A strange person
Member
First, I must say that I am VERY new to reloading.
Anyway, I started reloading mostly in order to produce small-game/plinking loads for my high powered rifles (the whole "one gun" survivalist thing). I have created an accurate load for my Ruger M77 .308WIN using a 150 gr. FMJ and 12 grs. of trailboss powder. I got the Idea from Col. Townsend Whelen's .30-06 "grouse" load that I read about (although mine is slower, about 1300 fps I'd guess).
I decided that I wanted to make a flatter-shooting load using a lighter bullet, and decided on the 86 gr. JSP bullets available from Hornady. It seems that they were designed for the .30 Mauser handgun cartridge, but there was no warning on Hornady's site not to use them in rifles; they are exactly .308 diameter. So I made a few rounds using the same powder and charge that had worked well with the 150 gr. FMJ's: 12 grs. of IMR trailboss, and went to the range.
I set up my target at 50 yds. loaded exactly 1 round into the chamber (I do not load the magazine when testing a new load), took aim, and fired. *click* was all I heard. It sounded like a misfire, but I put the rifle down and backed away, just in case of a "detonation" or something (though this should never happen with trailboss powder I'm told.) I waited 10 secs., and it seemed fine, so I ejected the round thinking it was a misfire. The case had no bullet, and was smoking; the round had indeed fired. So I removed the bolt, looked down the barrel, and sure enough, I had me a stuck bullet.
I was dumbfounded. This was not a subsonic load, it should have been going at least 1600 fps or so. The bullet had become stuck only about 4" from the lands. I knocked it out with a cleaning rod (it took some doin') and decided NOT to try another round.
Does anybody know what the heck happened?
Anyway, I started reloading mostly in order to produce small-game/plinking loads for my high powered rifles (the whole "one gun" survivalist thing). I have created an accurate load for my Ruger M77 .308WIN using a 150 gr. FMJ and 12 grs. of trailboss powder. I got the Idea from Col. Townsend Whelen's .30-06 "grouse" load that I read about (although mine is slower, about 1300 fps I'd guess).
I decided that I wanted to make a flatter-shooting load using a lighter bullet, and decided on the 86 gr. JSP bullets available from Hornady. It seems that they were designed for the .30 Mauser handgun cartridge, but there was no warning on Hornady's site not to use them in rifles; they are exactly .308 diameter. So I made a few rounds using the same powder and charge that had worked well with the 150 gr. FMJ's: 12 grs. of IMR trailboss, and went to the range.
I set up my target at 50 yds. loaded exactly 1 round into the chamber (I do not load the magazine when testing a new load), took aim, and fired. *click* was all I heard. It sounded like a misfire, but I put the rifle down and backed away, just in case of a "detonation" or something (though this should never happen with trailboss powder I'm told.) I waited 10 secs., and it seemed fine, so I ejected the round thinking it was a misfire. The case had no bullet, and was smoking; the round had indeed fired. So I removed the bolt, looked down the barrel, and sure enough, I had me a stuck bullet.
I was dumbfounded. This was not a subsonic load, it should have been going at least 1600 fps or so. The bullet had become stuck only about 4" from the lands. I knocked it out with a cleaning rod (it took some doin') and decided NOT to try another round.
Does anybody know what the heck happened?