Rklenke wrote:Interesting that you say 32.2 is a light load for a 300 grain as it is the max per Hornady. I haven't gone over the published loads, but if the pressure is as low as you say, it may be worth a slow work up. I'm already getting 2000 fps with 32.2.
The empty space in the case has made me nervous since day one reloading this caliber after reading quite a bit on "detonation". A full case fill would be reassuring.
I have personally, never loaded a 300 grainer with Lil Gun. Lighter bullets all the time but not 300gr.
The 22k psi QuickLoad pressure prediction is base upon loading those bullets seated to yield a COL of 2.26 inches. If you seated them deeper, the pressure and velocity are predicted to go up, but not to 2k fps, even at a COL of 2 inches. The interesting part is that QL as a rule of thumb,
over-predicts pressure and velocity usually be about 10% as a safety margin for misguided reloaders who immediately start at the max load.
I am surprised that you clocked them so fast. I forget, were you using a stab crimp or just the taper crimp. Not that it matters because if you're getting 2k fps, you're not getting that with only 22kpsi. Can't happen with a 300 grainer in this caliber. As a matter of fact, I went off the reservation and tweaked the QL equates to get a 300gr bullet up to 2k fps in this caliber. Not hard with slower powders and longer barrels, but with Lil Gun quickly pushing the bullet at that speed, regardless of how you got it to do that, you will be up into high pressure. Don't rely solely upon primer condition like with a bolt action, to get a feeling for high pressure signs. The best indicator is case head growth. If you get a .001 or more growth from one shot, you're hitting it pretty hard. A lot depends upon your chamber. I once had a 450 barrel with an incredibly tight chamber, like a BR barrel. It too kicked my established recipes out faster than expected, though with little case head growth. It had some extraction reliability issues. It took me a week of evenings to lap it into working properly. Conversely, I've also had a loosey goosey chamber that experienced a lot of case head growth, no matter what load I used. So, while generally a good indicator, not even CHG is an absolute indicator of pressure, but despite what you might expect, high pressure can make cases fail to extract just as easily as low pressure.
So in conclusion,
I'm my own Grandpa! ...and for everyone interested in the ejection problem, I apologize straying off topic, but those of you who know me, know I can't help myself.
Hoot