Thread: Calculating pressures in hand loads

Greetings 7RMBoy,
Congratulations, you have asked one of those questions to which there are many answers. In short there are ways to estimate pressures but not to calculate them. Most manuals these days do not include pressures for the loads but are developed using pressure testing equipment. Years ago some manuals had data that was not pressure tested but worked up by looking for pressure signs. Some of this is fire cracker hot and should not be used. Current manuals should keep you out of trouble most of the time as long as you only use the data for the projectiles it was developed for. As an example do not use data for jacketed projectiles in loads for the solid copper projectiles.
I would suggest that you look at the manuals for both the powder and projectile you are using and use these as a guide. There is quite a bit available on the interweb. I tend to use the Hodgdons (ADI) and Nosler data. The Nosler data seems to a bit hotter (sometimes ) than Hodgdon. I use a chronograph to validate the data and pick up any changes in powder speed from lot to lot. Handloading is a fascinating pastime and you never stop learning.
Regards Grandpamac.