Max recomended loads

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JimFromTN

JimFromTN

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How many people load up to the published maximum recommended load? Any issues doing this? The reason I ask is that I got some 200 gr nosler partitions for my rem 700 in 300 win mag. I went to nosler's website and their most accurate load was the max load of that powder for that bullet. It was 70.5 grains of H4831. I typically never load max but I made up some of these loads and seated the bullets about .004 off of the lands. I took it out and shot 5 rounds thru it and was pleased with the results. I put all 5 in about an 1.25 inch circle with the best 3 well under and inch. I decided to take another shot and the shell came back but it would not eject. I looked and the ejector pin was stuck. I did not have the right tools with me so my day at the range was over. I came home and smacked it with a rubber hammer and a punch and it came free. It could have been the result of the bolt never being cleaned. I have put out well over a thousand rounds and never thought to clean the ejector pin. I was reading up on this and I found where someone mentioned this was somewhat common when trying to push loads to the max. Basically, brass shavings get down in the hole and wedge the pin in. I am not sure if I should back off on the powder a little or possibly seat the bullet a little deeper or just not worry about it and hope it does not happen again once I have cleaned it thoroughly.
 
Did the primer rupture? If so then this is a pressure sign. Never start with the max load, but start several grains below and work up.

Some powders work best at max or near max loads, but load workup should never be skipped.

Pressure signs include, but are not limited to:
ruptured, flattened, or backset primers
expanded case heads
shiny or marked casing faces at headstamp
loose primer pockets
split casings
difficult bolt lift or extraction

Others please feel free to add others that I have overlooked
 
Since your COAL was longer than book spec, you should be fine. But it is always good practice to start low and work up. And old toothbrush and a drop of oil will work wonders for the ejector. After you get the shavings flushed out, give it a drop of oil and work it in good.
 
The casings had no sign of excessive pressure. Everything seemed fine except for the fact that the shells were extracted smoothly from the chamber but they were not being ejected. I did actually work up loads. I did 4 different loads in 1 grain increments up to the max. I just did not have issues until I got up to the max. The max shot the best and I would kind of like to use it if I am not endangering myself or my rifle. I guess my question is, has anyone ever experienced excessive pressures reloading max loads from published data from a reputable source such as nosler, lyman, sierra, berger, hornady, or any of the powder manufacurers. I would expect their loads to be well below dangerous pressures for liability reasons.
 
As far as I can see You did right. I have never had the lest bit of trouble when going by a published source such as you mentioned. Give Nosler a call see what they think.
 
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it will depend on the rifle,,I have run way over max in some long throated sloppy chambered rifles with no ill effect,and I have hit big pressure way below book published max loads also,,,,
I am shooting a couple rounds now that there is no book data for and yo just have to start low and work up slow and you should be able to tell when you need to stop and back down way before you hit enough pressure to hurt anything,,

in 300WM with 200 gr bullets and 4831 if you work up 1/2 gr at a time you should see pressure way before getting in the danger zone,,
 
Sometimes excessive pressure will cause the Case head to flow back into the Ejector hole in the Bolt face. Could cause the problem your having. When this happens you get a nice little circle on the case heads at the location of the ejector. If your cases show this, I'd back off. Typically though you're gonna feel hard bolt lift too with any load this hot. If your case heads are unmarked, I'd say you don't have a pressure problem

My current favorite deer load in 257 Weatherby uses IMR 7828 and came from the IMR/Hogdon website. The listed Max load was too hot for my particular rifle. I was getting hard bolt opening and case heads flowing into the ejector hole of the bolt as I mentioned above. I backed off 1 grain below Max and it works fine. Still hot, but no deformation of the case. There are so many variables involved that you can't guarantee a listed Max load is safe in every gun out there.
 
Turns out I have allot of pitting on my bolt face as well as the extractor pin and the area of the bolt face around the extractor pin. I believe this pitting around the extractor pin hole aloud for build up which eventually wedged the pin in the hole. This is actually not that uncommon from what I have researched. Based on the amount of pitting, this has been going on for a while. I have used remington 9 1/2 primers in the past. I have a partial box of 1000 primers laying around. I found that remington was having issues with these primers in that they had a weak cup and this was causing issues with pitting bolt faces. Remington has supposedly fixed the issue. None the less, I don't think I will ever use their primers again.

I am probably going to buy new brass and recycle my old. If I can figure it out, I am going to take out the ejector pin and polish it up along with the ejector pin hole.
 
If you don't have a tool to hold the ejector down while you drive the pin out, wedge it in with a toothpick while you drive the pin out. Make sure you drive the pin out from the pointed side and drive it back in from the flat side. That'll make it easier to reinstall if you don't have the notch lined back up 100%.
 
I don't see how a primer could cause pitting on the bolt face unless they are blowing and letting gas leak out. If there are no holes in your primers and no signs of leakage around the primer pocket of the case, then I wouldn't throw out those primers. Especially when you have nearly 1,000 of them.
 

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