Thread: Published vs actual load variations.

So I may have opened Pandora's Box by getting a hold of a chronograph.

I set myself up for an OCW test this morning and went out with loads for my 7mm Rem Mag. Powder is H4831SC and bullet is 162gr ELD-X over CCI mag primers and Norma brass. Rifle is a T3 with 23.5" barrel and T2 brake.

I ran a couple of shots through to ensure I was on target for testing and to get the chrony set up and ensure it was working.

Started with a load at 62gr and went up to 65gr which is 1gr over advertised max load in Hodgdon data. Hodgdon suggests that a similar rifle should be producing 2731FPS with 60gr of powder; I'm getting 2550FPS with 62gr. Moving to the max side, at 64gr Hodgdon reckons I should see around 2870FPS and I'm getting just shy of 2800 with 65gr of powder which is over max recommended load. I see no pressure signs at all on the 65gr cases.

Anyone else see deviations like this? Anything I should be looking for?