guzma393
Active Member
I did the opposite. I'm sizing my casts to .311 to stick it in my combloc reloads. I could always size .311 down to .309 for my 300BO and 308WIN's.
What did you do at your reloading bench today?
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I did the opposite. I'm sizing my casts to .311 to stick it in my combloc reloads. I could always size .311 down to .309 for my 300BO and 308WIN's.
One of the reasons you see different loads is that the formulas change at times. That is one of the reasons it's not a good idea to use old load books. This is not a lawyer driven liability issue, it is strictly based on the testing done on the different batches of powder.
Changes are made to reduce temperature sensitivity, leave less residue, reduce flash or increase power to weight ratio.
Using old load manuals is like being a production test pilot. You never know what is going to happen when you pull the trigger.
That's fair I suppose, but it doesn't really apply to W231/HP-38. I got that directly from calling Hodgdon technical support. The old salty dude I talked to told me that those two powders have been virtually identical for a long long time, in addition to the fact that the burn rate has been the same as it always was, and yet you'll see different loadings in the Lee manual for the two "different" powders, which I find to be borderline comical.One of the reasons you see different loads is that the formulas change at times. That is one of the reasons it's not a good idea to use old load books. This is not a lawyer driven liability issue, it is strictly based on the testing done on the different batches of powder.
Changes are made to reduce temperature sensitivity, leave less residue, reduce flash or increase power to weight ratio.
Using old load manuals is like being a production test pilot. You never know what is going to happen when you pull the trigger.
Bullseye and Unique are also slightly changed, but still burn at pretty much the exact same rate as they have for about 120 years. There's no reason the load data in the manuals should be any different, regardless of when they were printed.
GunBum
Active Member
Same information I’ve gotten from Hodgdon. I do a fair amount of work with them at my day job. Their head technical guy claims there is as much lot to lot variation as there is 1961 to 2021 variation. They make changes over time, but spend a lot of effort trying to get the burn rate to be the same.
BTW, Hodgdon doesn’t make the overwhelming majority of the powder they sell. That applies to all the brands they own. They buy bulk powder from factories (example St. Mark’s powder in Florida), and package it in their facility. That’s why W321/HP38 are the same and W296/H110 are the same.
I wonder if it's the same guy. The guy I talked to was well beyond the age where he could have retired (we chatted about 20 minutes one day - long after my technical question had been answered) but seems to enjoy what he's doing, so for him, there's no need to retire.
The question I asked him was about whether or not it would be safe to dump the remnants of a pound of W231 - about 240 grains total - into a brand new pound bottle of HP-38. I wanted to get the answer directly from Hodgdon because the old crusty dudes on one of the Facebook reloading groups I belong to were all basically saying that I'd be taking my life in my hands if I were to do that.
The guy at Hodgdon scoffed and laughed at that. He said that even though they were different lots, 240 grains was nothing, and that the powder has been so consistent for decades, that the only real thing I should make sure to do would be to roll the new can around in my hands for a good bit to make sure I got it blended well. He said they blend powder all the time, and that all W231 and HP38 is exactly the same.
- Feb 4, 2013
- 28,175
Because the maximum load is for your particular rifle and chamber for that particular caliber and powder and bullet.
That is why the OCW method actually has you load above the book max, but since the increments are so small (about 3/4%) if one round is below your max, the next one might show pressure signs (and you STOP), but won't be dangerous.
Collected up a whole pile of 7.62x39 brass after the AK class today. Gotta figure out if any of it is berdan primed (aka, M67), but looks like I'll have some more brass processing to do soon.
85MikeTPI
Ultimate Member
That is extremely clever, albeit I don't know if it makes sense for 7.62x39. If the 5.45x39 situation ever gets bad enough, I could see resorting to it for that.
85MikeTPI
Ultimate Member
I tried to convert some 7.62x54R at one time, doing it manually and failed miserably. I only recently starting looking around after the Ammo Ban was announced and all the AK friends starting asking me for reloadable x39 brass..
kstone803
Official Meat Getter
I pulled the handle on the 650 about 75 times while scarfing lunch. Can never have enough 9mm. I need to load 300 blackout is what I really need to do. Got some sub x bullets I need to develop a good load for in the bolt gun.
What'd that take you - all of 10 minutes.
shocker998md
Ultimate Member
I set up an old lyman single stage to run for bullet seating.
I use to nay say having multiple machine machines. But now having a single stage in the garage for depriming and all my tumbling stuff being out there to make a mess.
Then my 550b to crank out pistol and 556.
And now another single stage for rifle.
I get to just dirty up one press depriming and keep the cleaning all outside.
And now I inside I can run either machine depending on what I'm doing instead of using the 550 as a sort of single stage but not totally and then questioning any play in the tool head messing with seating consistently.
I use to nay say having multiple machine machines. But now having a single stage in the garage for depriming and all my tumbling stuff being out there to make a mess.
Then my 550b to crank out pistol and 556.
And now another single stage for rifle.
I get to just dirty up one press depriming and keep the cleaning all outside.
And now I inside I can run either machine depending on what I'm doing instead of using the 550 as a sort of single stage but not totally and then questioning any play in the tool head messing with seating consistently.
Dirty_Civilian
Active Member
guzma393
Active Member
Loading up 200 rounds of 308 on my lee loadmaster. Installed the case feeder outfitted with an aftermarket collator and extended bolt and it sure feeds alot better than the stock red collator.
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
Robertjeter
Active Member
Finally comfortable reloading and using my remaining components…. Deprimed, resized and polished 50 6.5 creedmor brass. Finish up this week. Good to be back.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Loading up 200 rounds of 308 on my lee loadmaster. Installed the case feeder outfitted with an aftermarket collator and extended bolt and it sure feeds alot better than the stock red collator.
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
Now that is a nice messy reloading bench.
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