45-70 help

[kingofbattle1985]

One of my buddies told me that i should try to load as close to the max cartridge length as possible (2.550)! My loads are coming in at 2.530 for a hornady 300 gr. JHP and 2.007, is this safe? Why wouldn't it be? I thought that as long as I wasnt over the max overall cartridge length than it would be safe! Please any help would be greatly appriciated!

The King

powder charge= 56.1 gr. imr 3031 on both bullets

 

[Snowwolfe]

If you are over the max length it most likely will not feed correctly. Your question is difficult to answer because you did not post your powder charge and if the load was producing any signs of high pressure when you fired it in your rifle. More details would help to answer your question.
But generally if you are that close to the max length with an acceptable powder charge I see no reason why they would be unsafe as long as they fed well.

 

[kingofbattle1985]

my cases are also bulging when i seat the bullet. is this normal? Dangerous? my brass is new remington brass could this be the problem, New brass?

 

[jdb3]

If the cases are bulging you are probably using to much powder or compressing that powder too much. I use 50 grains of 3031 under a 400 grain bullet. Try using IMR 4198 and about 50.0 to 51.5 grains which should give you about the same velocity. I'm getting around 2000 fps out of a 350 grain bullet with this load. As always start low and work up to the load that shoots best in your rifle. The velocity is not necessarily the best way to choose your load. Anything over 1800 will kill about anything you run into. Use the 300 grain bullets for small deer sized animals and go to a larger 350 or 400 grain bullet for the larger animals. The Barnes and Nosler 300 grain bullets are in a different category and can probably take almost anything you run up against, but I like a much larger bullet when going after moose and bear. Jim

 

[BrownBear]

You might also be bulging the cases due to excessive crimp or poor relationship between the case mouth and canelure (i.e., seating depth). If the bulge is happening right below the crimp, that's a pretty clear sign. If it's only happening on some of the cases, that's a sign that your case length is varying, and you need to trim them to a standard length before bullet seating and adjusting the crimp.

If that's not the problem, I agree with jdb3 that you may need to make powder adjustments.

As for LOA, I let the canelure/case length and feed tolerances do the talking. If your cases are trimmed to within tolerances, adjust seating depth to correctly engage the canelure. If it's a well designed bullet, it should then feed through the Marlin action.

 

[jdb3]

I agree completely with BrownBear. Jim