So I started my reloading at 19yrs old, a 222Rem on a Martini action. 1st lesson learned was that if you don't put any powder in the case, a Martini can be troublesome. And, it immediately causes thoughts of what if?
Since then I have reloaded 12g, 22Hornet, 223R, 243W, 270W, 338WM, 308W, 9.3x62, and lastly, 6.5 Grendel. My box of spare bits for dies, spindles, nuts etc, would choke a horse and at 65 I reckon I've now got a reasonably good knowledge of reloading. PhD level maybe not, but enough to put up an educated argument.
My first reloading manual was a Speer publication. A great book to work with and a good source of information. I concentrated mostly on Winchester powders, easily purchased and they worked well enough for me. My 243 with the sporter weight barrel was grouping very nicely.
In 2016 I met a fellow to whom I eventually gifted quite a bit of 243W ammunition. Cases, loaded rounds, dies, projectiles. I didn't need them, I hadn't fired the rifle in a few years, I hadn't fired a shot of much at all in a few years. Since then I've gone quite mad and rejoined the sport in earnest.
Now, a couple of weeks ago, an interesting event. My mate gives me a call and says something along the lines of...
Him: "you know that ammo you gave me?"
Me: "yeah.....?"
Him: "you know you loaded them with xx grains too much powder. I fired a couple of shots and stopped because of some smoke coming back through the bolt! The writing on the ammo boxes says AR2209 powder and the figure is over the maximum recommended load"
Me: "pardon?" I grab my books and start looking. This cannot be!! My immediate thoughts are when I was reloading the 243, I was using the WIN powders. I have used 2209, so far back I still have the labels from the metal containers it used to come in.
Me: "If you have any of the rounds left can you pull a couple and weigh the powder, and make sure its 2209"
Him: "I've already pulled all the rounds, the powder is exactly the (looks) same as the 2209 I'm using"
Me: "what do the primers look like, flat?
Him: "no, they look ok"
A couple of days later, I got a message to say he weighed a couple of rounds, and yes they were what he said and so I'm left still trying to work out how that amount of 2209 fitted into the 243 case. It should have caused a compressed and probably high pressure load with an immediate flattening of the primers.
During my subsequent investigation I determined that:
1. If I was using the Speer manual, how could I have used 2209 powder. It's not listed in the book.
2. If I was using the ADI 9th Edition 2016, not possible, I reloaded these rounds several years before 2016.
3. If I wrote xx Grains of AR2209 on the ammo boxes, (I always write what's loaded on the box) where on earth did I come up with the figure that was used.
4. If the primers look OK, then I'm thinking, it's not high pressure causing the smoke, its low pressure not opening the case neck fully on firing. Then it cannot be an overcharge of 2209.
5. All my reload data is kept on the computer now, and on paper. I have no records going back that far. Only a couple of scribbles in the Speer manual.
6. At the time of owning and using the 243, all I owned was my CZ22 and a 338WM. If I was using 2209 for the 338, the amount on the incorrect ammo boxes was way, way too short.
The only thing I can think of was that what I wrote on the boxes was for the WIN760 powder I was using at the time, but I have none of that to visibly compare it to the current AR2209
Any ideas?