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W296 Loads
rsnyder55
Member Posts: 2,526 ✭✭✭
I was given some 44magnum reloads using PMC brass with 240gr XTP bullets and 25gr of W296.
In my OM Ruger Vaquero, I shot a couple of rounds and the recoil was stout. I looked at the primers and they appear to begin to flatten and marks on the primers show they may have hit the shield.
I looked in my reloading manuals and I can't find a load that heavy.
Is this load published anywhere?
I'm tempted to pull the bullets and try to reuse them.
Thank you.
In my OM Ruger Vaquero, I shot a couple of rounds and the recoil was stout. I looked at the primers and they appear to begin to flatten and marks on the primers show they may have hit the shield.
I looked in my reloading manuals and I can't find a load that heavy.
Is this load published anywhere?
I'm tempted to pull the bullets and try to reuse them.
Thank you.
Comments
... because "somebody" is an idiot.
I am getting a bullet puller this week to unload and save the bullets and primed cases. I got 100 rounds of this when I purchased the Vaquero along with 50 rounds of factory PMC.
I figure the XTP bullets is worth effort.
It's an older book , I think from somewhere around the early to mid 80's , because it still shows loads for win 630 powder .
It's the one that has the tribute at the beginning for three persons , I believe where killed in a plane wreck , with a two tone brown cover .
You would think that a 1/10th of a grain over would'nt hurt .
There's obviously some slack in the load as your gun is still together.
I'd knock down those loads to recommended levels.
Looking for my old manuals now.
Did the components change a little bit from when the old data was printed?
Did the company start using more accurate pressure equipment since their old data?
Did the old data happen to be based on a hotter or cooler lot of powder than the new data?
Now ask yourself this: If you load to a heavy charge because (unknown to you) the lab happened to have a cool lot of powder - but YOUR lot is at the hot end of the range - what might that do to pressures? That might reveal itself in plenty of time with powders that you can back off and work up. That is NOT so with W296, which should be used as printed IN THE CURRENT BOOK.
As has been written many times, the interval between trigger and tragedy is far too short to reconsider your load.
It is also very true that one can indeed , learn something new each and every day .
I never thought about the variations over time .
Here's what you have to ask yourself about variations in book data over time:
Did the components change a little bit from when the old data was printed?
Did the company start using more accurate pressure equipment since their old data?
Did the old data happen to be based on a hotter or cooler lot of powder than the new data?
Now ask yourself this: If you load to a heavy charge because (unknown to you) the lab happened to have a cool lot of powder - but YOUR lot is at the hot end of the range - what might that do to pressures? That might reveal itself in plenty of time with powders that you can back off and work up. That is NOT so with W296, which should be used as printed IN THE CURRENT BOOK.
As has been written many times, the interval between trigger and tragedy is far too short to reconsider your load.
On the other hand,
How can you tell the powder used by you is not cooler than the lot used by the tester, or OLDER where loads were a LOT stiffer? For all intents and purposes the 25 grain load is safe and listed, hot? yes, safe? yes. Safety is paramount in reloading but unless the empties are sticking the loads are safe in my book.
BR shooters are routinely exceeding book loads by considerable margins, this is not a practice I suggest but shying away from stout loads is not necessary either. Only a chronograph can tell if those loads are too fast for the cartridge, indicating excessive pressure. The loads may kick like a mule, roar like a lion and have a muzzle blast the size of Texas, yet still be safe.
My .02
After exhausting myself banging that silly hammer trying to remove the bullets, I'm ordering a bullet pulling die and collet to finish them off.
I'll try reloading with 23.5 grs.
Thanks everyone for the insight and information
There are no "mulligans" on shots like that, you know. Read the last line of my post above again. Better yet, post it above your bench.