I would lean more towards this vs over pressure....those primers don’t look bad at all outside of maybe a bit loose by the one pic. Other than a couple of specific projectiles I don’t use Hornady components as a general rule....products are too inconsistent. I don’t even save Hornady brass if I end up with any.
Signs of overpressure in my rifle?
- Thread starter ArmedGinger
- Start date
Lucky I had box of fired brass (from that rifle) still kicking around.......headspace comes in at 1.633” so 3 thou over a “minimum” spec of 1.630”. Here’s a fired case with a sleepy but standard load of 4895 that chrono’d at about 2530...
Then a comparison of that same ho hum handload on the left with a 175 SMK loaded to 2.810” side by side with factory FGMM on the right. The firing pin if I recall is a Tubb, which never fit the hole in the bolt face perfect and always left a crater like appearance. You can see the FGMM primer is a little flatter, but still normal appearance. FGMM 175 in the same chamber, same reamer, same smith in my A5 clone came out the spout at 2640 so i think the Federal Match can be a little warmer in some lots.
But as others have indicated the Obermeyer chamber is pretty short in throat and hence I loaded the Sierra pretty short. The 178 bullet in your hunting ammo might be “fatter” in an area of the ogive where despite being factory OAL still puts it into the lands of that chamber. Yet it may still measure at 2.800” when measured at the bullet tip.
Hope that helps shed a little light. I only ever shot FGMM or hand loads using SMK in that rifle, never Hornady ELDs
Then a comparison of that same ho hum handload on the left with a 175 SMK loaded to 2.810” side by side with factory FGMM on the right. The firing pin if I recall is a Tubb, which never fit the hole in the bolt face perfect and always left a crater like appearance. You can see the FGMM primer is a little flatter, but still normal appearance. FGMM 175 in the same chamber, same reamer, same smith in my A5 clone came out the spout at 2640 so i think the Federal Match can be a little warmer in some lots.
But as others have indicated the Obermeyer chamber is pretty short in throat and hence I loaded the Sierra pretty short. The 178 bullet in your hunting ammo might be “fatter” in an area of the ogive where despite being factory OAL still puts it into the lands of that chamber. Yet it may still measure at 2.800” when measured at the bullet tip.
Hope that helps shed a little light. I only ever shot FGMM or hand loads using SMK in that rifle, never Hornady ELDs
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redshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Central Ontario
Hornady Brass has given me more grief than any other. I have had problems with the rim distorting, I always thought it was due to it being thin, could be soft.
Looks like a wee bit over pressure, how did it extract? If it was a bit sticky I'd be alarmed. I hope you have a reliable alternative to finish the season, if not I'd be ok with a few extra shots...not that I'm suggesting it's a good idea.
Looks like a wee bit over pressure, how did it extract? If it was a bit sticky I'd be alarmed. I hope you have a reliable alternative to finish the season, if not I'd be ok with a few extra shots...not that I'm suggesting it's a good idea.
No issues extracting at all. I didn't noticed a problem except for the rounds not ejecting until I pulled the bolt.
I threw the Hornday ammo into my range bag and grabbed a box of Federal Sierra Gamekings in 168gr. I've shot them out of this rifle before without issues.
These Hornady threads are popping up on a weekly basis. A little cratering or ejector swipe (ejector flow in this case) on factory ammo seems to be the norm. The blown primer is for sure too much. It looks like you’ve got the beginnings of some bolt face damage from it. At the very least, I’d shelf the stuff. As far as the underlying issue, there might not be one. No two rifles are the same. You could take it to a gunsmith but I don’t think he’ll have a quick fix (or a cheap one)
Vladthepes
Regular
- Location
- Okanagan-Similkameen
...the firepin hole is cratered. Over pressure. Diminish the powder load.
Those loads are too hot for that gun.
This could be for many reasons, most mentioned here already.
It could also be a stacking of them, none on their own enough but combined and this is what you get.
I noticed a lot of people are suggesting headspace, definitely a consideration, but all the chatter has been on the chamber.
Have you measured the unfired cases (all of them) for headspace?
It is possible (although unlikely) that the brass was manufactured out of spec.
This could be for many reasons, most mentioned here already.
It could also be a stacking of them, none on their own enough but combined and this is what you get.
I noticed a lot of people are suggesting headspace, definitely a consideration, but all the chatter has been on the chamber.
Have you measured the unfired cases (all of them) for headspace?
It is possible (although unlikely) that the brass was manufactured out of spec.
These are factory loads....
Remingtons tend to have a sloppy, oversized firing pin hole that will allow primer cratering even if a load is no where close to over pressure. I wouldn't use this as a sign.
The ejector mark is definitely a major sign of over pressure here though. I run my 6.5 creed warm and I get little ghost marks of the ejector... This is a whole other level.
OP, have you tried a GO-Gauge in your chamber? I was just loading for a buddies savage and tried some loads on the bottom end of book loads... They were still extremely over pressure. I took it to a friend who bore scoped it and it was still clean. However a Go-gauge was pretty stiff on bolt close, which it shouldn't have been. So a really tight chamber in my experience will create an increase in pressure on loads that are generally good to go on a regular chamber.
Give this a read on pressure signs if you have a chance: https://www.primalrights.com/library/articles/understanding-pressure
The ejector mark is definitely a major sign of over pressure here though. I run my 6.5 creed warm and I get little ghost marks of the ejector... This is a whole other level.
OP, have you tried a GO-Gauge in your chamber? I was just loading for a buddies savage and tried some loads on the bottom end of book loads... They were still extremely over pressure. I took it to a friend who bore scoped it and it was still clean. However a Go-gauge was pretty stiff on bolt close, which it shouldn't have been. So a really tight chamber in my experience will create an increase in pressure on loads that are generally good to go on a regular chamber.
Give this a read on pressure signs if you have a chance: https://www.primalrights.com/library/articles/understanding-pressure
Some cratering is normal with a Remington 700, those look more extreme then I used to get with my 700). Ejector marks however, I never got, and I certainly never got the headstamp transferred to the bolt face. Something is clearly wrong. Yes, Hornady brass is one of the softer brasses, but no, factory rounds should not look like that when fired.
Do you have access to a Hornady o.a.l gauge to see if maybe the factory rounds are seating hard/far in to the lands?
Do you have access to a Hornady o.a.l gauge to see if maybe the factory rounds are seating hard/far in to the lands?
