Pressure signs on factory ammo?

Deckerp

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I recently started reloading and with that started noticing that on SOME factory ammo I have been shooting (Hornady outfitter 300WSM) I get excess pressure sign if a sticky bolt lift and extractor mark. If nothing else this seems to indicate the charges aren’t consistent. Are such exesss pressure signs common in factory ammo?
 
I’ve seen hornady superformance over pressure in several factory guns and calibers.

Here’s a new 30-06 sig factory load my bil shot at the range the other day. Gun has shot every load imaginable without pressure problems.
 

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I had some 30-06 core lokt pandemic specials that split case necks on about 1/4 the box.

And yeah, I stupidly (?) continued to shoot all 20 of them and have lived to tell the tale.
 
Did you leave oil in the chamber? Have a 7-08 that will pressure out with middle of the road reloads if all the lube isn't off the case and out of the chamber
 
Did you leave oil in the chamber? Have a 7-08 that will pressure out with middle of the road reloads if all the lube isn't off the case and out of the chamber
No. I think it’s just a quality control issue. As most of the rounds are fine and then maybe 1 in 10 or less will be significantly different going for easy bolt lift to quite sticky and no extractor mark to a decent mark. So yeah I guess pandemic specials. I bought them about a year ago.
 
I’ve seen hornady superformance over pressure in several factory guns and calibers.

Here’s a new 30-06 sig factory load my bil shot at the range the other day. Gun has shot every load imaginable without pressure problems.
Superformance is a tricky blend. I read in some Hornady spec sheet once that it doesn't necessarily create MORE pressure, it keeps the burn in the high end of the pressure curve longer. I'm not a metallurgist or an engineer, so I can't really speculate on what that does to brass and steel.

I thought it would be magic when it first came out, but I've never been able to get good loads with it.

Edit:
Found it:
 
I've seen Hornady Superformance with pressure signs and heavy/stuck bolt lift. I reload almost everything I shoot now, so I can only blame the chef.
 
I remember when Remington had a bad batch of 270 Win ammo.
Idiot coworker, after it blowing apart (yes, as in pieces) his Rem pump action, decided to shoot same ammo in his model 700 & permenantly deform his chamber.
He first brought this up to me about 4 years ago.
I don't think he's gotten the bolt to come loose yet.

So, yeah. It can happen.
 
My brother was using Federal Gold Medal Match .308 Win factory ammo and blew a primer to the point that it fell out in his action. I trust my hand loads more than factory ammo
 
I had some 30-06 core lokt pandemic specials that split case necks on about 1/4 the box.

And yeah, I stupidly (?) continued to shoot all 20 of them and have lived to tell the tale.
I was just going through some of my 30-06 brass loading for my family deer camp. I noticed that a few of the necks were split as well and only on Remington, which would have been Core Lokt boxes that we shot. I bet there was some sort of recall that nobody ever found out about.
 
When I first started reloading for my rem 700 I was getting a little bit of a sticky bolt. I found the chamber was a little rough from the factory. I polished it up with a high speed drill, shotgun cotton mop cleaning rod end, and Flitz polish. Just cleaned her up a little and lightly polished. Now I can shoot book max loads without any sticky bolt. I have no idea if this helps you at all, depends entirely on your gun. Maybe the factory ammo is inconsistent like you think, but a rougher chamber is just making you notice it?

I also had a rem 870 express that would chamber anything, and eject high brass 3s or 3.5s easy peasy, but alotta low brass cheap skeet shells would be stuck. I'd have to almost slam the butt down to get the thing to cycle. Same exact thing, i polished the rear 3/4" of the chamber now she cycles perfectly with anything.
 
I’ve got a wonderful Remington AWR in 7mm SAUM (*Original lightweight from their Custom Shop). Drops my handloads into very tidy 1/2” groups.

When I bought the rifle, I purchased a case of Remington factory 160gr. Loads, on clearance for a stupidly good blowout price (like, $14 a box!). Good Heavens Almighty! The first shot locked the bolt and I had to hammer it out. Surely that was a mistake!

The second shot was no better and with the third I gave up! I managed a 2.5” group at 100 yards.

Somewhere, sometime out there I should post that I have a case of ammo, minus three rounds for sale. But you see I cannot.

The brass is too valuable on its own!
 
I sent an email to Remington and they sent me a call tag for UPS and opened a service ticket.

8D5824BA-B137-452E-B28B-2E32F80D81DE.jpeg
 
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