Question on pressure signs for the experienced reloaders here.

The rounds in the picture below are mixed headstamp brass with BL-C(2) powder and Hornady 55gr FMJBT.
These were some of my earliest reloads and then I stopped reloading for a couple of years
These reloads are on once fired brass loaded in 2012 and just fired through my 20 inch rifle recently.
I know from reading that BL-C(2) is a spooky powder related to temperature sensitivity so shooting these at 55 degrees F is different than a hot day but specific to the primers how do they look.

From top to bottom fired around 55 degrees at an altitude of 4915 feet velocity measured with a Magnetospeed V3 Chronograph at the muzzle.

24gr with average velocity 2647fps
25gr with average velocity 2806fps
26gr with average velocity 2942fps
26.5gr with average velocity 2988
27gr with average velocity 3081
27.5 with average velocity 3118

I am an absolute novice in terms of reading pressure signs as a hint where to back off so opinions wanted on the picture below. (They were shot for chrono data only so no accuracy info available yet to find where I really need to go with the load)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps5qpqyxp1.png

I'm no expert, but they don't look flattened and they don't have powder leakage and they don't have craters and the don't have ejector marks so they seem ok. Is there a specific speed you are looking for? It seems like just wasting ammo unless you are trying to duplicate some other load. You are at book max from the hodgdon website, but they don't list the specific bullet you are using.
Sierra data.
Attachment 62671
Sierra, Lyman, and Speer manuals show that you are over max fwiw.

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Originally Posted by Jamnanc

I'm no expert, but they don't look flattened and they don't have powder leakage and they don't have craters and the don't have ejector marks so they seem ok. Is there a specific speed you are looking for? It seems like just wasting ammo unless you are trying to duplicate some other load. You are at book max from the hodgdon website, but they don't list the specific bullet you are using.

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I had loaded these years ago to run through my rifle to find the velocity my rifle liked for accuracy purposes of course I probably should have used matching headstamps. They then were thrown in a drawer because I did not have a chronograph to make it worth the effort. I was not intending to duplicate M193 or simliar velocities. (I think M193 is another 120fps hotter than my hottest load here).....

Recently acquired a chronograph and decided to pursue an accurate load for my rifle. I thought I saw the beginnings of flattened primers in the bottom set but they did not look that bad to me. That surprised me as 28.1gr is the Max loading suggested for their 55gr FMJBT in the Hornady 7 book so I expected them to look worse.

I've gone away from velocity and focused on accuracy. Yet to run at or close to max load, still get good - vg results, with mid range powder weight. One issue i see while trying to determine pressure signs is.. There's more then 1 brand of primer used by looking at the pictures. How many different brands were used?

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

There's more then 1 brand of primer used by looking at the pictures. How many different brands were used?

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The great majority were Winchester small rifle. The others I will have to go back and look as I said these were sitting in a drawer for years so it may have been a period where I could not find more of them to stay consistent.

Last batch is starting to get flat . A better indicator on gas guns is the rim . The extractor will deform the rim .

Mixed brass and various primers gives you a lot of variables to take in all at once. Those don't look too bad.

Looks like your firing pin has a little dimple in it, too.

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Originally Posted by Zombie Steve

Looks like your firing pin has a little dimple in it, too.

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Yep, here is one before cleaning and two after cleaning that show it, centered in the primer indent, I have another firing pin or two I can swap in or I can just lightly sand the tip to remove it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psjrm6hbn1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...pssiz5am4g.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...pszh9wcrti.jpg

Wait!!! Don't do that...

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...0c&oe=56E04A8E


[Coffee]

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Originally Posted by Zombie Steve

Wait!!! Don't do that... [Coffee]

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In this case I think I will, wait til the peanut gallery finds out that there are in fact semi auto and mil spec firing pins (heads are a different size) from colt depending on the year of manufacture from Colt.

It does look like there is a little flattening, and burnishing on the last set. Even for my lower pressure rounds, I do not mix commercial and mil-surp brass. .223 Commercial brass mixed and mil-surp mixed maybe. Different internal case volumes are going to start to have more of an effect as you get closer to max.