.300sav - hornady brass

[Amistoso]

Hi, just incase anyone here reloads .300sav and isn't aware, make sure you're looking at near the base of the case and checking for degradation. I have noticed that Hornady brass cases tend to suffer more degradation than other manufacturers brass... At least when reloading spent Hornady brass. It suffers from the overpressures and deformation is evident about 1/3" from the base of the case in the form of a raised like ring... basically the part that does not seem to fully enter into the bbl(I'm guessing). What happened to me at least was that the case exploded and separated cleanly and evenly at the part where degradation is evident. If you're reloading Hornady spent brass, look for the signs I've mentioned. I realize I'm lucky that my Model 99 didn't explode.
Im writing this using my phone and at the moment not sure how to add a pic. But I can email anyone interested in seeing pics of what I'm talking about.
My email is: Eric.lopez@rocketmail.com
Rifle: Model 99 in .300sav
About my load: bullet-Hornady Interlock SP 150gr, Powder-IME 4198@29.0grs, Primer-Federal LR 210

[stomp442]

29 grains of powder sounds really light to me. A light load can be just as dangerous as a hot one.

[Amistoso]

29 grains of powder sounds really light to me. A light load can be just as dangerous as a hot one.

How can it be bad? I know you can possible not have it "Hot" enough for the bullet to come out... but what else. Also, the max for this powder is 30grs. or at least this was a recipe i found at reloadersnest.com and here is the specific link:
http://www.reloadersnest.com/detail.asp?CaliberID=53&BulletWeight=150&LoadID=7528
So i don't know for a fact that this load was a max for this powder or not, i just decided to go 1 grain less.

[stomp442]

After checking my load manuals you are right. 29 grains should have been right about the middle of the road. That being said you would probably have better results with Varget, IMR 4064, H380 and IMR 4895. Also your 99 may have a headspace issue if you are splitting cases as you describe causing excessive brass expansion and weakening the web of the case or a slightly out of round chamber, not unheard of in old 99s.

[Amistoso]

After checking my load manuals you are right. 29 grains should have been right about the middle of the road. That being said you would probably have better results with Varget, IMR 4064, H380 and IMR 4895. Also your 99 may have a headspace issue if you are splitting cases as you describe causing excessive brass expansion and weakening the web of the case or a slightly out of round chamber, not unheard of in old 99s.

So I guess I will check this headspace you're talking about. And yup, 4064 is a better powder to use, I just went with 4198 because it was available and had a recipe for it. But I'm getting my hands on some 4064 soon. Any Links you might already have handy? If so please post them. I wil check up on that tomorrow. I really need to hit the sack, I need to be up by 0530 tomorrow Central Standard Time. Thanks a lot for your input Stomp.

[TC260]

The gun's probably fine, just check how much you're bumping the shoulder back after each firing. With a big bump, the case will stretch quite a bit after each firing and shorten case life.