Looking for Pressure in 1959 Savage 110

[doubleduck]

Gentlemen, I am working up a load for my dad's 1959 Model 110. The bullnose has a mechanical ejector so there is no ejector hole to look for smears and signs of pressure. Can the groove on the bolt face be used to look for flow of brass indicating pressure or am I limited to evaluating primers and bolt lift for pressure?

[PhilC]

Absent ejector marks you'll need to look for other signs like primer flow, hard extraction, etc.

[Dave Hoback]

Indeed. Ejector marks are one tell of excessive pressure. However, they aren’t the only one. Instead of Ejector marks use Primer Flattening as the beginning stages of excess pressure. Learn to read the difference in a normal fired primer with still round edges to an extremely flat primer with almost melded seems to the pocket. As Phil pointed out, hard extraction is very typical sign dangerous pressure.

[Blue Avenger]

also keep in mind, pressure is high Before you see the signs. So go slowly!

[J.Baker]

Was going through some old pic's from almost 15 years ago now and came across a couple pics that I thought were fitting for this thread as a "Don't do what I do" lesson. LOL

You see, I went to the Fred Moreo School of Reloading which basically means if you aren't blowing the primer clean out of the case you're not pushing the bullets fast enough. Being the cocky young man I was at the time I decided I would show that cantankerous old man how it's really done by not only blowing the primer out, but by turning a standard .204 Ruger case into a belted magnum. I think you'll agree that I succeeded in that endeavor beyond all expectations. :first:

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Humor aside, to this day I have no clue what caused this. I had loaded up 25 rounds with 40gr bullets, CCI BR4 primers and my typical charge of Varget. The charge filled the case to the base of the neck making them easy to visually check and verify, so any light or heavy charge would have been easily noticeable and the load was a good full grain or so under published max. I had fired one 5-shot group and this happened somewhere in the second. This round sounded a little funny compared to the others, but other than that nothing too obvious. There was nothing odd or unusual about the rounds fired before this one as they were all printing to point of aim and gave no indication of being faster or slower than usual.

The fun part was getting this case out of the rifle after the event. The case head had blown out to the point that it had pushed the extractor out into the raceway of the receiver which prevented the bolt from being able to rotate. In the second pic you can actually see the expanded case head holding in the detent ball and spring for the extractor in place. As such I had to try to disassemble the bolt while still in the rifle which was a challenge in and of itself. Can't 100% recall if I got it all apart at the range or if I had to bring it home and pull the barrel to finally get the spent case out, but either way....

Back at home I pulled apart all the remain loads from that 25rd session and the powder charges all measured what they should so I have no clue what caused it to this day. Took both the action and barrel out to Fred's to have him look it over and everything was as it should be so no harm done to the rifle (other than having to get a new extractor as the original fell out at some point never to be seen again. Amazingly the ejector and spring were unaffected.

Moral of the story: Even being careful, cautious and consistent in your reloading practices can have unintended results, so always be diligent to minimize the risks as much as humanly possible.

[Dave Hoback]

That looks like a case of bullet set back. Turns a normal high pressure cartridge into a hand grenade!

I do agree. Only takes one small oversight for pressures to skyrocket. Another reason I like these mid size & smaller cartridges over the magnums, super magnums & such. A double filled 308 cartridge is gonna come apart, the case, sure. Probably blow out the barrel.. might take out the Action, might not. Could cause injury, depending. Chances are, they shooter will be ok. But has everyone seen the the video of Kentucky Ballistics firing a 50cal Slap round in his Single-Shot 50BMG? Very nearly cost him his life. The rifle… an oversized everything 50cal Action, Barrel, Bolt… decimated! It came apart like nothin else. And that is what it will do everytime. 150,000psi in a 308 & a 338 Lapua, or 50BMG are 2 different realities of catastrophic. Be safe

[doubleduck]

Thank You Guys. It doesn't sound like anyone has observed brass flow into the groove on the bolt face? It looks like J. Baker had it although that is obviously an extreme case no one wants to see. All my other guns have flat bolt faces unlike my 1959 Savage 110. Unfortunately I can't post a photo at this time.

[J.Baker]

Like the others have said, I would just keep an eye on the primers and bolt lift feel while working up slowly.

[Dave Hoback]

Thank You Guys. It doesn't sound like anyone has observed brass flow into the groove on the bolt face? It looks like J. Baker had it although that is obviously an extreme case no one wants to see. All my other guns have flat bolt faces unlike my 1959 Savage 110. Unfortunately I can't post a photo at this time.

We get it.

Your ‘59 Savage looks like the one on the Left. And your others look more like the right. Right?
https://i.ibb.co/0cftdGd/F40-ACEEB-0312-44-CC-8534-3-EF99225-FC52.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)