Locking lug gauging brass

I posted this a while back and since I have tried a few things to remedy the problem. I built a 223 AI that for some reason slams the brass against the lip of the locking lug inside the action upon ejection. I have treid to emory down the lip of the lug as well as I cut a piece of coil from the ejector spring. I does not dent the brass as bad as it used to but, it still dings it up a bit. I am really unsure how to fix this or if its something I should even worry about. I am just concerned that over time, numerous reloads, that the dings will eventually weaken the brass and cause something to go wrong inside the rifle with a failed case or something.

I have the same problem with my Target action 6BRX. Gouges the heck out of the shoulder of my new Lapua cases. I was considering taking the ejector spring out. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Romad, is yours a RBLP Target action by any chance?

No its a standard model 11 action.

It's not the locking lug causing the markings, it's the raceway in the action. There's not much you can do to eliminate it short of removing the ejector entirely, but then you'd have to pick your spent brass out of the action after each shot.

What's happening is the ejector is putting pressure on the case and pushing it to the right or left (whichever hand your rifle is). On smaller calibers like .204 Ruger and .223 Rem the diameter is smaller than the width of the raceway and as a result the neck/shoulder area of the case will be forced into the raceway by the ejector and the edge of the raceway is what's causing the markings you are seeing.

This is also why extraction issues are more prevalent with these smaller diameter cases. With the neck/shoulder area of the case being able to fit in the raceway, it allows the ejector to push the case left/right to such an angle that the extractor can't always hold onto it.

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Originally Posted by MrFurious

It's not the locking lug causing the markings, it's the raceway in the action. There's not much you can do to eliminate it short of removing the ejector entirely, but then you'd have to pick your spent brass out of the action after each shot.

What's happening is the ejector is putting pressure on the case and pushing it to the right or left (whichever hand your rifle is). On smaller calibers like .204 Ruger and .223 Rem the diameter is smaller than the width of the raceway and as a result the neck/shoulder area of the case will be forced into the raceway by the ejector and the edge of the raceway is what's causing the markings you are seeing.

This is also why extraction issues are more prevalent with these smaller diameter cases. With the neck/shoulder area of the case being able to fit in the raceway, it allows the ejector to push the case left/right to such an angle that the extractor can't always hold onto it.

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This is exactally what is happening. My rifle smith lingo is not very good yet but yes, its the raceways and what you are explaining is exactally what I am experiencing. I don't really give a crap about the dings in the brass as far as looks. My only concern is how safe is it to continue shooting this brass after several dings have occured?

How does one go about removing the spring from the ejector? Mine's a single shot bench gun so I really don't mind picking the brass out by hand. The gouges are very deep in mine and this is not gonna work. Thanks in advance

removing the ejector spring is actually realy easy. Here is a video that will show you how to do it. This is a hunting rifle for me so I do not want to have to pull my rounds out by hand.

https://youtu.be/D6ekW7Onibg

Thanks romad! Wish I could offer a solution to our problem. Maybe polish the corner of the race a little more with emery cloth? I thought about it with mine but was scared to try it.

A gouge in the shoulder area of the case is caused by the sharp edge on the lug abutment. The only wat to get to it is remove the barrel. Once the barrel is off, you can get in there with a dremel and bob the sharp corner.

Thanks Fred!

Thanks sharpshooter. I think I will tackle this issue this weekend. I really didn't want to pull the barrel but, if that is what is neccessary then I will just do it. My only real concern is how much should I or can I grind off without making it unsafe to shoot.

All you need to do is break the corner.