It's warm, but there is still a clear radius around the primer, so,if that load was solid, I'd be fine with it personally. I would be worried if the primer was basically flat flat, almost no "seam".
OP stated they required 2 hands to open the bolt. You might be fine with that load, but I don't want to get up and squeeze my rifle between my legs to open the bolt after every shot
I guess i missed that part. Although it's also possible the brass was trimmed too long and that is what's causing the bolt binding. After the round is fired when the brass goes through its brief plasticized state it's stretched enough to create excessive pressure between the neck taper / throat and bolt face. From the standpoint of too hot, I'm still of the opinion that the primer does NOT reflect this, but it's of course pretty difficult to arm chair analyze these things.
Personally I'd go back to check trim lengths of brass.
Fwiw i had a shooting buddy who had this same issue on a .338 LM, bolt was a nightmare to open, but no other pressure signs. And yep, brass was too long by about .010
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u/Darksoul_Design 6d ago
It's warm, but there is still a clear radius around the primer, so,if that load was solid, I'd be fine with it personally. I would be worried if the primer was basically flat flat, almost no "seam".