Bullet set back? Am I flirting with death?

[Mike Britton]

I'm about to get a visit from big brown with my '03-A3 rebarreled in.06. I have some .06 rounds left over from my Palma days loaded with 190gr. sierras that I would like to shoot up, and since I hate to reload, I don't get into all the little idiosyncrasies of what I'm to do.
Most of my reloading is actually "loading" as I use my press to make oddball ammo for my antique rifles.
My question is this; these 190gr. loads are loaded way out to take advantage of the very long leade that was in my Winchester M70, and loaded stiff, with I thank, 4895 (I'll have to dig them out of my ammo stash to be sure). Can I just put these rounds in the die and set them back to SAMMI overall length? Whatever load is in there, it came from either the Sierra book or the Speer book, and I usually never get to max, much less exceed it.
I realize I could pull the bullets and start over again, but if I can just set these back, it would be waaaay easier. What do you guys think?
Mike

[Reed1911]

To be on the safe side I would not just set them back. A load developed for one rifle may be way over pressured in another; then consider the amount of capacity change that will be made and it makes for a bad combo. Stay safe and pull the bullets and start over. At least you know what powder you had in them so you'll be able to re-use all the components.

[Mike Britton]

Thanks for being my conscience, Reed. I kinda knew the answer, but I was trying to be lazy.
Bites me on the butt every time. I'll pull the 190s and recalibrate the loads to semi-soft 190 loads.
If I recall correctly, there is no crimp as I was single loading these rounds in Palma.
As I have many different types of powder, I might even find a powder that works better for my needs now.
While I'm at it, I have over 800 rounds of M118 Match .308 left over from Hi-Power days. It's 168 gr. hollow point boat tail, and my Ruger M 77 loves it. Will it upset well enough to hunt with? I certainly don't mind using up in my pogo stick, but it shoots so well in my Ruger that I thought about hunting with it.

[BBF]

I do not recall ever reading a loading manual or article concerning  match type bullets that would                  N O T         caution the reader from using those bullets for hunting. I would add that the only exception to that IMO would be smaller type varmints.

[Reed1911]

The only Match bullets I know of that are recommended by the manufacturer for hunting are Berger bullets.

[beemanbeme]

I don't think he said he was going hunting with them, he just wants to shoot 'em up. Maybe use them to get on target or break in his new barrel.

I'd first off see if they'll fit in the new chamber/barrel.  Dang, hadn't thought about that.
If not, I'd push the bullets back and shoot 'em.  At least one of them.  You said they're not loaded out of the book and if you've shot enough to do competition level shooting, you know what to look for in the case. 

How many rounds are we talking about anyway?

[Mike Britton]

About 200 rounds, and yeah, I was going to try one first. This ain't my first rodeo. Having said that,I really do appreciate the help.
I think at this point the best thing is to pull them and start all over.
And as for the match loads, they are .308, and all my .308s are target rifles but one. I'll shoot them up on the range.
They are really good for your ego! My M 77 Ruger will shoot three round clover leafs at 100 with these rounds, and I still have 800 of them!!
My logic was that since they were hollow points, they would upset in flesh enough to take game, but as I study the few manuals I have, they do all advise against it. I wonder if it's because the jackets are too thin and would explode before they penetrate.
Hard to imagine a 168 gr. round at 2700 wouldn't penetrate in any condition.

[LaOtto222]

I do not know about 308 match bullets, but .224 match bullets have a much thicker jacket and do not work worth a hoot on varmints. They just whistle right through with out upsetting at all. I do not like it very much, because then they ricochet off the ground and goes who knows where. Even though they shoot well, I do not shoot them because of the ricochet problem. I have a rifle that loves Speer 52 grain match hollow points, but I do not buy them any more. I suspect that you will find the .308 match bullets will go through a deer or what ever and never upset or upset very little, doing little damage, or just the opposite, blow up without penetrating. 

[corbanzo]

OF course all the safety yadda yadda....

But in my honest opinion, if you don't go below the minimum OAL, and are still below the maximum load for that cartridge....  I don't think you are gonna have any problem pushing them back a little bit. 

Like said above.  Test one.  Then two... then... you get what I'm saying.   

[stimpylu32]

I've been thinking this over for the last 24 hours and do not see a real problem with seating the bullet deeper IF these rounds were loaded to less than max load , from what I have read the loads were made up using book data and the bullets were first seated long to allow for a long leade or throat .

If the bullets were now seated to a COL that is within spec there should not be anymore chance of a over pressure situation than if the rounds were originally loaded to the same COL to start with .

This is just my take on this with the info that I have , I may be missing something but I don't see anything .

[wncchester]

You may find the leade in you new rifle to be as long as the previous one was.   So, never mind the  "book" OAL, wait until you get the '03 and see how far you need to seat them to 1) match your chamber and 2) to feed through the magazine. 

It's highly unlikely that you would push pressures up much by seating a little bit deep in a cartridge that large.

[BBF]

I have no clue if setting back the bullets would cause a problem, so no comment from me on that part.

Re Hollow Points. For hunting type HP's the opening, jacket thickness and taper as well as the lead alloy is designed to expand. Have a look ast the 30 cal 165 gr HP Sierra bullet#2140. It is designed to penetrate more then the 165 gr Spitzers.
The match HP's have uniform jacket thickness, small openings and pure lead cores. They will most likely zip thru an animal unless striking bone. If the do, anything can happen. I am aware of the Berger bullet being used in hunting. I don't think they were designed for that on purpose, they just happen to find that out incidentally if I recall correctly.