Weird Ejection Marks?!

[Buckaroobonsai]

Bushmaster Varminter. Never happened before today. Rounds fired and ejected fine, but have weird markings. Looks like a small crescent shape on one side, and a bigger one on the other side. Tula primers which have never been an issue before, but first time using ZMAX 50 grain .223 with 25 grains of H322. All brass fully sized and trimmed to spec. Some of the primers even came out on their own during ejection. Too hot maybe?

[spleify]

What does the bolt face look like? Any noticeable damage or a foreign object causing those scares on them.

[Delfuego]

Looks hot to me! Those crescents are ejector swipes, and the primers blew out. I have had similar on hot loads. I am no expert, so maybe some more experienced guys will chime in...

Also different brass will have different powder capacity.

[Colorado Osprey]

According to Hodgdon.com that is not only a HOT load, but above their load data by a full grain of powder; so VERY hot!
Max load- 24grains of H322 w/ 50 grain bullets is 3301ft/sec at 49,300CUP (older books maxed out at 23 grains)

I see a lot of data where people are getting good accuracy nodes in the 22-23grains of powder area

[SA Friday]

Dangerously hot. back the load way off and rework it.

[Buckaroobonsai]

Here's the bolt face and the load data I used from the Hornady 9th Ed handbook where the max load for H322 was 25.2 grains and I went with 25.0 to be safe. Then of course, I didn't measure every load after the first (3) were 25.0 or less.

[SA Friday]

Here's the bolt face and the load data I used from the Hornady 9th Ed handbook where the max load for H322 was 25.2 grains and I went with 25.0 to be safe. Then of course, I didn't measure every load after the first (3) were 25.0 or less.

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[spleify]

Yeah that is a hot load. Maybe try starting with low end charges first and work up from there.

[Buckaroobonsai]

Thanks guys. I'm guessing the brass is probably not safe anymore either?

[Zombie Steve]

Hornady didn't use mixed brass and Tula primers... and you certainly didn't use the same gun they did. Powder charge weight is only one part of the equation. That's why you start low and work your way up slowly looking for pressure signs. You jumped in and went 2/10ths of a grain less than what they were calling a maximum load (probably for a bolt gun). Had you done your due diligence working up a load, you would have noticed pressure signs long before your headstamp started taking on the characteristics of your bolt face.

It helps to look at multiple sources of data. Many things in our modern world are designed to be "plug and play". Reloading isn't one of those things.