Hi all
First time poster here, thanks for letting me in.

I just finished shooting my new Savage 10FCP and noticed that I have a shiny ejector mark on the headstamp of some of my brass. Handloads and factory Federal Gold Match.
To make a long story longer, I started my session with 5 rounds of the GMM, then proceeded with my handloads from lightest to heaviest charges, 5 rounds each, relpacing the fired brass exactly where it was removed from my ammo boxes. Then I started over, GMM first.......
The first sets of 5 mostly don't show any marks on the headstamp, but the 2nd set definatly does, even on the factory loaded rounds.
I'm fairly new to this and a bit paranoid something is wrong with my new rifle. The only thing I can tell you is that although I did a pretty good job of cleaning the bore throughout my session, I did fail to ever clean the bolt face. If that has anything to do with it or not, I don't know, thats why I'm here.
Any more experienced opinions than mine would sure be appreciated.
I posted in th handloading forum only because I figured handloaders would have more experience with pressure signs and (hopefully) false pressure signs.

I will add that at no time did I have a case stick or any trouble extracting or any overly flattened primers.

Thanks for any input
CRS

There is no problem here. Some rifles, shooting some ammo, will mark the case -- ejector marks, flattened primers, bright rings around the casehead, etc., etc.. That is why reading the brass for signs of overpressure is such a faulty method of monitoring pressures

How hot was it at the range, and where was the ammo/rifle stored on the trip there?

How hot was it at the range, and where was the ammo/rifle stored on the trip there?

Mid 70's and shooting under covered station. Issue did not arise until 80 or 90 rounds fired.

Two things come to mind.

If those 80 to 90 rounds were fired quick time, that might heat up the chamber pretty well.

The other is that something may have fouled the chamber during that many rounds...even a coating of "soot". Anything that lessens the grip of the case to the chamber wall at firing increases the back thrust...which increases bolt marks.

Two identical rounds, one with a nice wax coating, fired in the same rifle will show different depths of head impressions. If in place of coating the case with wax you coat the chamber with oil, grease, wax, of even fouling, can get the same effect.

Two things come to mind.

If those 80 to 90 rounds were fired quick time, that might heat up the chamber pretty well.

The other is that something may have fouled the chamber during that many rounds...even a coating of "soot". Anything that lessens the grip of the case to the chamber wall at firing increases the back thrust...which increases bolt marks.

Two identical rounds, one with a nice wax coating, fired in the same rifle will show different depths of head impressions. If in place of coating the case with wax you coat the chamber with oil, grease, wax, of even fouling, can get the same effect.

I never let the barrel get hot. (Was at he range six hours)
I did nothing other than clean the bore durring this session. Maybe solvent or dirt in the chamber?

That could do it. Most solvents have at least a touch of preservative (oil).

Not sure if it's relevent or a separate issue or no issue at all, but after looking closely at the fired cases, there are three or four scratches right at the junction between the shoulder and the body. Maybe a couple thousandths deep and wide and .020 long. Can barely feel them with the pad of my finger, but definitaly feel them with a fingernail. And only on fired cases, not just chambered and ejected.
Is this a problem?

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj155/jeffincr/ejector.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj155/jeffincr/scratches.jpg

Without feeling them, The scratches don't look like and issue to me.
As far as the indents from the extractor. That really doesn't bother me much(as per the photo).

Some lots of brass seem softer there when I load. As long as you don't notice any excessive case-head stretching, I would personally ignore it.

Again, assuming that the chamber is clean. I'm not a fan of leaving oil/preservative in the chamber/bore. In my country that is merely a way to attrach dust and crap.

The ejector ding appears normal for a factory installed ejector. If this REALLY bothers you, I would suggest that you remove the ejector and lightly polish out any sharp edges or burrs that you find. As long as this doesn't interfere with the functionality of the rifle, IMO, I would just leave it the way it is and let time take care of your problem. Believe that normal wear will smooth out the ejector for you.

As to the scratches found near the shoulder of the case, this could be from an accumulation of burnt powder residue accumulating at the front of your chamber scratching the case slightly when you eject. You may notice that the scratches occur at the 6:00 on the case and nowhere else. Later, burnt powder residue may adhere anywhere in the chamber and result in scratches to other parts of the case too but for now, the marks look normal to me.

Just keep an eye out for any worsening conditions but I believe this is as much as you will experience. Best wishes.

Thanks for all the replies. I will try it tonight and see how it goes.
I noticed that my fired cases did stretch in length .002-.005 . Is that normal?

That's a normal amount of stretching.

Bye
Jack