Ka-boooom and stumped

[alpine44]

There are a lot of dumb things we all have done that are not worth sharing.

This however was one of those "gotchas" that simply leave you scratching your head. When I started loading the .300 Whisper/Fireball I thought that it can be relatively safely loaded in a progressive press whithout checking each case individually.

I also have been using W296/H110 extensively in my S&W629 .44Magnum with excellent results and through that I am well aware of the low charge issue with these powders.

I guess we all have to make sure, by checking each charge, that we do not unintentionally enter the danger zone with these powders. Using magnum primers (e.g. CCI450) and a factory crimp would probably not hurt either to guard against ill effects with low charges.

In about 2 week I will be back home with my toys and will report how much H110 could fit in a case behind a properly seated M25 tracer, without this overcharge becoming noticeable during bullet seating. If the amount is not too outrageous I may prove, using tree and string, that an overcharge may blow a primer but not cause the brass mutilation seen in the photos. This would be the proof of my assumption that the event discussed in this thread was caused by an unintended undercharge.

If a whole lot more than 15-16gr of H110 will fit in the case without becoming noticeable, then we are unfortunately left with flipping a coin to decide whether overcharge or undercharge caused the Ka-boom.