Originally Posted by
dolomite_supafly
Are you 100% sure you loaded Varget? I have loaded 69 SMK's to over 25 grains of Varget and never had pressure signs like you describe. I also neck sized and never had an issue. Pretty sure Federal primers are known for being soft and that may be why they look like excessive pressure but are not.
I have literally loaded thousands of rounds using 69 SMK's and Varget using the data above, 24.5 grains. I have shot them in several different bolt guns as well as a few AR15's and I have never seen signs of pressure, ever. I have used CCI400, CCI41, R7.5's, Wolf SRM and Tula SRM with that load. I never used Federal because I heard they were soft.
I am not saying to reset your headspace. I was just curious whether you had or not.
Are you trimming your cases back below 1.76? If not then what might be happening is the throat is keeping the case mouth from opening and releasing the bullet. In some extreme cases the throat actual crimps the case mouth to a point the bullet is even harder to release out of the case. Either of these conditions can cause excessive pressures from a seemingly light load. I generally trim my cases to 1.745" and I can get 2-3 loadings before I trim again. But I ALWAYS check to make sure.