ejector marks even on light loads, any ideas

[climb-101]

So your ejector sits flush with the bolt face when fully depressed and doesn't protrude beyond the bolt body as noted on their home page? It's not unusual for some actions to allow high pressure loads to leave an ejector mark like that on a case, so as long as the ejector meets Stiller's criteria, that's OK. Just wondering what they had to say about it.

Primer cratering, in and of itself without any other signs of high pressure, like hard bolt lift is not necessarily an issue either. What you do have to worry about is a primer failing to contain the pressure when it's deformed like that, though. Commonly called a "pierced primer", the hot gasses leaking into the action will erode the firing pin hole further, exacerbating the problem. I'd insist Stiller fix that but if they're adamant, you should consider switching primers to one with a harder cup. Federals are known to use the softest material. Switching to CCI or Tulas will reduce the cratering and give you a little better margin of safety.

Good luck!

I was thinking about trying a different primer since I was just reading about federal being soft right before your post about it. I figure I would drop the powder a few grains first. then swap primers so I'm not changing too much at one time.

as far as the ejector goes, it dosnt extend pass the bolt at all. it's .017" below the outer surface. when it's all the way depressed, it appears to be below the surface of the bolt face but I was just pushing it down with plastic pen. I dont know of another way to check it unless taking the spring out will help. I'm sure the spring is the same diamiter as the pin though so it would just allow the pin to drop in a lot further and not give you an accurate measurement.

Stiller was wanting me to report back to them when I try these other loads with the crono speeds so we can try to see where the pressure is. he also said that it may just be a tight barrel causing more pressure.

 

[gohring3006]

Just a thought, have you calibrated your scale lately? If your velocity is way over what's listed. I would check your scale.

 

[barefooter56]

climb-101,
Good thoughts ! But suggest you ONLY CHANGE 1 THING AT A TIME AND TEST. You do more than that you wont know what did what. +1 on gohring3006s comment. You have any RCBS SCALE CHECK WEIGHTS? Not calibration weights. The actual check weight kit(s)?

 

[climb-101]

Just a thought, have you calibrated your scale lately? If your velocity is way over what's listed. I would check your scale.

I have the RCBS chargemaster scale and I normalky turned it on, wait about 1/2 hour for everything to warm up then do the calibration in it with the weights then start to do my loads.

climb-101,
Good thoughts ! But suggest you ONLY CHANGE 1 THING AT A TIME AND TEST. You do more than that you wont know what did what. +1 on gohring3006s comment. You have any RCBS SCALE CHECK WEIGHTS? Not calibration weights. The actual check weight kit(s)?

I plan on changing only one thing at a time. I figure I better do some big changes to start so I can get the pressure down then start working up.

 

[barefooter56]

climb-101,
Try turning the Chargemaster on the night before to get it warmed up. Electronics like to work in their own temperature range. Definitely follow the calibration instructions . I always use the RCBS scale check weight kit(s) to confirm what the readout on the scale is saying . Also I use a beam scale ( again, with the charge weight indicated confirmed with the check weights) and weigh out a the charge in the scale pan I want and confirm on the Chargemaster. ( use the Chargemaster scale pan on the beam scale too). There was a article earlier this week on the ACCURATE SHOOTER WEBSITE by German Salizar on using an anti-static clothing spray and how and when to apply it so the electronic scale on the Chargemaster unit will not be affected . Also turn off the ceiling fan, take any remote phones out of the room and have the Chargemaster unit plugged into an outlet strip that levels the current out like is used with computers. Long list but they help. Good luck and please let us know what you find !

 

[climb-101]

climb-101,
Try turning the Chargemaster on the night before to get it warmed up. Electronics like to work in their own temperature range. Definitely follow the calibration instructions . I always use the RCBS scale check weight kit(s) to confirm what the readout on the scale is saying . Also I use a beam scale ( again, with the charge weight indicated confirmed with the check weights) and weigh out a the charge in the scale pan I want and confirm on the Chargemaster. ( use the Chargemaster scale pan on the beam scale too). There was a article earlier this week on the ACCURATE SHOOTER WEBSITE by German Salizar on using an anti-static clothing spray and how and when to apply it so the electronic scale on the Chargemaster unit will not be affected . Also turn off the ceiling fan, take any remote phones out of the room and have the Chargemaster unit plugged into an outlet strip that levels the current out like is used with computers. Long list but they help. Good luck and please let us know what you find !

I tryed leaving the scale on for 24 hours before I used it. I loaded up 12 rounds and the only real differance I saw was that it seemed to kick the powder out a little faster and didn't over throw the charge as often (.1 grains on only 1 of the 12 rounds vs the 2-3 when its cold). I also pulled the bullets out of 4 other rounds with different charges and checked them and they were right on the money.

 

[barefooter56]

I tryed leaving the scale on for 24 hours before I used it. I loaded up 12 rounds and the only real differance I saw was that it seemed to kick the powder out a little faster and didn't over throw the charge as often (.1 grains on only 1 of the 12 rounds vs the 2-3 when its cold). I also pulled the bullets out of 4 other rounds with different charges and checked them and they were right on the money.

Good! Looks like the Chargemaster is working ok as far a s function. Do you have check weights to confirm what its giving you in charge weight is correct?

 

[climb-101]

Good! Looks like the Chargemaster is working ok as far a s function. Do you have check weights to confirm what its giving you in charge weight is correct?

I dont have any and i didnt find any here in town so unless i can come up with something else of a know weight or another scale i will have to get a set ordered up.

 

[barefooter56]

I dont have any and i didnt find any here in town so unless i can come up with something else of a know weight or another scale i will have to get a set ordered up.

climb-101,
Good idea. I use them all the time for rifle and pistol with both my beam and electronic scale. Have a great weekend!

 

[climb-101]

i did some more testing today and shot over the chronograph to see some speeds. I did 3 shots of each 80, 80.5, 81, 81.5 I am still getting a slight ejector mark and a few still get the mark/wiped areas but not all. The chrono was a chroney beta master, 7' infront of gun, 70 deg outside and sunny.

here are the speeds

80 grains

2581
2585 11ft/sec deviation and 2578 average
2574

80.5 grains

2588
2589 18ft/sec deviation and 2594 average
2606

81 grains

2614
2600 23ft/sec deviation and 2601 average
2591

81.5 grains

2608
2621 26ft/sec deviation and 2621 average
2634


according to the sierra manual to be around 2600 is should be around 86.5 grains of h1000.

now that i have an idea as to what the speeds are, would i be ahead to drop down and try 79 grains h1000 in hopes to reduce the pressure even more and get rid of the slight ejector mark. 80 grains had the smallest difference in speed and was plenty fast coming out the barrel as well as having the best group on paper

 

[brentc]

i did some more testing today and shot over the chronograph to see some speeds. I did 3 shots of each 80, 80.5, 81, 81.5 I am still getting a slight ejector mark and a few still get the mark/wiped areas but not all. The chrono was a chroney beta master, 7' infront of gun, 70 deg outside and sunny.

here are the speeds

80 grains

2581
2585 11ft/sec deviation and 2578 average
2574

80.5 grains

2588
2589 18ft/sec deviation and 2594 average
2606

81 grains

2614
2600 23ft/sec deviation and 2601 average
2591

81.5 grains

2608
2621 26ft/sec deviation and 2621 average
2634


according to the sierra manual to be around 2600 is should be around 86.5 grains of h1000.

now that i have an idea as to what the speeds are, would i be ahead to drop down and try 79 grains h1000 in hopes to reduce the pressure even more and get rid of the slight ejector mark. 80 grains had the smallest difference in speed and was plenty fast coming out the barrel as well as having the best group on paper

Yup. Drop her down to keep your brass healthy.

 

[barefooter56]

Yup. Drop her down to keep your brass healthy.

climb-101,
Drop down to 79 in 1/10th grain increments to see when your accuracy is affected by lowereing the velocity as you lower your powder charge.