All - sorry it took so long to reply. The gentleman is in his 80's and had an old Hogdons reloading manual. He did not work up to that load by test firing, increasing the load, etc. He just loaded them Saif the Rem Mod 700 takes 540000 psi and these would produce only xx0000 psi. Showed me the Hogdons book that seemed to prove him correct...but I don't reload, and didn't really study the manual. I don't know what a flattened primer looks like or excessive pressure signs.
I think I'll give the shells away to a reloader - I hear they can pull the bullets and reuse the casing anyway.
Deeply indebted for your help folks.
pk