22-150 IMR4064 Overcharge....now what

I am new to reloading....

I loaded up my first 25 rounds of of IMR 4064 with sierra BlitzKing 55gr. I used once fired hornady brass from this rifle that was necksized and trimmed using lee case length trimmer. This bullets were seated .050" from the ogive to the lands. ( factory heavy barrel has really deep throat) I load 5 round each from 34 to 36 in .5gr increments. I only have a 100 yard range available and tested all the loads. I settled on a load of 35.5 grs as my favorite and would be sufficent for woodchuck's. The 36gr load the bolt had a smidge of resistance but primers looked fine.

So I load up 50 rounds using the 35.5gr recipe above. Go to the range and fire 1 round. Bolt it really hard to open and case will not extract. The primer has also been blown out of the case.

I pulled a bullet and weigh the charge on my balance scale and find that I have 38.5 grs vs a max of 36.3 I checked my balance scale vs the calibration weight set that I have and it is dead on. Not sure how I messed up this batch but they are all at 38.5gr. So I fired a charge that was 2.2 grs over the max

I slide my cleaning rod into the bore and the case dropped out. Also the ball that goes underneath the extractor got lost when I pulled the bolt out at the range. The extractor appears fine.

The case also as the impression of the ejector on it and the the rim seems to have grown about .001" verse another fired case. However, the case doesn't have any splits or tears in it

What should I do with the gun? I could take the barrel off to better inspect it or I could just get another barrel, or is this gun a lost cause

Comments/suggestions

Stay calm and chive on, no seriously first the extractor bearing you can get at a hardware store look for this size min .120 max .140, as for your loads just pull them apart and start over and learn from your mistakes, I am sure your barrel is fine just cycle a couple of dummy rounds, and if they cycle fine your good to go. you should load lighter loads than the 35.5gr to start, lets say 34gr to regain your confidence, you will probably be a bit apprehensive or gun shy pardon the pun, get back on that horse and get back to us.

Dean

No need to repeat Deans advise....+1 for what he said!

I agree with Dean.
Sending a light 55gr that fast doesnt always equate to accuracy.
I honestly believe that mr woodchuck will meet his maker just the same with the pill going 2600 as opposed to 3300.

Thanks... it is a good thing that I already have a collet puller

So I plan to pull all the bullets, necksize the brass, reweigh the charges to a lower charge. I am planning to reuse the bullets assuming the the collet puller doesn't mark them up

Any idea what happened that allowed your charge to be off by that much? I am a new reloader as well and once in awhile my scale seems to go a bit whacky but I catch it right away by measuring every charge and noting the variation or the difference in the scale when I remove the pan after adjusting the tare for it (my pan registers at -68.1 when all is well). If I suspect something is off, I recalibrate. I'm using a franklin arsenal mini digital scale, but my reloading kit came with a lee balance scale. I didn't like the way the balance scale measured the .10's of grains, so I switched to the digital one, but after reading this I think I'm going to have the balance scale set up and re-confirm a few loads with it from time to time just to get a 'second opinion' especially when I'm reaching the max load during load developments.

Thanks for the insight!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Turbo_760

Thanks... it is a good thing that I already have a collet puller

So I plan to pull all the bullets, necksize the brass, reweigh the charges to a lower charge. I am planning to reuse the bullets assuming the the collet puller doesn't mark them up

---

I personally would not worry about reusing marked or blemished bullets, if ever you saw what a bullet actually looks like, after it has traveled down the barrel though the rifling, you would wonder how it hits anything at all.

Dean

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scope eye

i personally would not worry about reusing marked or blemished bullets, if ever you saw what a bullet actually looks like, after it has traveled down the barrel though the rifling, you would wonder how it hits anything at all.

Dean

---

true that!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Turbo_760

Thanks... it is a good thing that I already have a collet puller

So I plan to pull all the bullets, necksize the brass, reweigh the charges to a lower charge. I am planning to reuse the bullets assuming the the collet puller doesn't mark them up

---

the majority of collet pullers wont leave any marks at all providing there set right. If youve crimp,d then I might suggest you press the projectile in a few thousands with your press then pull with the collet.