are a couple of physical mechanisms in addition to the one mentioned above, but these should be avoided by keeping your loads between the published minimums and maximums and using safe, well-established reloading procedures.

In our laboratory, we often have need of producing velocities from 850-2800 fps in 30-06 and .308 for armor testing, BC testing, stability testing, and studies of terminal performance. H4895 is our preferred powder higher in the range, in accordance with Hodgdon's guidance for light loads with this powder. Sr4759 works well for light loads in the middle of the range, using loads within the ranges published in the Speer reloading manuals or the older IMR loading manuals. Trail Boss is our preferred powder for light loads at the lower end of the range, using Hodgdon data and guidance.

In .223 Remington, spanning a wide range is much easier using Blue Data. Search for Blue Dot .223 Remington loads published by James Calhoun. On interesting feature of the Blue Dot loads is that the bullet energy is a near-perfect linear function of powder charge for a given bullet. That means if you measure muzzle velocities and compute muzzle energies for two blue dot loads with a given bullet and rifle, you can then compute almost the exact powder charge you need for a desired target muzzle energy.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Yes, but it depends on the burn rate of the powder, it's application and the loading density.
It normally only has occurred in rifle cartridges when slow powders like H4350 and slower have been reduced to below 80% density. There are many theories, but what Reloader22 is the most common one, although it is not only a ball powder problem.
There is a similar problem that can occur in handguns, but what it generally is, is that a less than full fill charge of 296 is used, it doesn't ignite properly and a bullet gets lodged in the bore, the next round fires and a destroyed handhun is the result.

This why you should not go below the start loads in cartridges with slow powders.

Cheers.
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