does this factory load have too much pressure?

[blacknzr1]

my rifle is a remington 700, 26 inch barrel.
the round is factory 7mm rem mag, hornady 154g sst superformance doing 3150.

i first wondered this when my bolt was a bit sticky to open once i fired the round.
the primers are a little flat and some cratering.
maybe the pictures will tell the story, i do like the round but want it to be safe for me and the rifle. i know nothing about reloading.

 

[RT2506]

Just looking at the primers I would say NO it does not have too much pressure. If you are referring to the protrusion around where the firing pin struck I would say that you have a little large firing pin hole in your bolt face or a week firing pin spring. This will cause that ring. It is not too much to be worried about unless you start to have issues with hard bolt lift from where the metal of the primer sticking into the firing pin hole starts to bind things up. You can have your firing pin hole bushed by a good gunsmith to correct this. Too much pressure would flatten the outer edges of the primers and yours are nice and round.

Also you did not mention what the weather conditions were when you were shooting. If it was hot and your ammo was warm that could raise the pressure and cause the slight hard bolt life. I would not worry about it unless you started having really hard bolt lift on every round. That 154 gr Hornady bullet in the 7 mag is probably the best deer killing bullet I have ever used in that caliber. I know a bunch of people that use this bullet in the bean fields on NC for deer.

 

[J E Custom]

Just looking at the primers I would say NO it does not have too much pressure. If you are referring to the protrusion around where the firing pin struck I would say that you have a little large firing pin hole in your bolt face or a week firing pin spring. This will cause that ring. It is not too much to be worried about unless you start to have issues with hard bolt lift from where the metal of the primer sticking into the firing pin hole starts to bind things up. You can have your firing pin hole bushed by a good gunsmith to correct this. Too much pressure would flatten the outer edges of the primers and yours are nice and round.

Also you did not mention what the weather conditions were when you were shooting. If it was hot and your ammo was warm that could raise the pressure and cause the slight hard bolt life. I would not worry about it unless you started having really hard bolt lift on every round. That 154 gr Hornady bullet in the 7 mag is probably the best deer killing bullet I have ever used in that caliber. I know a bunch of people that use this bullet in the bean fields on NC for deer.

+1
They look fine as far as pressure.

J E CUSTOM

 

[blacknzr1]

ok, thanks for your replys.
i will use them all up at least. after that i might go to 162's and try them anyway.

 

[blacknzr1]

Just looking at the primers I would say NO it does not have too much pressure. If you are referring to the protrusion around where the firing pin struck I would say that you have a little large firing pin hole in your bolt face or a week firing pin spring. This will cause that ring. It is not too much to be worried about unless you start to have issues with hard bolt lift from where the metal of the primer sticking into the firing pin hole starts to bind things up. You can have your firing pin hole bushed by a good gunsmith to correct this. Too much pressure would flatten the outer edges of the primers and yours are nice and round.

Also you did not mention what the weather conditions were when you were shooting. If it was hot and your ammo was warm that could raise the pressure and cause the slight hard bolt life. I would not worry about it unless you started having really hard bolt lift on every round. That 154 gr Hornady bullet in the 7 mag is probably the best deer killing bullet I have ever used in that caliber. I know a bunch of people that use this bullet in the bean fields on NC for deer.

i just re-read this. the bolt is a bit sticky in all weather conditions. iv fired at least 70 rounds. it seems to be even harder to extract the case if you dont do it straight away once iv fired.

again thanks for the replys.

 

[backwoods83]

Sounds like your headspace might be off a thousandth or 4.

 

[leadchucker]

hmm, i also have a rem 700 and my primers look indentical only a little worse, my bolt is hard to close, opening is ok. I was wondering if this to could be a headspace issue?

 

[backwoods83]

Have a gunsmith put a go gauge in it and check it.

 

[leadchucker]

yes that is the plan, i just contacted a smith yesterday and am to bring it in right away to get looked at.

 

[blacknzr1]

well iv asked alot of people. some have seen the rounds in person, as allways you get a few different answers.

so iv come to this...
first off this is a factory load, and i will bet hornady has done alot of testing before selling to the public. and i have seen no other "horror" stories after searching.
this seems to come up alot... "There are no ejector slot scuff marks on the brass".
and this "The edges of the primers are still round"
then usually, i hear the pressures are fine!

now the reasons why some signs are showing...

'The burr where the firing pin hit is caused by excessive pin protrusion and has nothing to do with pressure. Thats all fine too'

"Carry on, the sticky extraction may be due to a batch of soft brass or just very tight head space in your rifle versus the sizing of Hornady versus rem brass. All good." (this is about how the hornady brass is tight and the remingon isnt. to eject)

these quotes are from an email i got from a guy some of you may know, who i greatly respect his opinion. Terminal Ballistics Research (nathan)

just look at all the reasearch and load development he has done.
and of the two people that did say to me.."hmm i dont know the pressure is getting up" also said if anything it is a warm load, they didnt say it was hot!

so thanks for all the replys. like i said everyone has there opinion and some differ, i expected that. i value every one of them. it is a good load, and at least im going to use up what i have, then maybe switch to a higher 162 round for the higher b.c or start hand loading.

thanks.

 

[backwoods83]

Just a thought, if you start reloading toss the crap hornady brass, it'll likely save you a lot of frustration. And no there is no real sign of pressure, if it was you would see a buldge at the case head, and I see a lot of model 700s with binded up firing pin springs causing weak hits and the primer trying to flow back in the pin hole.

 

[blacknzr1]

Just a thought, if you start reloading toss the crap hornady brass, it'll likely save you a lot of frustration. And no there is no real sign of pressure, if it was you would see a buldge at the case head, and I see a lot of model 700s with binded up firing pin springs causing weak hits and the primer trying to flow back in the pin hole.

ok, because iv never reloaded, is the case head, the end were the projectile is?
isnt mine doing a strong hit, hence the burr around the strike on the primer?

yes, i wasnt going to use that brass if i started handloading. thanks!

my gunsmith who said the rounds look warm,who kind of said, i dont know if you should carry on. also said, that some 700's have a burr somewhere in the action that makes extraction hard, and he could see the mark on some of my fired rounds. so another reason why releasing and extracting is difficult.

 

[backwoods83]

The part of the case I'm reffering to is just ahead of the belt on the end with the primer. A hard hit can cause them to look like that, but its usually a weak hit that does, pressure spike almost like a hang fire but much faster. The lack of force on the firing pin is allowing the primer to try and push back into the hole, usually if its hitting real hard with about .040" protrusion it will just leave a deep crater without the edges rolled up.

 

[blacknzr1]

ok. i know what you mean. and you must have a fair bit of experience because it makes sence.
so... if anything i may have a firing pin problem. but is ok for now, as far as i understand.
its interesting because the rounds in the pictures are the latest, i took a look at some of the earlier rounds, and theres no burr around the strike. therfore, yes, i would guess the firing pin has weakened a bit.

thanks for your experienced opinion.