Ok, I bought a Browning (Winchester) Model 71 this week. Sent away to Buffalo Arms for some brass which came in within two day! Great service here! Jamerson brass....
I found some Hornady 200g bullets at my local gun shop and a box of factory Winchester 348 ammunition.
Wanted to try "plinking" loads with the Hornady bullets so I used the TrailBoss powder formular...Fill the case to the base of the bullet, weigh this charge and start at 70%.
I loaded 5 rounds at 14.5G of TrailBoss, 5 at 16.5 and 5 at 18.5.....Off to the range.
Loaded the 14.5g load...pulled the trigger...couldn't open the action! Had to use a cleaning rod to bump the case out of the chamber before the lever would move and the case would extract. Primer was flattened like signs of high pressure......Strange....
I tried a factory load and the recoil was much greater, but the case extracted beautifully. Tried another factory load and the gun ran great. No issues!
Tried another 14.5g load. Same result. Very little recoil and a stuck case.
Thinking something was wrong with the brass, I measured every dimension and it was exactly to spec and identical to the Winchester factory brass.
Thinking that the 14.5 load was too low of power and doing something strange, I tried the 18.5g load. Same result, little recoil, locked up gun, flattened primer.
I returned home and pulled the remaining cartridges apart and reloaded them with a stout load of 4007SSC and 3031...Much higher pressure ratings than the TrillBoss loads....
Back to the range and these loads fired and ejected perfectly! Smooth as silk....and very accurate I might add. Not a "plinking" round as the recoil was stout.
Strange that a light load would show signs of pressure and lock the action up tight, but a full house load worked great.
It couldn't be "predetonition" as the case even with only 14.5 grains of powder was 75% full. TrailBoss is an extremely bulky powder.
Any ideas?