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Old August 21, 2000, 07:53 AM   #1
big89foot
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I just loaded & fired some 6.5 Swede for the first time, (my first experience with bottleneck cartridges). It was a super light load of H380, the lightest load listed in the Lee manual and WAY lighter than anything suggested by my Lyman manual. With two of the cartridges there seemed to be double explosions, like the primer went off & then, a split-second later the powder ignited. The bullet fired okay, but the sound was disturbing. Could this be because my load was so light? The OAL was according to both manuals. Do you think a heavy crimp would help, like recommended with a .44 mag loaded with 110 or 296? By the way, I find it very curious that the max load suggested by Hodgden is lighter than the lightest Lyman recommendation - what's up with this?
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Old August 21, 2000, 09:00 AM   #2
TexasRusty
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Yes. I think so.

There is a danger with some powders of loading to light. For powder to burn correctly it needs to be pressurized. Without this pressure the controlled burn aspects are not present.

Loading to light can cause as many problems as loading to heavy. Always start out about 10% below max and work up or down from there.

Rusty
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Old August 21, 2000, 01:22 PM   #3
Mikul
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The other problem is that the powder settles to the side of the case when firing. On a light load, it may have settled so that very little powder was near the primer port and only a few grains caught at first.

Point the gun up and then slowly bring it down to the target and see if the problem still occurs.
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Old August 22, 2000, 09:26 AM   #4
big89foot
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Thanks for the help. I'll try a load that fills the case up more. Do you think a hard crimp, like from a Lee factory crimp die would also be a good idea to help prevent squib loads?
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