Originally Posted by
6.5 CRD
Everyone can talk about how their rifles different than the next and every brass/primer/barrel/chamber/excuse till they are blue in the face but at the end of the day regardless of what combination of parts you have, if you have a higher measured velocity than the maximum the load data states for a given barrel length and projectile/powder type (regardless of charge weight), you are over Saami limits. Your rifle isnt special, your barrel isnt "fast". Even if you are at or under a published book max number for your given cartridge, if you are seeing higher velocity than the books states for your barrel length, theres a reason for that gain. It didnt just magically happen. Its happening because theres a higher peak pressure in the chamber than what the manufacturer deemed to be the safe point. It could be for any number of reasons, chamber spec, brass etc, but theres no arguing its there. If your happy running at those higher pressures and believe its safe and dont have any failures, all the power to you but the next guy following in your footsteps led by misinformation might not be so lucky.
For the average reloader that doesnt have access to pressure testing equipment which is the 99% of us, the best tool you can use to judge pressure is a chronograph. What the brass looks like is irrelevant. Alot of the brass available today is tough and wont show any signs of anything wrong untill you are way in the red.