ill go out on a limb her and say that pressure is felt in bolt lift resistence as the charges increase the cases exhibit radial expansion to the chamber walls first then in CBTD so once I start feeling that heavy resistance or pressure then I don't go further. I may give a case a quick look but Inspecting cases is done at the shop. Im also pretty sure a chronograph is not required to develop quality ammunition but as posted are very informative tool
I can agree, but I still inspect at the range before moving to the next charge increment.
For those interested:
Pressure Signs
Load manuals and experienced reloaders frequently advise working a load up in small charge increments while watching for pressure signs (without any other details—typewriter cowboys are the worst).
Most people are unaware of all the signs (I certainly don't know them all), so, below is a
partial list of pressure signs gleaned from numerous articles, along with possible alternate causes of these signs.
1.Case bulging, particularly near an unsupported part of the head.
2.Case crack along the side (may mean excess pressure, but may mean brittle, defective, draw mark scored, or worn out brass). I get this in about 2 out of every 100 .38 special rounds I fire and I don't remember the last time I saw this in .45 Auto, .44 Mag, or 9mm Luger. Also, I get this more often with nickel plated .38 Spl cases than brass cases.
3.Case head expansion (CHE) may mean high pressure, may mean nothing in isolated case, but ALWAYS a concern.
4.Case head separation (may mean high pressure, but may mean excess headspace or worn out brass).
5.Case splits in body in under 10 reloads-back loads down at least 2% (can also be due to ammonia vapor exposure or a brass defect in an individual case).
6.Case mouth split (may mean high pressure, but more often means case needed neck annealing).
7.Case pressure ring expansion (PRE) is not much more reliable than case head expansion but may mean pressure is excessive. I have found that with pistol rounds, I can track "pressure" quite well by measuring the pressure bulge about ⅛" above the extractor groove and compare to factory ammo, using the same head stamp virgin cases.
8.Case primer pockets getting loose in five reloadings or fewer.
9.Case excessive stretching (this is actually visible pressure ring area stretching which may be due to excess pressure or to excess headspace).
10.Extractor marks appear on case head in semi-auto rifle after incrementing powder charge up (may be high pressure or bad timing or an extractor standing proud on the bolt face).
11.Fired case won’t fit back into chamber.
12.Gas leak (see Primer Leaking, below).
13.Groups start to open up at or beyond a suspected maximum load pressure.
14.Hard bolt lift.
15.Incipient case head separations (partial case head separation).
16.Incremental increase in powder charge results in lower velocity or at least in no increase in velocity (may also mean uneven bolt lug contact being forced to touch down on both sides; watch for stringing on the bolt lug axis as additional symptom of this). I have found this to be quite repeatable for .44 Mag--I can track charge weight v velocity and reliably get a decrease in velocity at what other signs say is max or over max.
17.Primer blown (primer falls out when gun is opened; same as loose primer pocket).
18.Primer cratering (may mean high pressure, or it may mean a worn firing pin or firing pin tunnel, or may mean you have a new production Remington bolt with chamfered firing pin tunnel).
19.Primer flattening (may mean high pressure, or may mean long headspace; some loads always make flat primers; softer primer cups (Federal) flatten more easily than harder ones (CCI), so it also can mean nothing at all).
20.Primer mushrooming (may mean high pressure, or may mean long headspace).
21.Primer piercing (may mean high pressure or may mean incorrect firing pin protrusion or incorrect firing pin nose shape).
22.Primer leaking around primer pocket (may mean high pressure, may mean loose primer pocket in case, may mean damaged primer was inserted, may mean primer backed out too far during firing, which excessive chamber headspace makes possible).
23.Short case life -back load off at least 2% (under 10 reloads in non-self-loaders or with military brass in self-loaders, 6 or less in self-loaders with commercial brass).
24.Sticky or hard case extraction (especially in revolvers this is a positive sign to knock the powder charge down at least 5%).
25.Torn case rim (from hard extraction).
26.Primer pocket expansion (PPE; this is likely no more accurate than CHE (3., above), but is a more sensitive measure for those with tools that can measure the inside diameter of a primer pocket repeatably to the nearest ten-thousandth of an inch).
27.Ejector and extractor impressions on the case head (can also be due to ejector and extractor fit problems).
28.Increase in required trimming frequency (this is a sudden increase in case length growth per load cycle; it can be caused by excess pressure, but can also be a sign of increasing head space due to some other problem. It is especially common as a pressure sign in lever action guns because the greater span from bolt face to rear lug allows more steel stretch when pressure gets excessive.)
29.Increasing apparent headspace (this means the cases are coming out longer, including from casehead to shoulder. It can mean bolt lug setback, which is usually an extreme pressure sign. It can also mean a loose barrel or an improperly set Savage barrel. Whatever the cause, the gun should go straight to the gunsmith for inspection.)
30.Gas or Flame Cutting of revolver top strap. (Can also be due to excessive barrel/cylinder gap that needs correction.)
31.Gas cutting of rifle bolt face by gas leaks around primer pocket. (Can also be result of occasional leaks from normal rounds firing, as is observed in many military gun bolts.)
So, if there is a change in one of these signs from one increment to the next, take note and don't just blindly keep shooting.