How many loads for Hornady brass can be expected?

[LR1955]

Right now I am planning on firing the factory Hornady SST ammo as is.

Then resizing to -.003" of a max fireformed case. I do have this measurement from earlier firings.

From previous firings it shows that it will take two firings for most of them to stretch the full distance.

Then I can load these over and over and see how many loading comes from these cases.

My problem with the .125 bolt is that it will not fire wolf ammo and that is truly unacceptable. I could care less if it fired other commercial ammo.

I feel ok in going this direction because this rifle has already fired over 100 factory rounds with Hornady Black and also fired at least 200 wolf cartridges with the .136 bolt.

This has already been expressed by other posters but every rifle is an individual and any similarity has to be taken as one possible outcome and not as a certainty.

RM:

When you say "every rifle is an individual and any similarity has to be taken as one possible outcome and not as a certainty.", and compare it to your situation with the notion that your situation is normal, truly is Cognitive Dissionance in practice.. The reason there is a SAAMI spec for Grendel is so a consumer can be confident that when he buys a Grendel, it is also headspaced to meet the specs. It is not 'one possible outcome' based on probability.

Your chamber was not properly cut and although you may be safe in shooting what you are with what ever bolt face you are using, your barrel is an outlier.

This is the first time I have seen such a thing on this forum. It is not common at all and shows the chamber was poorly cut.
LR55

[RMiller]

I meant that because someone has a similar barrel does not guarantee that I can expect the exact same results as they did.

This rifle barrel in my words is grossly out of SAAMI spec.

Advise from this forum suggests the barrel is still usable though.

[Klem]

55,

My chamber is as deep as Miller's. It was the first batch from the original Lilja group buy. If you remember there was a stink as members discovered the throats did not have the hybrid contour. Dan Lilja agreed to sell a second barrel at half price with the proper throat. It was the first time he had reamed Grendel chambers so unsurprising it exceeded SAAMI in my case. But, it is very accurate so I have kept it.

Miller,

The chamber is not 'grossly out of SAAMI spec'. If that was true then the chamber would be the cause of your problems. If you use the .136" bolt it fires factory ammunition perfectly, yes? The only problems you have had is when you then reload, or when you use the wrong bolt. It is not the barrel, it's your reloading knowledge and skills. Reminds me of the old saying about the workman blaming his tools.

I also think it is reasonable to expect the same results as a similar chamber. Apart from any superficial plasma damage caused by those two case splits your barrel is fine (I say this for others reading so they are not misled by your opinions).

[RMiller]

Also to clarify, I had always read that a chamber stretching cases more that .006" is too much.

It may not be that I know too little. I may know too much that is not accurate in practice.

[Mad Charlie]

These cases can easily withstand their first fire forming, it is then a simple matter to set the shoulder back .003-.005 when re-loading those fire-formed cases as this will not over work the brass, I like the shell holder hard against the bottom of the size die because it gives me the most consistent results without worrying about slop in the press linkage etc. Therefore I use the Redding shell holder set to tune my shoulder setback. It works very nicely, and my rifles run fine. They will chamber all factory ammo because it is made so short. In a shtf situation I would have stocked up on cheaper, fair to good quality ammo that I knew would run in all of my chambers, and whatever I recovered, if I recovered, I would simply re-size for the shortest chamber to work in all and not worry about ultimate case life.

As you know, folks fire form brass all the time, sometimes with a good amount of stretch, and then cheerfully load to the new dimension many times.

[RMiller]

Well put.

Thank you.

[bj139]

The problem may be that those oversize cases can now not fit in a SAAMI spec Grendel chamber. It is a wildcat at this point.
It can be used OK, as mentioned, only in this barrel or a simillarly oversized chambered barrel.

[Mad Charlie]

Unless his cases are oversized in dia. at the case head, he should be able to size them back to whatever his size die will let him.

Maybe I missed something, my size die will let me size down to 1.209, with a standard shell holder.

[RMiller]

Results of loading to the .136 bolt

I tried my hardest to keep at the .003" bump but I found that .004" was more reliable for me to hit.

In trying to hit .003" I had a couple cases that needed a little help to go into battery.

When I tried for .004" bump back the cases always went into battery.

These started as a Hornady SST custom factory round first fired in this barrel with the .136 bolt.

I then proceeded to reload and fire them 10X in total.

The exterior looks right as rain and the interior only shows that they get dirty after that many firings without a cleaning.

[RMiller]

The rear ends took the most beating.

[Klem]

RM,

Perfect!

After splitting cases on the third reload you are now getting 10+ reloads out of them. If .003" does not work with your recoil spring/bolt inertia then use .004". If you check a batch of .004" some will still be at .003" and some will be at .005" - it's never exactly perfect across a large batch so you size to the lowest common denominator to avoid occasional jams. The rubber O-ring locking nut of Lee dies will make this degree of precision difficult, which is why you will eventually buy a better die (or better locking nut). Sorry to repeat myself but you said you selectively take info from internet forums and now things are turning out as predicted maybe this piece of advise will help you also.

You must have your reloading gear the range or shoot from your back porch?

These cases will not load into your other barrel or other guns because they are not SAAMI but they will be no different in performance than any other gun. I'll be interested to hear how accurate that barrel is. Good to hear it worked out for you.

[RMiller]

"The rubber O-ring locking nut of Lee dies will make this degree of precision difficult."

That is an understatement.

I had to dig out my old Lee hand press to load at the range.

[bj139]

"The rubber O-ring locking nut of Lee dies will make this degree of precision difficult."

That is an understatement.

I had to dig out my old Lee hand press to load at the range.

One thing I found about my Lee hand press is there is a large amount of press springing since it is so lightly constructed.
Maybe you needed to go to .004 to account for this. No criticism of Lee, it is what is is, lightweight and portable. Everything is a compromise.
The rubber o-ring came from the bench rest crowd who found the die aligned better when free floated as opposed to being clamped rigidly.

[RMiller]

Trying for .003, if I was just under I would have problems.

Using the case gauge I would keep going until I hit the mark.

I found that each time I took the die out and put it back in again it would set differently even though I indexed it with a sharpie. Once I got the first case right the next two would be right. It was repeatable once I found the magic spot for the die to sit. I just had to find that spot every time I put the die back in.

Making sure to use enough case lube helped as well.

I think Hornady unique lube is my new favorite.

[RMiller]

My quest for knowledge also turned this up in my new Redding Grendel dies.