74A95,
I hate to tell you, but that Nosler load density data is way off. It's in my copy of their data book, too, but when you look at the nearly identical maximum load using the same Nosler bullet in Hodgdon's data, there is no "C" for compressed next to it. Moreover, the reason QuickLOAD's propellant table setup has a default maximum compression of 105% is it starts getting hard not to bulge the case as compression gets much higher. 110% is impossible for some folks with some powders without making the cartridge too fat to chamber.
What went wrong in the Nosler data book is the calculated case water capacity under the bullet. They have it at 24 grains. But a 44 Mag case has almost 40 grains of water overflow capacity, and even with that Nosler bullet seated to 1.58" COL, a seating depth of 0.302", the case still has over 28.6 grains of water space left. So, someone at Nosler got that wrong water capacity and then just let their spreadsheet work out the compression and didn't question it, probably because they'd never personally seated a heavily compressed load.
On a hunch, I put a 44 Special case into QuickLOAD with that same 0.302" seating depth. The remaining water capacity under the bullet was 23.98 grains. So I think we know the Genesis of the Nosler error.
I haven't looked at every spherical propellant load in Hodgdon's data, but in a spot check of a few dozen, I haven't spotted one with a C next to it yet.
