155 palma reloading

[cruze5]

So i just started reloading. i have loaded about 30 190smk but primarily want to shoot 155 smk palma (2156) i trim the brass to 2.05" The sierra manual says to reload them to OAL of 2.775. These shoot amazing!! out of a 5 shot group i will typically have 3 hole inhole @ 100 yards. The ONLY thing i have noticed is if i load a round in the chamber close the bolt, then say we have to call the range cold. i take the round out and the bullet will have slight scratch marks just above the case neck. is this anything to be concerned about?

the other question. before i started reloading i purchased several boxes of loaded HSM 155 palma with the same bullet(2156) i verifed. These bullets are seated quite a bit lower than what the sierra manual says.. should i be seating the bullets lower than what the manual states? i can get an exact measurement if needed. EDIT. they are 2.35

from the pressure standpoint, is my ammo being that its seated longer increasing pressure?

im sorry for the beginner level questions, thank you for reading

 

[MitchAlsup]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cruze5</div><div class="ubbcode-body">from the pressure standpoint, is my ammo being that its seated longer increasing pressure?</div></div>

With everything else being held constant, and starting with a bullet seated quite short that has no pressure signs when fired:: as the bullet is seated longer pressure drops slowly until the bullet gets close enough to the lands to interfere with engravement momentum and at that point pressure rises rather rapidly.

 

[turbo54]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

I don't know if you've got some kind of auto spell-correction going on, but I think the word your'e looking for is "Palma", not "Palmer".

Anyway, depending on the scratches you're seeing, it could be a problem. Recently, I pulled about 10 bullets out of some ammo I had loaed a year or two ago because I didn't really even remember what the load was. Bullet was a .308 180SMK.

I noticed some light scratching on the boat-tail, because I hadn't started using a good VLD chamfering tool when I loaded these. One had some farily serious scatching running around the diameter of the bullet, just in front of the case neck.

I loaded these 10 up along with another batch of 10 NEW bullets, and took them out to 600. I noticed a distinct difference in accuracy with the pulled/reloaded bullets. On an F-class target at 600 yards, not one of my first 10 shots was out of the 10 ring. Out of the other 10 shots, I was only able to keep them inside the 7 ring. The one seriously scratched bullet went low-right into the 5 ring.

So, be concerned about scratches on precision bullets. I'm sure the scratches you are talking about were caused by the ejector cocking your cartridge during extraction - its almost certainly not happening while going into battery.

Conduct your own test and see how it goes: Load 10 identical rounds. Fire a group of 5, then fire a group of chambered, extracted and rechambered ammo. See how it compares! Be sure to fire one "good" round at one target, then one rechambered at the other target, and switch back and forth. Try to keep in mind barrel/chamber heat too, so that you don't mess up your results by having one type of ammo exposed to more chamber heat than the other.

 

[MALLARD]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cruze5</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i take the round out and the bullet will have slight scratch marks just above the case neck. is this anything to be concerned about?

should i be seating the bullets lower than what the manual states? i can get an exact measurement if needed

from the pressure standpoint, is my ammo being that its seated longer increasing pressure?
</div></div>

scratchs on the bullet or on the case ? are they vertical or horizontal ? probably not a big deal.

seat your bullet lower ? probably not , most reloaders have better accuracy if the COAL is longer then published data , or jamming your bullet into the lands.

ammo having a longer COAL would show lower pressures signs vs. a case with a shorter COAL , i think.

 

[mdmp5]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

Measure the distance to your lands. It is unlikely that you are touching your lands with Palma bullets, but who knows. Most reamers out there make that bullet jump quite a distance, except for the 95 Palma reamer. But I load my 2156 noticeably longer than 2.8, and I am still 0.1" (one tenth) from the lands.

 

[MitchAlsup]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I don't know if you've got some kind of auto spell-correction going on, but I think the word your'e looking for is "Palma", not "Palmer".
</div></div>

As long as we are getting picky, PALMA is spelled in all capital letters.

 

[427Cobra]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

What powder for these things, I got RL15, and less than a pound of Varget

 

[cruze5]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 427Cobra</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What powder for these things, I got RL15, and less than a pound of Varget </div></div>

Vv n140

Its the accuracy load per the sierra manual

 

[turbo54]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MitchAlsup</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I don't know if you've got some kind of auto spell-correction going on, but I think the word your'e looking for is "Palma", not "Palmer".
</div></div>

As long as we are getting picky, PALMA is spelled in all capital letters. </div></div>

Touche'

 

[Jax27bch]

Re: 155 palmer reloading

Remington R-25 .308 20" (unknown twist Rate at this time)
FNH - Patrol Bolt Rifle .308 20" 1-12 barrel (50 rnds through it)

Equipment:
Lee Breech Lock
Lee .308 F/L 3 die set
Lee manual case trimmer

Hello Friends,
I'm new to this site, but so far Lots of good information!
I'm looking to find some more information on the 155 grn PALMA loads. I have 3 lbs of Varget and about 400 LC '76 and 67' Match Cases. Along with about 200 Federal Match cases.
(Thanks to Pops.)

I am a fairly experienced (also See Competent and follows good judgment) reloader with .45 ACP. however, Im fairly new to rifle reloading other than for my good ole' Garand. I am interested in shooting some high power matches with the FN-PBR and the R-25 (FUN) is for max 300m. Im working up to F-Class eventually or possibly PALMA matches so I would like to become more familiar with the 155 SMK PALMA. If anyone has any suggestions or firsthand experience please let me know.

 

[hddriver1]

Re: 155 palma reloading

Check out the Riflemans Journal, a web site by German Salazar. He has a lot of information on loading .308 for long distance shooting (http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/) i.e Palma and some more on the venerable 30 06.

 

[High Binder]

Re: 155 palma reloading

LCLR match brass trimed to 2.05" 45.8gr Varget and 155 2156s. My OAL is the measurement to the ogive.