Reloading Question

[Mechnic]

Hey Y'all,

First off, this isn't about reloading Grendel. I'm reloading 223 and found something a little different.

I'm reloading 62grn JHP and the charge weights in 3 different sources (Hodgdon, Speer, and Lee) stipulate a lighter charge weight than what's given for a 69grn JHP. This is across all powders listed in each book (Speer and Lee) and the few I've checked on the Hodgdon web sight.

Most of what I've read tells me that lighter pills get heavier charge weights, as a general rule.
Heavier pills get lighter charge weights, as a general rule.

Please O gurus of the reloading bench, shed a little light on this poor noob.

And yes, I do follow the recommended charges and verify charge weights.

Thanks for any help folks.

Greg B.

[CJW]

Don’t go off book or speak to a tech from Hodgdon.

Off book loads are not listed for a reason.....caution.

[kmon]

Different bullets have various differences that can affect pressures. Core material, jacket material, mono metal, bearing surface all can change the pressure even within the same weight bullets or different weights.

Stick with the published data and work up toward published max loads with caution.

[LRRPF52]

Could be jacket and core thickness/material, or when the testing was done, but since it's consistent across sources, it's more likely the bullet.

Trust and verify the published sources with a pressure ladder over a chronograph if you want to see where it lands.

[Mechnic]

Thank you folks. Yeppers, staying with published loads. Ironically max 223 loads seam to work better in my 5.56 than min 5.56 loads.

[Klem]

Mechnic,

I have visited Hogdens website and cannot see what you are seeing. Everything is as expected with max loads for the lighter 62gn being slightly higher than the heavier 69gn.

Can you be more specific...What exactly are you looking at?