Gas escape past primer

Shot twenty rounds yesterday from a Remington 1903-A3. Ten rounds were loaded with NOE 314299,sized to .311, Felix lube, gas checked atop 28 grains of IMR 4227. The other ten were Hornady 168 grain HPBT with 46 grains of BL-C(2). Brass was LC 69 once fired. I picked up the brass from the FMJ rounds and bagged them. While picking up the brass that had fired the boolits, I noticed two had black residue at the primer. Checked the other batch and found two more. None of the shots or recoil were out of the ordinary. Never noticed this from any loads I have fired in this rifle. The Hornady bullet was from data in the Hodgdon 2016 manual, and the boolit loading was from the Lyman 4th edition Cast Bullet Handbook. Any ideas on the cause?
Thanks

The brass is tired . Over worked . Oversized pockets . The primers may have not sealed ,very unlikely but not impossible . Over pressures .

I have a story about some Winchester factory ammo in a Mark X 22-250 that over the course of 15 rounds in 15 min went from textbook perfect to head separation from over pressures . I then repeated the master piece with 55 gr bullets and 3031 a full grain under max with identical results .
While holding heat this time of yr is unlikely it is a possibility .

28 grains of 4227 sounds a little hot for that 200+ grain bullet?

might have got dinged when they were swaged.
I have seen them come with a 'feed ramp' on the side of the primer pocket before.

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Originally Posted by spfd1903

Shot twenty rounds yesterday from a Remington 1903-A3. Ten rounds were loaded with NOE 314299,sized to .311, Felix lube, gas checked atop 28 grains of IMR 4227. The other ten were Hornady 168 grain HPBT with 46 grains of BL-C(2). Brass was LC 69 once fired. I picked up the brass from the FMJ rounds and bagged them. While picking up the brass that had fired the boolits, I noticed two had black residue at the primer. Checked the other batch and found two more. None of the shots or recoil were out of the ordinary. Never noticed this from any loads I have fired in this rifle. The Hornady bullet was from data in the Hodgdon 2016 manual, and the boolit loading was from the Lyman 4th edition Cast Bullet Handbook. Any ideas on the cause?
Thanks

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What Brand Was the Primer

Winchester had bad lot of the new Gold WLR primers

This happened to me twice. When I switched primer brands the problem went away in both instances. The guns were a Sako bolt action and a Remington 600 bolt action. I still have the Sako and it has a flame-cut ring around the primer hole on the bolt face. I tossed the brass that leaked but it's brothers lasted till retirement. I blamed it on Remington primers at the time but I use 9-1/2M Remington a lot nowadays and no reoccurance. It could have been summer heat/max loads but I switched to CCI primers and it went away. Sorry for no help! Best, Thomas.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by runfiverun

might have got dinged when they were swaged.
I have seen them come with a 'feed ramp' on the side of the primer pocket before.

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Over swaging the primer pockets crossed my mind also. I recall having some difficulty with the first few pockets while adjusting the swaging unit. For the next batch I am using non-military brass. Primed with Winchester LRP's.
Thanks all.

Try Federal primers if you can find them. They seem to seal/fit better in the primer pockets than Win or Rem.

I love Federal primers. Large rifle is the only type I don't have.

Federal primers are great- unlike their brass IMO. Best, Thomas.