I was shooting today and noticed my cases had ejector swipes and bolt lift was a little heavy. I've shot this load many times before with no issues. Any thoughts?

308 Win
43.0gr IMR 4064
Lapua 3x fired brass
175 SMK
CCI BR2 Brimer

Your primer is cratered too. Load is too hot...humidity is as bad as heat and today the humidity was high.

You need to back it down a bit.

New jug of powder?

I didn't think this was near a published max load guess I'll need to look at my manuals again. I came up with that load while doing an OCW test last year and 43.0 grains provided the best accuracy. It was not a new jug of powder it was the same powder jug I've loaded out of before.

If you've changed bullet seating depth to jam the lands, but you did not do this before, you could easily have driven pressures up beyond 65000 psi.

this is being shot out of a factory model 700 BDL so I can't get anywhere near the lands

According to my Sierra manual max load is 42.8gr

That doesn't mean squat.

Brass variances, powder lot variances, seating depths, chamber dimensions ...... the published data is a GUIDELINE. And you already knew that.

No matter what the cause, that load is definitely pushing the envelope. Like already said, back it off a bit.

Berger manual says 42 is max but they are notorious for being conservative and I normally start near max. So it's hot but wouldn't expect it to be that hot. Humidity sucks.

Between burn rate variations of different powder lots, case capacity, proximity to the lands, and a tight chamber you can get in trouble quick. And you can do it using published data, too.

just curious-
what does 43.0 grains do that 42.8 wouldn't ?

Well then, what does 42.8 do that 42.6 will not? When you're seeing presdure signs like that you're likely to be up near 70000 psi. What good would a .2 grain decrease do? Just because it's in a manual does not make it safe in every gun to begin with.

What im saying is that a .2 grain decrease is not likely to bring pressures down to the "safe" range, that's all.

still curious though.
why would you exceed max load ?
more accurate ?
less recoil ?

educate me. i've never needed to load over max.
just wondering why.

I don't remember the particular of the load but I had a screamer worked up out of a SAKO 1st Gen Classic Grade 270 AV that all my brass looked that way & by the 3rd firing most of the print on the case head rim was unreadable in WW brass...and I threw the brass away after the 3rd loading as the primer pocket was too loose. THAT load was stupid fast, and stupid dangerous too but was doing -1" groups at 250 yards with a Leo 3x9 Vari X III Duplex on top.

A cooler head at the range I respected "got my attention" after picking up one of my spent rounds...and asking how much Life Insurance I had...and wanted to know if he could get a Life Insurance Policy on me too. HUH???
Ron

The unvarnished truth: you may be beyond SAAMI pressures in certain situations when following the book and not exceeding the published data, and you might be well within SAAMI pressure spec while exceeding published max charges in other situations. You are ALWAYS on your own, like it or not.

Who's max load are you speaking of because the Hodgdon max for that bullet is 45.6gr so he is well under that max. Not saying the load is OK just pointing out Max's vary and as mentioned are just guidelines not gospel

yes, i understand all that. i've reloaded for
several decades, and thankfully haven't had
any blowups or primer pops, or case ruptures
from my reloads. i did have some winchester
white box split, but none of my own reloaded ammo.

but. . . still curious. is there a reason
for exceeding book max ?

In my opinion yes. My load for my 280 Remington is quite a bit over max because the load data was based off lower pressures Remington used to operate the semi-Auto they brought out the cartridge in back in the day.
Same with many older cartridges.

+1

ok . .so extra pressure is needed for proper
function of the action, so a larger charge
is needed ?

My 220 and 270 are above what some books call maximum, but they weren't max when they were first worked up, based on the books at that time. And they don't seem to be max now. My 223 with a new barrel hit max way before I got to where the previous barrel was accurate. Opened up the chamber and all is well. The rifle, not the book, will tell you when to back off.

No.

The .280 was hamstrung from the beginning with pressure held down to 50,000 CUP (but now 60000 psi) because Remington chambered self-loaders for it. In a bolt gun the cartridge can be pushed as hard as the highest pressured cartridge (.25-06 is rated to 65000 psi, IIRC) based on the .30-06.

Besides...do you KNOW the pressure of any of your handloads??

Okay...I got that wrong. The .25-06 is specced at 63000 psi, but the .270 is allowed 65000 psi.

No just the opposite
The .280 Remington, also known as the 7mm Express Remington, was introduced in 1957 for the Remington model 740, 760, 721, and 725 rifles. They operated at lower pressures than what could be used in a modern bolt gun. So data for them is still based off SAMI specs from 1957.
My loads are safe in my gun but probably would cause problems in an auto loader over time