Quote Originally Posted by Zombie Steve View Post
Your headstamp doesn't start looking like your bolt face because of crimp, undersized primers or loose pockets regardless of what speed you're getting. It's also unlikely they put mag primers in the box. The loads are overpressure plain and simple. My best guess is you're too close to the lands and some of the bullets' ogives are long / inconsistent and jamming the lands. As to speeds, some barrels are just slower than others. If it makes you feel better, my 168 target load averages 2,585 from a 24" Rem barrel and I'm not changing anything. You can try different combinations of components, but you can't tell the rifle what to like. It tells you.
So then how do I explain the 38.0gr load (14th shot) that blew the primer out as well. that is 4.8gr lower than the over pressure load and did NOT show any signs of cratering, ejector marking, etc.