? about round reloaded with ball powder

[Broken_Reticle]

My dad had picked up a bulk pack of reloaded rounds from the store to run through the fal we have. He also thought it would be a good idea to shoot it out of his savage fp10. Well the spent case wouldn't come out under normal working of the bolt. I had to hit the bolt handle with the palm of my hand to eject the case.

I took one of the rounds and pulled the bullet. It had 43.5 grs of ball powder. Now I am not asked what brand it is bc I doubt that would be easy to deduce. But is this a pressure sign of too much powder for this gun or is it more of the fact they did a full lenght resize that is much smaller then my chamber and it is expanding and getting stuck?

Thanks for the help.

 

[sst04]

Re: ? about round reloaded with ball powder

I dont know about others, But I would not shoot someones unknown reloads.

 

[Broken_Reticle]

Re: ? about round reloaded with ball powder

Well yes I have learned this. What I am trying to find out is if ball powder differs than stick, either if you need more of if or less of it to do the job. I know I have heard that ball ammo has more variance in burn time.

But the bolt getting stuck if that is a sign of over pressure or brass being resized to small. Bc of course the fal had no issues spitting it out. The brass has LC on the headstamp which I am sure means Lake City. The brass itself isn't showing any signs that I can see.

 

[eleaf]

Re: ? about round reloaded with ball powder

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Broken_Reticle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What I am trying to find out is if ball powder differs than stick, either if you need more of if or less of it to do the job.
</div></div>

That's completely dependent on the powder being used.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">But the bolt getting stuck if that is a sign of over pressure or brass being resized to small. Bc of course the fal had no issues spitting it out. The brass has LC on the headstamp which I am sure means Lake City. The brass itself isn't showing any signs that I can see. </div></div>

I would lean more towards it being too hot (your brass may not show signs of pressure, but you did have a stuck bolt, which is a sign of too much pressure.

I would think that if it were resized wrong and the brass was "too big" for your chamber, you wouldn't have been able to chamber it.

 

[427Cobra]

Re: ? about round reloaded with ball powder

Simply put 7.62 NATO is not 308 Winchester, do not shoot machine ammo in your bolt gun again.

 

[Broken_Reticle]

Re: ? about round reloaded with ball powder

It is Ultra Max Ammo that he had bought. It is labeled .308 not 7.62 nato, so he wasn't shooting machine gun ammo in a bolt rifle.

The Fal is a DSA. So it is barrled to shoot .308 and not 7.62 nato. Which if i remember right. 7.62 nato has a lower pressure max. So if I was shooting 7.62 nato both guns should be fine since they were built to .308 specs.

My main point of the topic is I am trying to learn from things that are happening. I am about to start reloading and since this is my first malfunction of this kind I was trying to get some help.

And Yes I know if the case was resized to large it wouldn't fit. What I was wanting to know is if the case is resized too small if it would have the same effect of making the bolt stick or if this is def a too much powder issue.

Needless to say the Ultra Max will not be put back in the savage.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: ? about round reloaded with ball powder

My guess is the Savage has a tight chamber. Still in specs but tighter than the FAL which as semi-auto has a looser chamber. I'd also guess that the Ultra Max may be a little too large in reguards to sizing. Again still in specs but at one end of the range not the other.

As for the ball or stick powder, they are made differently but can be used in the same caliber. A good example is comparing TAC(ball) and Varget (stick). They are both great in the .223 and .308.