RE: cases bulging
You said your OAL is at the min allowed in the manual. What about the case itself? Did you FL resize the cases and check the length? If your cases are too long from previous firings it could be that you are forcing the bullet/case mouth into the throat. This can cause excessive pressure and could be hazardous to you and/or your rifle. How many time have these cases been fired? I continue to monitor your responses to see if we can resolve this problem.