ORIGINAL: haugenna
I am reloading for my 300 win mag. It is a Tikka, brand new, three shots before last Monday. I started out at entry load, 72 grains of RL 22. I shot the first shot and flattened the primer completely. The bolt was not sticky but that primer was flat flat. Do some guns have tight chambers? Will this gun come out of it with more firings? I am trying to work up to 75.5 max load and most accurate load according to nosler and a friend. I have never had a gun do this with a light load. Any advice.....I want to have this thing loaded up hot by Aug.
As Bob Hagel said in his book
GAME LOADS & PRACTICAL BALLISTICS FOR THE AMERICAN HUNTER,"All rifles are individuals. What may prove to be a maximum load in one might be quite mild in another, and vice-versa."
It is possible that even a published starting load might be close to maximum in your rifle, and what is published as a maximum load might be well under max in someone else's rifle. You may have noticed, if you have compared loading datafrom a number of different manuals, that there can be a wide variation in the "maximum load" between the different load data sources, even with identical bullets and powder type.
If you have access to a chronograph, you can find out what the velocity is that you are getting from that "light" load. It may be that it is fast enough as-is, and that you do not have to increase the powder charge at all to get the performance level you are seeking.
Also, note that a flattened primer alone is not proof of too-high pressures. It CAN be, but there are other possible causes for flattened primers as well.