Chronographs are a great aid, but not everyone has one or can afford the luxury.
All of us curmudgeons had to get by without chronographs and pressure testing data, and most didn't even have but one loading book..
GENERALLY SPEAKING:
1. The first sign you will see is a flat primer and it may or may not be an indication but do not ignore it and proceed carefully from that point on.
2. The next sign will be an ejector mark on the case head and it will be a small square mark.
3. Next will be a burned black ring around the primer and 1 and 2 can be reversed at times.
4. Probably a sticky bolt if your lucky
5. A blown primer and enlarged primer hole
6. stuck bolt accompanied by a missing extractor perhaps depending on the make of the gun. I will add that sometimes you will hear a crack as opposed to the usual boom, that sounds different, beware of that.
7. A loud exploscion that you may or may not hear or it may be the last thing on earth that you hear!
The order of the above can be questionable and argueable and can be out of order at times, but its close and gives you a starting point and an understanding of what your dealing with..
Whatever order it occurs be prepared to back off and always keep in mind that 100 FPS makes absolutely no difference in killing power or anything else for that matter so why try and squeeze every last drop of velocity out of any cartridge, but such advise on many ocassions lands on deaf ears..
