Extractor Marks?

[okie man]

Not only does he have the ejector mark, you can see the imprint of the bolt face machine marks on the case head and primer. I'd say something in his load has him running a bit hot.

 

[emp1953]

Only three pieces of brass I have with me. View attachment 333047

The fine raised ring around the firing pin strike is called cratering and is a sign of high pressure. The metal of the primer cup is flowing into the firing pin hole in the bolt. Back off a bit on the powder charge. Try it -1gr and fire a few, then -1/2 gr at a time until the cratering stops. While the 700 action is strong there is no need to tax it every time you pull the trigger. After you hit that load, you'll most likely have to fiddle a bit to hit another accuracy node. Also these magnums are known to erode the throat faster than non magnum calibers. Backing off the load a bit may get more life out of your barrel. You might try a couple of the same loads but without the magnum primers.

 

[wonderman4]

NO ONE should reference primer cratering alone as a high pressure sign. It is simply not a good indicator alone. Grouped with other signals, they can tell a story.

Here is an article written by Ty Herring of Barnes Bullets.

Evaluating Pressure Signs in Reloaded Cartridge Brass « Daily Bulletin

Selection from BARNES BULLETS' Tips, Tools, and Techniques by Ty Herring, Barnes Consumer Service The purpose of this month’s Tip from Barnes is to make you aware of valid pressure signs in most centerfire rifle cartridges so you can keep yourself out of hot water. Following the Barnes Manual...

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

Sometimes a particular brand of brass is softer on the head area, and I think Hornady brass is in this group. With ejector marks on the case heads, loading down with that brass would be prudent to me.

 

[PatriotHenry]

Only three pieces of brass I have with me. View attachment 333047

Those are "ejector" marks, not extractor. That load appears hot.

 

[BlazerBeam]

Just run it. Brass won't last as long, but if I'm hunting with the rifle, I don't care about that. As long as there is not extraction issues, I will run a spicy load for hunting if it is the most accurate and consistent.

 

[Mike Matteson]

NO ONE should reference primer cratering alone as a high pressure sign. It is simply not a good indicator alone. Grouped with other signals, they can tell a story.

Here is an article written by Ty Herring of Barnes Bullets.

Evaluating Pressure Signs in Reloaded Cartridge Brass « Daily Bulletin

Selection from BARNES BULLETS' Tips, Tools, and Techniques by Ty Herring, Barnes Consumer Service The purpose of this month’s Tip from Barnes is to make you aware of valid pressure signs in most centerfire rifle cartridges so you can keep yourself out of hot water. Following the Barnes Manual...

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

Sometimes a particular brand of brass is softer on the head area, and I think Hornady brass is in this group. With ejector marks on the case heads, loading down with that brass would be prudent to me.

It has all the signed of high pressure or over pressures. Maybe I could be a little braver and add more powder to the load. I go to flatten primers and that's it in any action I use. I will take a look at Ty Herring article. Generally I only get about 10 firing from a case before the primer pocket won't hold the primers tight an longer. So I would say I am pushing the case and load to the almost the max at that time.

 

[Mike Matteson]

Just run it. Brass won't last as long, but if I'm hunting with the rifle, I don't care about that. As long as there is not extraction issues, I will run a spicy load for hunting if it is the most accurate and consistent.

I guess you like purchasing a lot of brass that's hard to come by.

 

[nwhunter]

Its simply a hunting load. The hornady brass shoot consitently like this, I did have a load of 66.4 that was just slightly less accurate but not by much. I don't recall if there was ejector marks. The winchester brass I have was roughly 7 grains lighter than the hornady brass, which would mean I can stuff more in the case not by much but some. I did shoot the exact load as I stated above with the winchester brass and there were slight ejector marks. I also bumped it up to 68.2gr and ejector marks were like those in the picture, but the accuracy was not.

While "its simply a hunting load" and if it works for you it's your call, I would keep in mind that you mentioned you shot these at 30 Degrees f. Here in Oregon, I might find myself elk hunting at 25 but mule deer opener in eastern Oregon in might be nearly 90. That much variation with a warm load developed at 30 would worry me.

 

[Moose47]

Lots of really good comments on this rifle/ load. I do believe the marks shown indicate a hot load, interesting that you state there is no resistance with the bolt. There is good news with your load, that being the latest Barns data shows 165 TTSX // RL 17 // 68grain is the max load at 3210 FPS which with 67.9 your load is max. I think that any electronic scale would flicker around that number which could mean you could easily be .5 grains above or below your 67.9 input. With a velocity of 3210 and that awesome Barns bullet you should easily have 2000 FT pounds of energy out to 450 yards plus, any Moose/ Elk is really dead. So reduce the load to 67gr and enjoy your hunt. I do see why you picked RL 17 since it has the best FPS off all the suggested powders. For my 300 WBY I have a RL 17 load at 70.5 grains giving me 3049 FPS with a 200LRX. When I work with 7828 powder and go with a max load my Weatherby shows case marks and some stiff bolt movement so with that powder I reduce my loads. Thanks to all for the great info.

 

[Chrsm]

Back down to the next node!

 

[floyd kittrell]

Alliant data shows this to be a max charge weight with a cup and core bullet I have found with Barnes you have to back off some as they pressure up sooner I would step down into a lower node

X2

 

[floyd kittrell]

Only load Monos by the Barnes reloading book , you can get the data online if you don't have the book .

 

[Chuksnipr]

Gunwerks has a video on youtube to determine your max powder charge and this is the method I use.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Reduce the load.