Are reloading book published speeds always on the high end?

[Adam Gibbs]

Not a very experienced reloader. I've worked up 2 loads to book max. A 7mm-08 with 140gr Nosler Ballistic tips with RL15 powder. Max charge weight is 41.5gr, no pressure signs there. Speed out of a 22" barrel is 2703 fps average for 15 shots. Book has 2831 fps with a 24" barrel

Next is a 338 Fed. 180 gr Nosler Accubonds, max charge of 45 grains of Hodgdon Benchmark. Slight pressure signs at max. Speed was 2559 fps, 22" barrel. Book has 2707 fps for their max charge velocity.

Do I have slow barrels, is Nosler way over estimating what their velocity is or is something else going on I'm not thinking of?

 

[wind gypsy]

Too many factors.. are your barrels broken in, what brass are you using, tighter/looser bores, powder lot variance, chamber variance, and on and on.

No, they are not always high. They can be low as well.

 

[BBob]

Berger is way conservative so definitely not high with them, low is more like it. I load until I see pressure regardless of what any book says and decide to do whatever load work or not from there.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

Treat it like a validated data set. The book is a set of results from tests performed by a very trustworthy source. Your results may not match, but now you have two data sets to compare. @wind gypsy is spot on, lots of variables. What you have now is another data set to use with the book and you can start eliminating more variables. If you want to try another powder, say Varget, you can see how the book performance differed from RL15 and come up with a hypothesis of how the new powder will perform in your rifle, say that it will come in around 2715. If you work up to 42gr of Varget and you’re at 2845, then you might conclude something about your batch of RL15. Just don’t use the hypothesis to skip working up the load, or at least testing some starting charges.

 

[azsugarbear]

I have been reloading for more than 30 years. I have reloading books going back to the 1980's. As a general rule, what I have seen over the years is that max recommended loads have been declining. Some say that we now have better ways of measuring pressure. While that is a possibility, I tend to believe that the litigious environment that has developed over the years have forced companies to "dumb down" their max load data.

Now does that mean it is a universal truth across the boards? Of course not. There are a lot of variables that combined to determine a max load in each rifle. A medium load in one rifle can easily become a max load in another rifle. Factors such as clean vs. dirty barrel, differing twist rates, coal of bullet to lands. temp of powder when load was initially developed and differing powder lots are just a few factors. The best way to find out the max load in your rifle is to always start with the minimum charge and work up slowly. Shortcuts are never found in the same vicinity as safety.

 

[Castle Rock]

In my experience Nosler seems to give the highest speeds, but they have been attainable in my guns

They use pretty tight barrels for pressure testing and sporting rifles often need an extra grain or two to reach the same velocity and pressure

Also the shape of their ballistic tip bullets are very tractable for steady pressure increases and good accuracy, but the trade off is poorer BC

 

[seand]

Book data is reference data, developed for that specific rifle. Max book loads list charge weight and velocity.

You have a better estimate of pressure looking at book velocity than book charge weights.

 

[Vern400]

If I had to guess based on 40 years of reloading, I would guess actual result for 26, 27, 30 cal to be a hundred feet per second less than book when using the book barrel length.

I have also seen exceptions on the other side. I have a 223 slinging 69 Grain Sierras at 3005 FPS with 23 grains of benchmark.

Your question was " is the book always high side?"

NO

Throw a desiccant pack in a pound of powder for a month and see if you don't pick up 50 fps!

And I've had to back off loads with Blue Dot a grain and a half from book because my 20 gauge was throwing empties 15 ft! I chronographed 1 oz loads running over 1300 ft per second! It's a double base powder and the nitroglycerin can separate from the nitrocellulose over time. In effect, it gets hotter with age. With shotguns they only list one charge... So I never suspected there could be a problem until I saw that happen.
Now I run them over a crony too.

 

[Wolfshead]

Most published speeds are out of a 24” barrel.
So if you don’t have a 24” barrel then it’s not going to be the same from the start.
My main hunting rifle has a 20” barrel so I’m not going to get as high speed as what is published.
Actually, I don’t even worry too much about bullet speed.
I hunt approximately 300 yards or so, and in, so I worry more about accuracy, and getting the smallest groups I can out to that distance.
Speaking from a deer hunters point of view, what difference does it make to the deer if the bullet is traveling 2975 feet per second, or 2800 feet per second?
Now you can make the argument about the bullet being able to open up, and such. Especially with monos, but then again I’m not shooting out past 300 yds or so.

 

[EdP]

As indicated above, it is important to look at what barrel was used to develop the data. They can be longer (usually) or shorter than your barrel.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Thanks for the input. Both barrels I'm shooting are 2" shorter than book test barrels. The 338 doesn't have that mang rounds on it. Sub 50. The 7mm08 has about 200 on it.

Does the velocity really matter for how I hunt? No, not really. I was more or less using it as a point of reference and found it odd that those 2 loads were that much below the books velocity. My 7mm08 I could probably push more, but not so much on the 338.

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

Not a very experienced reloader. I've worked up 2 loads to book max. A 7mm-08 with 140gr Nosler Ballistic tips with RL15 powder. Max charge weight is 41.5gr, no pressure signs there. Speed out of a 22" barrel is 2703 fps average for 15 shots. Book has 2831 fps with a 24" barrel

Next is a 338 Fed. 180 gr Nosler Accubonds, max charge of 45 grains of Hodgdon Benchmark. Slight pressure signs at max. Speed was 2559 fps, 22" barrel. Book has 2707 fps for their max charge velocity.

Do I have slow barrels, is Nosler way over estimating what their velocity is or is something else going on I'm not thinking of?

always start at starting load data and work up until you see pressure signs. sometimes you will be under, sometimes you will be over.

always take into account barrel length.
non-magnums = 25 fps per inch
magnums = 50 fps per inch

sometimes you can also get false pressure signs from too much headspace and or excessive space at the 0.200" line. always make sure your chamber is free of any sort of liquid. even isopropyl alcohol can take a while to dry inside the chamber.