- Thread starter Herd Thinner
- Start date
What brass? I recently picked up a Scalpel in 300WM, and shot what was I thought on the milder side in my previous GAP Rock to just take a test drive and had loaded up for some ladder testing. My milder load showed pressure, not stiff bolt lift, but sticky case and ejector marking. Stopped, pulled boolits, reset the range of charges for my ladder--then got rifle ADD, and still need to get back out with that rifle. Mantra of start low and work up--and fuck short-cuts still rings through my ears.
So, long answer short, in my Scalpel, 74.5gr H1000 in RWS brass and Federal Match Mag primers, too hot.
So, long answer short, in my Scalpel, 74.5gr H1000 in RWS brass and Federal Match Mag primers, too hot.
The brass is federal and black hills. Would love RWS but its hard to come by. So when the bolt sticks and you can eject the round that is a pressure sign ?
With 300 Win, you can get both or either. A heavier than normal bolt lift, meaning it feels stiffer or heavier when you raise it is a classic pressure sign. Seems when I feel that, I can also look at my brass and expect to see flattened primer and likely ejector mark.
The sticky case can come from bulging cases on belted magnums too, where you are within pressure but far enough along in how tames the case has been fired that there is a bulge forward of the case-head. That is why so many use a collet die, Lee and Willis make them. The collet brings the bulge back into check for ease in extracting.
Now, in my case, since I didn't follow the mantra of start low and work up falsely thinking my past safely moderate load would be perfectly fine in the new gun, I was seeing fair amount of pressure sign right off the bat. The 74.5 gr extracted fine, but showed some primer flattening and ejector marks. Being the super intelligent person I am, since 74.5 showed some pressure sign, I did go ahead and fire 74.8 and 75.1. Smart, huh. The 75.1 had a sticky case even with virgin brass. Haven't played with loading for it again since, but expect when I get back to it that all the fired cases will have loose primer pockets.
I would search for loads with federal brass more than the rifle it will be fired in. There is some pretty good info out there, and much of it is brass specific. I have not used Federal brass in the 300, but hear their brass is generally pretty thick, meaning decreased case capacity, and likely finding pressure early if looking at someone else's data using say Winchester brass.
I did use Federal brass exclusively for a few years in my 338 win mags. Reason being I had a couple hundred 1x fired from Federal Medal factory ammo and used what I had on hand. No complaints and still use the same brass in one of my guns. Would in all but had picked up some Nosler brass cheap and now use it to help keep loads visibly separated between guns at home, boat and camp.
The sticky case can come from bulging cases on belted magnums too, where you are within pressure but far enough along in how tames the case has been fired that there is a bulge forward of the case-head. That is why so many use a collet die, Lee and Willis make them. The collet brings the bulge back into check for ease in extracting.
Now, in my case, since I didn't follow the mantra of start low and work up falsely thinking my past safely moderate load would be perfectly fine in the new gun, I was seeing fair amount of pressure sign right off the bat. The 74.5 gr extracted fine, but showed some primer flattening and ejector marks. Being the super intelligent person I am, since 74.5 showed some pressure sign, I did go ahead and fire 74.8 and 75.1. Smart, huh. The 75.1 had a sticky case even with virgin brass. Haven't played with loading for it again since, but expect when I get back to it that all the fired cases will have loose primer pockets.
I would search for loads with federal brass more than the rifle it will be fired in. There is some pretty good info out there, and much of it is brass specific. I have not used Federal brass in the 300, but hear their brass is generally pretty thick, meaning decreased case capacity, and likely finding pressure early if looking at someone else's data using say Winchester brass.
I did use Federal brass exclusively for a few years in my 338 win mags. Reason being I had a couple hundred 1x fired from Federal Medal factory ammo and used what I had on hand. No complaints and still use the same brass in one of my guns. Would in all but had picked up some Nosler brass cheap and now use it to help keep loads visibly separated between guns at home, boat and camp.
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