Be Careful!!!

W

William Suter

Well-known member
I had a major screw up today and nothing to blame it on but me. Working with the Ruger "Nightmare' 22-250 and loaded up some 50 grain BlitzKings with CFE223. I looked on Hodgdons site and got my load data. Loaded up 20 rounds with 4 different loads. Top load said 4001 FPS and being the speed freak I am, I was all over that. First 5 was 40 grains, then 41, 42 qnd 43. The 40 gr shot decent, a little under an inch. Primers were a little flat but not bad. Second load 41gr and the group opened up, primers were flatter but not real bad, and a tad bit of sticky bolt. Then the 42 grain. Oh boy, Huston we have a problem. Something hit me in the face and smoke was coming out the back of the bolt. I knew what happened without even looking. Then it took both hands to open the bolt and the case was stuck. That ended my load work for the day. I got home and the case was tight but I got it out. Of course no primer. Got back on Hodgdons site and used a load for Staball 6.5. Max book load for CFE is 39.x and Staball is 43. I'm a dumbass. I been reloading for many years but dropped my guard today. Luckily no person or firearm was hurt today other than the thought that even though I'm no rookie reloading we can still screw up.

BE CAREFULL!!!!!!!!! Double check before you dump that first load. I got lucky, others might not.
 
What ????
No Chrony ??
I thought you were developing a load ..

Yeah had the same experience working on the 22 ARC in unchartered waters a few months ago....
when you said no primer .... I smiled ....been there done that ...
The primer was in the zip code to the west of me..
I did see the speed however how about 3700 fps with a 60 gr Vmax in a 22 ARC..?
The Only time a 22 arc will ever compete with a 22 250 .....


 

Attachments

  • 20240713_185902.jpg
    20240713_185902.jpg
    48.7 KB · Views: 18
William Suter said:
I had a major screw up today and nothing to blame it on but me. Working with the Ruger "Nightmare' 22-250 and loaded up some 50 grain BlitzKings with CFE223. I looked on Hodgdons site and got my load data. Loaded up 20 rounds with 4 different loads. Top load said 4001 FPS and being the speed freak I am, I was all over that. First 5 was 40 grains, then 41, 42 qnd 43. The 40 gr shot decent, a little under an inch. Primers were a little flat but not bad. Second load 41gr and the group opened up, primers were flatter but not real bad, and a tad bit of sticky bolt. Then the 42 grain. Oh boy, Huston we have a problem. Something hit me in the face and smoke was coming out the back of the bolt. I knew what happened without even looking. Then it took both hands to open the bolt and the case was stuck. That ended my load work for the day. I got home and the case was tight but I got it out. Of course no primer. Got back on Hodgdons site and used a load for Staball 6.5. Max book load for CFE is 39.x and Staball is 43. I'm a dumbass. I been reloading for many years but dropped my guard today. Luckily no person or firearm was hurt today other than the thought that even though I'm no rookie reloading we can still screw up.

BE CAREFULL!!!!!!!!! Double check before you dump that first load. I got lucky, others might not.
Click to expand...
I load 55 nosler ballistic tips for my 22-250 with CFE 223. My load was 39 gr of CFE 223 for a couple years and never had an issue. One hot summer day when it was close to 100 degree outside I left my bullets in the sun before shooting. It resulted in a heavy bolt and loose primer pockets. I should have stopped shooting after the first shot but it took me a few shots before I slowed down and realized how dumb I was. I was getting 3950 fps with the 55 gr bullets but I'm willing to sacrifice a little speed for a load that isn't on the edge of the pressure limits.
 
223 converted to 300BO isn't supposed to be 'belted'.
IMG_0187.JPG

edit: 19gr H110 under 145gr cast - made nice hole in target @ 50. Second shot, didn't extract but same result on target. Should have been 17 gr of H110.
And then-- Don't shoot BO sub in a 223.
blown.jpg
 
Last edited:
I exploded an AR upper once with 223. I weight each load of powder onto a GemPro scale and the little Lee powder scoops were a pain to scoop from Hodgdons 1lb jugs so I would always pour the powder into a little 4oz tupperware container and scoop from there. Well, I somehow mixed around 50/50 H335 and Longshot into that little tupperware and loaded that into a 100 batch of 223, but somehow only around half the cases ended up with Longshot when i unloaded them all.

So I layed prone on a frozen pond to shoot, the first shot was totally fine, the second shot sent gun parts flying and spit 28 rounds out the bottom of a 30rd magazine. I had to cut the upper apart to get the barrel out, the bolt was cracked, BCG ruined, the bottom of the ejection port was gone and the top of it was opened up like a can of sardines, even the magazine well in the lower was swelled up.

I dont know when i mixed the two powders together or how half the batch of 100 seemed fine but..... I had to replace everything on the upper, im still using the lower.

Im glad your safe!
 
I've been reloading for years but I still make mistakes now and then. Been lucky enough to either catch it first or not serious enough to get hurt. Point is no matter how long you been doing it, there can always be that one time that you slip up. I was lucky. A stuck bolt and a little powder on my face. The rifle or myself was not hurt but it was a wake up call and it could have been worse. No one likes to tell others about dumb things we do. Trust me, this isn't the first time I've told on myself. If this post helps a new or old reloader think before he dumps that first powder charge then it was worth telling on myself. Doubt this will be the last time I do something stupid.
 
All due respect and I'm not trying to make you feel worse than you already do but through your own admission saw pressure "Primers were a little flat but not bad" with your first load using 40gr. Then proceeded to shoot the next load (41gr) which was one full grain above the load that already was showing signs of being hot and the 41gr load was definitely telling you I'm over pressure because you said "primers were flatter but not real bad, and a tad bit of sticky bolt" yet you thought it was ok to shoot the next load which was one full grain of powder above the load that had just given you a sticky bolt lift. I'm a little confused as to why you would ever shoot the 42gr load at all especially when the 40gr load showed pressure and the 41gr load was screaming it. Regardless of which powder you used you were starting your load development near the top end and making one full grain jumps which in a case the size of a 22-250 is a pretty significant increase, again, especially when you're already on the high end.

I like velocity as much as the next guy and generally my stuff is loaded closer to the higher end of things then not but during load development you need to listen to your gun and know when to stop. Also, when you already know you're starting on the high end of the scale one grain jumps in smaller cases is a pretty significant jump and at the least I'd cut those in half if not thirds for a case that size.
 
I usually don't jump a full grain but from min to max there were only 4 grains difference using Staball 6.5 on the Hodgdon site. My biggest mistake was using CFE with Staball loads. Looking at the site again I don't really know how I made the mistake. Staball 6.5 is the first powder listed and CFE223 is several powders down the page. Head wasn't where it belonged for sure.
 
Sounds like I'm not the only one. I thought I was going to chase the lands in a 270. I made the mistake before that with RL17 and 10X on the loading bench. I accidently emptied the powder dispenser of 10X in the RL17. Didn't think it was enough to cause a problem until I saw split case necks and brass flowing forward at the split. Put a bore scope in the barrel and split the barrel. When I got my 6.5 Creedmoor I couldn't find load data so went by 308 and dropped a few grains. It wasn't enough and took both hands to raise the bolt and no primer. Learn something every day.
 
I almost forgot but me and a buddy got ourselves into a scary situation when he first got a vibrating tumbler for brass. I forget the exact order we did this in but the corn cob media, 454 Casull brass and some Hornady liquidy paste brass polish went into the tumbler, we didnt mix the liquid polish into the media well enough before we added the brass.

What happened is some of the media glued itself down into the bottom of the case and we ran all the brass quickly through a multistage press without getting all the corncob media out. We had a few shots out of both of our Ruger Redhawks that were alarming before we figured out the problem, 454 Casull is hotter than snot to begin with just a piece of two or media makes a difference.....

Like Dew Claw says, learn something new everyday.
 
Was trying some buffalo bore 10mm hard cast in a colt delta elite and after 6 or so shots had something hit my glasses. Started looking at things and saw 3 missing primers and 4 bulged cases. That pistol handles underwood double tap and handloads all rated the same or better so I assumed the buffalo bore would be safe. So just goes to show that you have to pay attention with even factory ammo. FYI buffalo doesn't like to hear about those sort events.
 
William Suter said:
My biggest mistake was using CFE with Staball loads.
Click to expand...
I suppose it's all in how you choose to look at it but IMO that wasn't you biggest mistake. Your biggest mistake was continuing to shoot the next higher, one full grain in this case, charge weight AFTER you had sticker bolt lift with the 41gr load. Again just my opinion but if you don't see that as your "biggest mistake" at some point you are likely destine to repeat the same mistake.
 
When we were doing a lot of work with Chad Dixon at LRI he told us a story of a fella who he had built a 338 for using a Defiance action. Evidently the fella mixed his powder up and used Varget.
Ended up okay, but split his action down the middle. On all of my powder dispensers I write with a dry erase marker on each hopper, what is in it.
 
Well I know what I did wrong and know I should have stopped and didn't. "Curiosity killed the cat". What pressure I was seeing wasn't anything I haven't seen before and it was from squeezing a little more powder into a case. In this event it was the right powder just the wrong load charges. Even though many won't admit it, they've probably done something similar, they just don't want everyone to know they screwed up. I'm fine and the rifle is fine. It was just a post to tell everyone to please be careful. I dropped my guard and didn't pay attention to what I was doing. Its noted in my log book as a reminder not to do it again. That's about all I can say.
 
I work up .5 of a grain at a time on a new load as long as im in well published safe data loads. If the gun is shooting better at the higher end I will work up .3 of a grain at a time even working up over published data, BUT watching carefully. And of course fine tune your .1 grain at a time, or .02gr for us nuts to finish off.

I spent a couple years playing around with my BHW barrel finding out just how much powder it could take, I would always run into a full case of powder before pressure issues. So over time I stepped down to faster and faster powders, then compressing those loads without any problems. I would work up loads .1 grain at a time then shoot them to see the brass.

Im no boy scout at the reloading bench but it pays off to take baby steps.
 
...I write stuff down like my life depends on it...
-Full sheet of paper with load taped on bench.
-RED eraser board marker with load(board behind bench)
-Post it note on despenser with powder & gr setting.
-Post it note on powder container being used.
Sorta monotonous - but hey.
 
Back
Top