upon a closer look

[spladi]

Last Saturday in my LGS a young man came in with a 700 BDL bolt with an empty case stuck to the bolt nose due to high pressure from his .270.
The talk was to get everything magna fluxed to be sure of its and the actions integrity. The question was WHY ? did this happen. Several reloads were with the young man of the type that caused the problem, all marked with the appropriate amounts of IMR 4350. I bought the gun and reloads and unloaded the reloads when I got home, sure enough it was IMR 4350 in the correct amount or was it ? turned out that hidden along with the IMR 4350 were quite a few grains of IMR 4198 which blended in so well that at first glance it all looked to be 4350 powder.
The moral of this story is......Be sure that whomever is reloading for you is sober and very very experienced and mature.

 

[Carlos88]

I do all of my own reloading and have for nearly 50 years. What prompted the PM?

 

[spladi]

Still learning my way around this web site but this is the reloading forum , is it not?

 

[Carlos88]

Yes it is. For some reason I got a note that it was a PM. Guess I'm learning my way around as well. Doh!

 

[-WARDOG-]

Maybe the reloader had 4198 in the trickler and 4350 in the hopper.

 

[spladi]

Maybe the reloader had 4198 in the trickler and 4350 in the hopper.

Yes that could be but I learned that the loader was someone I know and it makes sense to me now how it happened. The quantity was more than a trickle amount and was very hard to discern from the other granules of 4350 upon first glance.

 

[RD57]

I unloaded about 50 rounds of handloaded 270 Win rounds and discovered that the powder quantity and type were not the same as shown on the label. After doing some research I found out that one of the reloading labels that was used fell off the MTM box. I wasn't planning on re-using the powder, but I did save the never fired brass and 1970's Nosler bullets. The powders were IMR4064 and H4350 so it wasn't too difficult to tell them apart. If I hadn't been as diligent in checking weights and granule size/color I could have made the same mistake.

 

[chindits]

Wow. I never tried to identify powder by their appearance. As a rule, I only have one powder out at a time so I've never done side by side comparisons. I'd be tempted to just out of curiosity but with my declining it memory it would probably never serve me well in the long run.

 

[spladi]

Absolutely ! Defining various powders by their appearance serves no practical purpose for the most part. A toothpick would burn faster than a 1/4 " diameter wooden dowel . So it is with some extruded powders. Also some extruded powder is hollow which allows for more surface area to enhance burning. Anyway it is hard to discern one from another but with focus it can be done only for the purpose of comparison. In this case IMR 4198 compared to IMR 4350 is very much smaller in diameter per granule and a bit longer.

 

[Valek]

I do all of my own reloading and have for nearly 50 years. What prompted the PM?

My initial reading of your use of PM is that it stood for Post Mortem (of the powder) rather than Personal Message. How's that for keeping things adaptive?

 

[SSgt G Cody]

For this kind of high pressure with correct powder loads, make sure bullet is not pushed tightly into lands! This can be very dangerous! It seems to be the most logical solution! Also, re-check and verify powder!

 

[pdshooter2]

For this kind of high pressure with correct powder loads, make sure bullet is not pushed tightly into lands! This can be very dangerous! It seems to be the most logical solution! Also, re-check and verify powder!

sorry but you have only a partial education.
some people work up loads at the lands, and then work both in and out from there.
yes you have to know what you are doing to begin with.

 

[spladi]

sorry but you have only a partial education.
some people work up loads at the lands, and then work both in and out from there.
yes you have to know what you are doing to begin with.

You are correct there PD shooter ! Reloading is not a cut and dry one two three affair. Unless someone reads and understands precision reloading techniques they can only have basics and pretty much their reloads become just a waste of time, not to mention tools and their proper use being required as well as a respectable amount of knowledge of powders,. bullets , brass and primers. I always am open to learning more about reloading after many many years of doing precision reloading.

 

[SSgt G Cody]

Partial education? I'm an NRA Certified teacher of Reloading Practices! If you bother to read the original statement here you'd see that he was shooting a load that he had been shooting in the past with no problems, and that the powder amount was re-measured and affirmed! For this extreme overpressure result, the next logical conclusion would be that the bullet was extended too long, and into the lands! I'd suggest you use your brain before criticizing others! God bless!