Thread: Wilcats and Pressure

Originally Posted by L.R

I am not saying anyone is doing damage to their actions here, I'm just asking how you know they can handle these higher pressures safely.

I think it's one of those situations where you should do as you feel is safe. If that's 80k for you that's fine. It's not for me until someone can prove that all the components are safe at that pressure and have a good safety margin remaining.

And thats the whole point of this thread.. AGAIN
Its not a matter of 'feeling; whats safe, its about getting the most out of a new cartridge with no standard info
Who, what, why and when to stop?

Damn near Ford v Holden...

Load up the highest pressure load you can think of put in your gun tie a string to your trigger stand back a bit and if it fire it off, if your gun blows up its too high and your gun cant handle that, then get a a new gun and try it again but lower the pressure how ever you do that(different powder amounts? idk) then try it again, if gun blows up then try again.

Originally Posted by Toby

Load up the highest pressure load you can think of put in your gun tie a string to your trigger stand back a bit and if it fire it off, if your gun blows up its too high and your gun cant handle that, then get a a new gun and try it again but lower the pressure how ever you do that(different powder amounts? idk) then try it again, if gun blows up then try again.

Yeah.. - not the most scientific way of goign about....

Should work though

However it beats the science you are using spanner. Ignoring the strain gauge and trying to tell others they are just under loading. That may be the case, but you have no idea of the brass or action yield points so you just don't know how safe it is? This is not ideal if you want to sell it to customers. Also have you considered the massive reduction in therotical barrel life that that extra 20k will give you?

I dont know much(anything*) about this stuff but just wondering what does the higher pressures offer? does it make the projectile faster offering better accuracy or what?

Is pressure signs mean like the neck splitting? When I got my .308 it came with a bunch of homeloads a few dont chamber and then a few get spilt necks when I do shoot, but the ones have shot group have good grouping and they knock the shot out of deer. idk why some dont fit, I have been told it could be because the were shot through another rifle first???

Originally Posted by L.R

However it beats the science you are using spanner. Ignoring the strain gauge and trying to tell others they are just under loading. That may be the case, but you have no idea of the brass or action yield points so you just don't know how safe it is? This is not ideal if you want to sell it to customers. Also have you considered the massive reduction in therotical barrel life that that extra 20k will give you?

Wooo - hold up - noones running 88k
If barrel life is an issue when you're poking $1.50 worth of powder and $4-5 pills down the tube, with $4k of scope on top and a $6k range finder sitting beside you, then I think you maybe in the wrong game.

How can a strain gauge be used to determine its safe?
Lets say in a moment of fantasy, that the pressure is 100% correct, you have a magic number of what that pressure is in the fired case- now what?

You realise that if you have to use a FL sizing die or any die, then the brass has past its elastic limit and yielded? this happens with almost EVERY rifle caliber from the last 100 or so years.
You would agree that if you can fire a case 5 times without FL sizing, that you are below the yield point of the brass and operating within its elastic limit?

But Spanners if this brass acts the same as all brass in all calibers has done for the last 100 years then why is it safer to run to a much higher pressure?

Originally Posted by L.R

But Spanners if this brass acts the same as all brass in all calibers has done for the last 100 years then why is it safer to run to a much higher pressure?

if you can fire a case 5 times without FL sizing, that you are below the yield point of the brass and operating within its elastic limit?

Yes but how far bellow you don't know. You also don't know at what point you will start damaging the action. This is what I keep trying to say, but all you can say is its not failing YET!

Originally Posted by L.R

Yes but how far bellow you don't know. You also don't know at what point you will start damaging the action. This is what I keep trying to say, but all you can say is its not failing YET!

The whole point is you havnt even reached the elastic limit of the brass (something that happens in saw a RUM or WSM every firing)- the action is a shitload stronger to begin with

In Kirby's example they didn't reach the elastic limit of the brass until the action was damaged.

is there not a point where the pressure it too great that the steel used for the barrel / action loses its elasticity?
ie when the strain is beyond the threshold capacity of metal that it’s molecular or the atomic structure changes bringing a sort of deformity in the structure of the metal weakening/fracturing it?
I have read somewhere that this another reason for some of the pressure limits.

Originally Posted by L.R

In Kirby's example they didn't reach the elastic limit of the brass until the action was damaged.

Huh? The elastic limit of the brass is reached on most calibers every time you fire, thus the need to full length size as the brass has yielded - there is no mention there about sizing of cases??