Need some advice.

[EPeterson]

Did a second batch of testing today and while I didn't notice anything wrong with my primers, I did have ejector swipes in all the weight ranges(30.5-32gr). I'm worried that these might be a sign of high pressure but could also be from improper dwell time and or the soft Hornady brass. Thoughts?
Specs
Factory AA 16in upper carbine buffer and spring
Virgin Hornady brass
Cfe223
Cci450
Hornady Amax
First pic is 30.5gr @2.25(shot the best last session)

[EPeterson]

Second is 32gr@2.285 Having issues uploading. More pics to follow.

[EPeterson]

30.5@2.285

[EPeterson]

31gr@2.285

[EPeterson]

Factory Hornady. There's ejector swipes as well as cratering with a dimple in the middle of a couple of them.

[EPeterson]

Here's how they shot

[am4966]

That is a nice group at the bottom left...get your barrel hot and it shoots great!

[bigbear_98]

I'm beginning to believe that you will always get an occasional swipe on Hornady brass. In my case, and my ejector is square and sharp, I always get them, no matter what load and what charge with Hornady brass. I am going to pull my ejector out and round it off a little.

[EPeterson]

I'm beginning to believe that you will always get an occasional swipe on Hornady brass. In my case, and my ejector is square and sharp, I always get them, no matter what load and what charge with Hornady brass. I am going to pull my ejector out and round it off a little.

That's what I'm thinking in regards to the brass. I'm going to buy some Lapua brass and see what happens.

[LRRPF52]

All your brass and primers look fine to me. Couldn't see any cratering in the pics. Nothing out of the ordinary with ejector slot marks. Primer signs aren't a reliable method for determining pressure, but I don't see anything odd here.

Your brass and primers look better than a lot of the factory loads I have seen. I wouldn't go much above 32.0gr of CFE. Are you using .5gr increments? Consider using 1% case capacity increments when working up loads, so you don't spike into bad territory.

With the Grendel, you have around 30gr of powder capacity, so .3gr increments are 1% of the case.

With a case that holds 50gr, then .5gr increments make sense. Looks like you have a lot of room to work with on finding accuracy nodes. CFE is a great powder under the 123gr.

[EPeterson]

Yes I was going by .5gr increments. I think I'm going to settle around the 32gr mark. I'll definitely do more testing around that mark but won't go much higher, if at all. Next batch will probably be 31.7, 32, 32.3. Thanks for all the replies.

[LRRPF52]

Hornady lists 31.7gr as the max load with the 129gr SST/IB/SP, all of which have longer bearing surfaces than the 123gr A-MAX, and are heavier, using similar jacket & core material.

I think 32.3gr is the top for 123gr A-MAX.