Ok, did an experiment because I wasn't satisfied that running too much powder was the entire cause of the back of the case head getting all tore up. The ejector and extractor in my opinion after screwing with it, were both too tough. Pulled the ejector, clipped a coil, cleaned and oiled it, and now it's smoother and not sprung as hard; didn't see the necessity of throwing cases into another dimension. Pulled the ejector and seen it had not only a high spring rate spring in there, but the top hat AND TWO donuts on the thing. Why? Was this a mistake? The thing was sprung WAYYY too hard. Threw a light polish on the claw, ditched both donuts, and now it feels pretty normal to me. I then went to the superlative arms gas block and turned it almost all the way off, to I think just 6 clicks open, in the restrictive mode. I then ran a 10mm bronze brush in a drill through the chamber and it came out clean as a whistle. Super smooth now.
Now, I went back to that same brass, cleaned up the faces of the bases with a little light sanding, and reloaded another entire ladder starting with just below the load that began to cause the brass damage; 43.4 grains of Varget. Loaded 43 to 43.8 in two tenths grain increments and the damage to the case face is minimal to non existent. Very pleased to see this. They also didn't get as carboned up either. They still got dirty but not like before. Going to try this one more time, (should have thought of this while I was at the range) but will shoot this load with the gas block totally closed off, to eliminate any possible violence from the bolt ripping the case out of the chamber possibly too fast or too hard. We'll see what if any damage is done to the brass then. Love these experiments.
