What to do with over pressure rounds

sdupontjr

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Joined
Oct 8, 2019
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474
Fairly New to reloading so be gentle. Ha.

I've loaded some mid of the road loads for playing at the range, but now I'm going to take a shot a doing a true load work up for my Tikka 308. Afer reading Forms "painless Load development", it really makes since of the logic. The gun will shoot the recipe or it won't. Change out 1 component and retry. So, lets say max load using Varget is 46.5 grain.

My hypothetical plan is to load:
(5) 45.5
(5) 46
(5) 46.5

Go to local range and test fire. If no pressure signs are found, shoot the remaining for groups. 45.5 and 46 look to group very well, but I get high pressure at 46.5 grains. So I stop. So it appears that if I'm satisficed with the grouping and velocities of 46 grains then that my go to other than seating depth and other factor if i want to fine tune.

I'm still sitting there with 4 loaded rounds of high pressure at 46.5. What do you guys do with them?
 
Joined
Dec 27, 2019
Messages
949
Good info above.. You should start low and work up at .2-.3 increments.. Only load 3-5 rounds at each increment.. Check every shot for pressure.. 3-5 rounds should show consistent signs not just a very slight issue with a single case. At the fist signs of pressure (make sure you know how to identify pressure) back off to the last load that did not show signs of pressure and consider that your max load .. for that bullet.. Never assume that the same load will generate the same pressure with a different bullet, even if the same weight.. Sometimes you'll find that another bullet will have its own max load which may be more or less... Never assume that a load developed in/for another rifle will behave the same way in yours. There is enough variance in barrels to cause issues. Always err on the side of safety.. As others have recommended simply pull the bullets and dump the powder (make sure you get every pellet out), resize the necks and reload cases.. Sorry for wordy comment, but reloading is best when one takes it slow and understands how the process works.. All the best..
 
Last edited:

amassi

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May 26, 2018
Messages
3,658
Pull bullet
Remove .5 grain powder
Put 46 gr powder back in
Reseat bullet

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EdP

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Jun 18, 2020
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Southwest Va
This is a great article on pressure signs: Understanding pressure
I have one of the RCBS hammers and find it takes a lot of whacks to pull a bullet, but it works and is inexpensive.
If you decide to rework the neck of a cartridge you pulled the bullet from to reset the neck tension as JHM2023 recommended, remember to remove the decapping pin from the resizing die.
 

Weldor

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Apr 20, 2022
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z
Hornady has a nice collet bullet puller die, buy all the collets you need and your good to go.
 

Doc Holliday

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Jun 15, 2016
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Holy crap, I just saw video on the RCBS puller, very nice and easy.
Yeah I just give it a tap on my garage floor and it comes right out.

When I first handled it, I thought this thing will break in 2 seconds, but it's tough enough
 

Rob5589

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Sep 6, 2014
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N CA
Collet puller. I have the hammer deal but don't use it on any bullet where the tip can deform. Plus you end up with powder all over.
 
Joined
Sep 30, 2019
Messages
902
Some collet puller insights:

1. I think I paid $25 for my RCBS threaded puller + collets are around $15 per caliber. No brainer.

2. Learning the balancing act between upward press lever and collet tension on the bullet requires a short learning curve... You might score/scratch a few bullets at first, but once you get a sense for it things go easy and fast.

3. Using the collet allows you to test and gain a smarter sense about bullet tension. You'll discover neck tension/loading inconsistencies :oops: (or consistent :)) whether you're undoing someone else's work or your own. You'll get a lesson on the critical importance of consistent neck tension + which case neck tension tools/mandrels are reliable.

4. When certain brass became scarce (since 2020) I was able to find and buy loaded or factory ammo with the brass I wanted, then remove bullets/powder/primers... sell the bullets... Anyway, having a puller got me out of some jams/expanded my brass sourcing options a bit.

Hope this helps!
 

amassi

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Joined
May 26, 2018
Messages
3,658
You also don't need every collet
6mm works for 223, 277 works down to 257. They cover about 20thou of adjustment

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