a question for reloaders

1) Where did you get your cases for the 300 Ultra?
2) Are they new? If so did you check their length etc?
3) How did you prep them? You probably should have used a deburring tool on the inside and
outside of the case mouth.
4) Your one grain increments in powder charges is OK, but I would not have reloaded the 92, 93,
& 94 grains charges until I saw fired cases at lesser charges to make sure my pressures were
not excessive.
Go slowly, thats a big cartridge.
Duane

thanks for your interest Duane.
my cases are once fired rem. brass i kept. (factory ammo shot in my rifle)
i use the lee single stage press, with full lenght resizing die.
i then ran all of them in my cutting tool, but most of them didn't need cutting. ( 2.840)
i deburred inside and out.
i think your right about the heaviest loads, i'll probably have to pull a few bullets.
my reasoning was that since i have to drive almost 1 hour to the shooting range
i'd better have all loads up to max in case my rifle could take it.
i imagined stopping at 91 gr. just to see no signs of pressure at all. and then wondering what if?

i go to that shooting range for sighting in a rifle or from now on developping loads
my uncle lives 10 min from my home and he is kind enough to let me practice on is land
but there's no shooting bench there. its where i go for long range practice. and they can ear me shoot from their house, i dont want to unnerve them by going to often.

just got back from the range. and i'm surprised and quite happy.
since i was shooting my first ever reloads i was expecting 2-3" groupings.
but after shooting 2 fouling shots (87and88 gr.)and testing for pressure.
i started shooting 3 shot groups here are the results
89 gr. 1.05"
90 gr. 1.26"
91 gr. 1.23"
92 gr. 1.18"
93 gr. 1.58"
94 gr. 1.15"
i was having less flattening of the primer at 94 gr than with factory ammo.
an experienced reloader was there and checked my primers for me and said i could probably push it quite a bit more. but i dont want to exceed max load for now, until i gain more experience. (max load is 94.5 as per Barnes manual.)
i also asked this guy about my groupings, cause all of the groups above 91 gr had 2 holes touching or almost and the third about an inch higher. he said that it could be more a shooter problem than a loading problem. he told me about the right way to breath during a shot.
i already known about this, but i must confess that i completely forgot about it.
so i'll get some more round ready. and try again.
P.S. all my 20 round would have grouped in 2 inches, if i had shot them in the same target.
even if the loads went from 87 to 94 grains of rl 25.
is it customary or if it means that my rifle like that bullet and powder combo?

Some respectable groups there. I would pic the 94 grain load and start adjusting seating depth of the bullet. As a hunting load I would be no closer than 20Thousanths from the lands ,and start working backwards in incriments of 10 thousanths to see what it does to group size. As far as pressure goes,I measure case head expansion.I find that the most accurate measure of the kinds of pressures you are dealing with.Google Bullet seating depth and measuring case head expansion there is numerous articles on both.Sit down with a cup of coffee and a handful of cookies and read :thumb Always keep good notes and records of what you're doing and never inject more than one variable at a time,otherwise you'll end up chasing your tail in circles. Good luck

thanks for your answer Malloy!
i'm not sure about that seating dept thing!
i used an empty cartridge that i slowly resized more and more until the bullet would fit snuggly in the neck and that i still could move it by hand. then i put the bullet out way too long and gently chamber it and made sure the bullet didn,t hit anything on the way out.
after doing this a number of time i came out with an average of 3.850"
so if i understand what you mean, i should make my ammo 3.830" oal ?
if yes then it would never fit in the rifles magazine.
is it possible that my rifle have such a long throat? my loads were 3.600 oal
that makes it a .250" to the land?
maybe i can start at magazine lenght and put 10 thousanth less after that?

Yes, you may have a lot of freebore.I'm not familiar with the 300 RUM ,does anyone out there know if they throat the RUM's like a Weatherby,alot of freebore???.If that is the case then yes, your magazine will dictate your COAL.Those groups are respectable for a hunting rifle, especially one that will kick you out from under your hat!

thanks a lot for your time!
i'm pretty happy with those groups.
i reloaded some more rounds yesterday, i reloaded 5 round of the following charges
93.6 gr.
93.8 gr.
94 gr.
94.2 gr.
still with a coal of 3.600. i'll see what happens, with 5 shot groups.

Some good info on this tread for you. Seams like you are on the right track.
Continue with you seating depth changes.
Also strongly agree with signs of excessive pressure; flattening of the primer and case head expansion. You are observing primer issues and asked for advice at the range, great.
Re case head expansion, never exceed the expansion of a new cartridge with a reload. Measure both before and after firing. When you approach the expansion of a new factory with your full length resized reload use extreme caution.
Also NEVER exceed published reloading maximums. That said you are shooting a newer cartridge in the 300 Ultra Mag, so I doubt older reloading manuals will not list it, but I believe the factory rounds are at maximum. The newer published manuals are more conservitive for liability reasons and thus list many loads at lower maximums than older data. One of my rifle calibers used to list 47.5 gr as max, while the newer manuals list 45.5. I have for years reloaded many rounds at the 47.5 gr level, and achieve 1/2 minute groups, and much better than lesser charge weights.
I reload for several rifle calibers, a few revolvers, and all three shotgun gauges/plus 410 bore. So I do have considerable reloading experience, but by no means am I an expert.
Best
Duane

i just continued on my load development.
i made my coal longer to 3.650" it solved my problem of loose bullets (see my other post)
it also improve accuracy. i reloaded 5 rounds of each, to make 5 shots group.
heres the result

i began by adjusting my scope for a 1"higher point of impact (the last time it was shooting 1" high instead of 2)
i fired the first shot with 92.5 gr. rl 25. it went 2" high and 1.75" to the right.
the following 4 shots went 2" high and into a 0.432" group. (do you think the first flyer could have been for the scope adjustment?)

then i fired 5 shot with 94.2 gr. of powder, group 1.264"

i finished with 93.6 grains, the first 3 shot went into 0.367" i almost let it at that and should have, shot 4and5 enlarged it to 1.126.
that's incredible for my rifle especially since I was shooting it.

now the bad part. speed....
it went 3110 for 92.5 gr. velocity difference 43 fps
3130 for 93.6 gr. 19 fps
and 3160 for 94.2 gr. and 52 fps
by barnes table it shoud be 3330 or so at 94.5 gr. and 3150 at 86.5 gr.
now my gun as a muzzlebreak drilled in the barrel.
it was my first time using my prochrono pal (CED) and i installed it under a wooden beam and with the deflectors 1" inch from touching the beam. i saw later in the instuction that the sensors have to see the sky, can that give a false reading?
did some of you experience such a difference with book velocity data.

quebechunter:
if your first shot was from a clean cold barrel, it is not uncommon to have your first shot apart from subsequent shots. two choices either final zero for a clean cold barrel, or fire a shot first before hunting, (even before you depart) then your shots should group.
it is also common to not reach the published velocities of reloading manuals, as i mentioned in my prior post, manuals today are very conservitive for liability reasons. if you are moving a 168 gr bullet at 3100 fps +/- use the load that gives the tightest group.
re loading; did you check primers for flatening and case heads for excessive expansion?
if those deminsions are still ok, then your 94.5 gr is probably not the maximum charge, but DO NOT EXCEED IT until you become very experienced, if then.
also what primers are you shooting, i hope magnum?
the only time i have exceeded max charge weights, is because i still have an older reloading manual that lists higher charge weights than newer manuals, and my groups are 3/4" or less.
Bear2

I agree with bear2 .You don' t need to be trying to wring an additional 50 to 100fps out of your rifle at this stage in your reloading career. Ther last thing you need to be dealing with is extraction problems in the field and you'll get better case life.I seat my primers with a LEE hand priming tool.I think RCBS makes one too .It gives you a better feel on how your primer pockets are doing as you load cases multiple times.Pockets that loosen up after a few reloads are a sign of high pressure.(for that lot of cases). It's another variable to keep tabs on .

thank you guys
i think i wont go crazy about velocity. with such accuracy i should and am happy
that will make a good hunting load.
i also have the lee hand primer, but the rum case does not fit in it.
so i'm stuck with priming on the press.

"quebechunter" wrote: i also have the lee hand primer, but the rum case does not fit in it.
so i'm stuck with priming on the press.

Your 300 RUM should use the same shell holder that you would use for any case with a .532-.534 rim, or am I missing something?? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :-k

the case head is too wide to fit in the slot of the priming tool
the rim being smaller (rebated rim) would fit but the head at it's widest is to wide.
hope you understand what i mean.

10-4 :thumb