At the range today, my buddy was getting near the book max and he stsarted getting 3 marks on the base of the case.

First thing, I think "Ejector marks= High pressure."

But it's a little strange. There are 3 marks on the base of the case head. They appear at 12, 3 and 9 o'clock.

There is NO heavy bolt lift. In fact, I could lift the bolt with one finger and thumb, with no effort. The primers look fine.

I'm wondering if it's a headspace thing or something "Other" than over pressure. I'm wondering if there is something withthe rifle, rather than the load. Lower powder charges don't show the marks in the same way. I'll try to get some pics of them up tomorrow..

The load is:
30-06
61gr RL19
168gr TSX

He's not getitng the velocity the manuals show at 60, but it pops right up when he gets to 61..

Rifle is a Push feed Winchester.

Gatehouse,

You have a pressure problem. Anytime the velocity "pops up" when going up one grain of powder, you have a pressure spike problem. Your buddy needs to back off by a couple of grains to around 58-59g.

Velocity should be fairly uniform as you go up in powder charge, any spikes or sudden peaks is just bad news and you have to drop the charge. I suggest you try a slower powder, as RL-19 has reached its limit in that gun. Try RL-22 for example.

I can't tell you what the marks are from, but they could be some sort of milling mark in the bolt face or something else. Clearly, the brass is flowing when the trigger is pulled and that is a very bad sign.

RobertD

That's what I suggested he do...try a slower powder. Just because *I* haven't seen marks like this with no sticky bolt, doesn't mean it can't happen.