My buddies 300 prc

[central iowa couple]

I'm helping out my buddy with his CA ridgeline 300 prc. He's shooting the precision hunter 212 eld x factory loads. He's getting heavy bolt lift and ejector marks on almost every shot. We were shooting in 80 to 85 degree temps. At first he was waiting about 2 minutes between shots. He fired about 4 shots and couldn't get bolt to open. I said hold on. Got it open and looked at his brass. Really bad double ejector marks. With the carbon wrap it was hard to tell temp of barrel. He shoots suppressed. So i looked at all his brass. The first had no marks, the rest had pressure signs. We then waited 20 minutes to get as cool as possible. Shot 1. No marks. Waited 10 minutes or so ....no marks. I put my magneto on it . 2870 was the speed. I think advertised was 2860 on the box. We went to a different box. Same thing if we shot with out a cool barrel. So i took 10 empties that i could find in the 3 boxes he had fired that didn't have any ejector marks on them and loaded up low and worked up to book max of re 26 and 212 eldx. And didn't get any marks. Speed was 2990 on the top load. My thoughts are after looking at hornady load data that shows re 25 as the fastest velocity that the factory loads are using re 25 and with the box sitting in the sun and hot barrel combo caused an over pressure situation. With all the knowledge on this site .....someone probably has an idea. I told him to make sure he hits his elk with one shot. Lol. Also we didn't try cooling the loaded rounds or shooting on a cooler day yet. That's the next step. Not possible yet here in iowa. This is my first experience with the 300 prc. My 300 weatherby surprisingly shoots the 210 bergers faster and tighter then the CA Ridgeline.

 

[RockyMtnUT]

Hopefully not the gun but generally is.

 

[central iowa couple]

Ok....thanks

 

[lancetkenyon]

If you reload....ditch the factory ammo and work him up a new lighter load.

Plus, Hornady brass sucks. Try Lapua or ADG brass.

Also, IF Hornady is using RL25 (and RL26), pressures really go up over 84° from many past personal experiences/observations. Try H1000, Retumbo, N565, N570, or RL33.

It might not be the rifle, it is probay the ammo.

For me, a 215 @ 2950+ is about the right spot. Or a 230 @ 2850+. Both should be easily attained in a 26" barrel with the right brass and powder combo, and not be overpressure.

 

[Dmagna]

Send it back like I did with my traverse,

 

[Dmagna]

If you call them do not say you shot reloads. They are a sham company that will void your rifle warranty if you shot reloads. They can't stick by their products so they come up with ways to screw customers

 

[central iowa couple]

I'm going to google the CA problems and gently.....lol tell them to him. Everyone here told him to get the 300 wm and hit the easy button. With every Walmart, gas station in Colorado selling 300 wm ammo that seems to be the best option. But he wanted something....cool. I, was intrigued by the prc....thinking how much better than the 300 weatherby could it be?? I got my answer and he has a mess. Sometimes....old school is just plain boring. A 30-06 pushing 152 hammers at 3000 fps would do the trick...easily. That was what i told him. But he's got to practice, practice, practice to be ready for 2nd Colorado rifle elk. My job is to help suggest ways to get him prepared. He's an avid AR guy. Not used to making small groups at distance. Right now 400 yds is not an option...so the 30-06 was a good call.

 

[Dmagna]

I'm going to google the CA problems and gently.....lol tell them to him. Everyone here told him to get the 300 wm and hit the easy button. With every Walmart, gas station in Colorado selling 300 wm ammo that seems to be the best option. But he wanted something....cool. I, was intrigued by the prc....thinking how much better than the 300 weatherby could it be?? I got my answer and he has a mess. Sometimes....old school is just plain boring. A 30-06 pushing 152 hammers at 3000 fps would do the trick...easily. That was what i told him. But he's got to practice, practice, practice to be ready for 2nd Colorado rifle elk. My job is to help suggest ways to get him prepared. He's an avid AR guy. Not used to making small groups at distance. Right now 400 yds is not an option...so the 30-06 was a good call.

It's not the cartridge, it's the rifle. I have 3 of them. They have all had problems, 2 of them had **** chambers.

 

[birddog 68]

Had to check if this was a different thread or one of the others. I think I'll steer clear of CA.

 

[JuddL]

My experience any action with double ejectors is an action maker that has an engineer that needs firing.

They pressure up faster and solve a non-existing problem…my experience.

 

[skipglo]

I'm helping out my buddy with his CA ridgeline 300 prc. He's shooting the precision hunter 212 eld x factory loads. He's getting heavy bolt lift and ejector marks on almost every shot. We were shooting in 80 to 85 degree temps. At first he was waiting about 2 minutes between shots. He fired about 4 shots and couldn't get bolt to open. I said hold on. Got it open and looked at his brass. Really bad double ejector marks. With the carbon wrap it was hard to tell temp of barrel. He shoots suppressed. So i looked at all his brass. The first had no marks, the rest had pressure signs. We then waited 20 minutes to get as cool as possible. Shot 1. No marks. Waited 10 minutes or so ....no marks. I put my magneto on it . 2870 was the speed. I think advertised was 2860 on the box. We went to a different box. Same thing if we shot with out a cool barrel. So i took 10 empties that i could find in the 3 boxes he had fired that didn't have any ejector marks on them and loaded up low and worked up to book max of re 26 and 212 eldx. And didn't get any marks. Speed was 2990 on the top load. My thoughts are after looking at hornady load data that shows re 25 as the fastest velocity that the factory loads are using re 25 and with the box sitting in the sun and hot barrel combo caused an over pressure situation. With all the knowledge on this site .....someone probably has an idea. I told him to make sure he hits his elk with one shot. Lol. Also we didn't try cooling the loaded rounds or shooting on a cooler day yet. That's the next step. Not possible yet here in iowa. This is my first experience with the 300 prc. My 300 weatherby surprisingly shoots the 210 bergers faster and tighter then the CA Ridgeline.

Of course your Weatherby does! Comparing one against a CA...is sacrilege!

 

[ZAK13]

I would have the chamber checked by a gunsmith, tolerances might be too tight, and then send it back to CA and have it repaired. There's nothing like spending a good amount of money and getting a pile of junk out of the box. Hope you can get this solved quickly.

 

[Kmccord]

When you mentioned the ammo was sitting in the sun, that got my attention. This is from experience in my 28 Nosler using H1000 with 195gr Berger, it was a very warm day, no issues since I was not running max charge, then out of nowhere the kick was harder and the bolt lift was stiff, same issue shiny ejector Mark, loaded another same thing, this time when I grabbed another case, I did notice it was very warm and it hit me at that time, they are sitting in full sun on a very warm day. I put them ammo in the shade and waited a long while. Once I verified it was not warm to the touch resumed shooting and issue went away.