Thread: Ruger Ranch II Bolt face - do I have a problem?

Got to the range for first time in a while. Shot off some 223 for shits and giggles on steel plates.

Mostly subsonics with Trailboss but also some.62gn Hdy BTHP over 21.5gn IMR3031. Hogdon give 20.3gn as Start and 22.0 as max for 62gn pill.

On cleaning the cases today I find one with a blackened head and what appears to be a pinhole alongside the edge.of the primer



I have put probably 500 rds thru the rifle to date, about 50% of that load dev on the range. The rest being mostly Belmont 62gn ammo and PPU Factory. Have not encountered this before with this rifle or any other. Here is what all the rest look like which is normal



So that lead me to race off and examine my bolt face, rifle cleaning being scheduled for this arvo. Yip, it was pretty black. After a bit of isopropyl on a cotton bud, it looks like this...





I have had the rifle from new. I rarely load to max in any calibre and scrutinize my primers quite carefully when doing load dev.

So does this bolt face look like just rough manufacture or does it look like it has been etched by repeated primer fails? Can't believe the latter as I would have picked it up at the time. This was a Murom SP primer.

Would someone with the same rifle care to post a photo of their bolt face?

Cheers