Okay... seriously. This is about to drive me to drinkin' I've got a paid-up non-refundable slot in a tactical match coming up in a month and a half or so, and having to run a redneck drop port ejection system (drop the magazine to get the empty case out) every shot is not an option.

I pulled the barrel off, put a bit of rouge on a felt wheel in a Dremel @ low speed and ran it over every corner & surface of the action that the case could possibly be touching on the way out of the chamber. Then I hosed the action out with brake cleaner, re-lubed where needed, and reassembled everything.

*STILL* dropping cases on the way out of the receiver.

I spent a bit more time playing with this, trying to 'feel' where the problem is. There is, for lack of a better description, a 'sticky' spot right about 1/8-1/4" before/after the bolt seats. This isn't specifically where the case comes off the bolt face, but I figured I'd mention it in case someone thinks its important (as in relevant to this particular issue).

It looks like the case is dropping off the bolt face long before the next case comes up out of the magazine - actually, the next round is still pushed down by the bolt head/body at this point and hasn't even started coming all the way up. So the empty case never actually touches the next round - until it falls on top of it. So much for that theory I had that the two were hitting/rubbing somehow. The 'virgin' cases are a fair bit smaller at the shoulder - .457 vs. .462 and do ride a small but noticeable bit higher in the magazine.... but I don't think its physically possible for them to touch this early in the bolt cycle.

I took a bunch of pics... hopefully someone can find something somewhere that makes sense... so far I've replaced the ejector plunger, ejector spring, and extractor ball. I haven't touched the extractor, extractor spring, or the bolt head itself.

Link to Dropbox folder

P.S. yes the bolt face is scarred/etched... thank you Hornady.