They say there is a first time for everything, this is a first for me. I had a case separate about a third of the way down the body from the mouth. I’ve read about separations happening just above the web and inspect cases for that prior to reloading. Looking for the shiny ring, if I see one, the case is tossed in the circular file. I don’t check 223/556 with a paperclip or feeler gauge, just chuck them if they even look at me funny. Dents in the body or deep scratches, discolored spots, dinged up extractor grove, felt unusual in the press… right in the trash without a second thought. My brass stock is range pickup sifted and sorted by cal, so I cant say for certain that they are once fired. I deprime, wet tumble, size, sort by head stamp, all the while inspecting the case for serviceability.
I don’t run my AR loads hot. Powder charge (BLC2) is mid range Hornady book loads for 223 (25.1gr). Standard (CCI) small rifle primers. Rifle barrel is stamped 556. Loaded the same way 1000s of times over different head stamps. Only thing different about this batch of 100 was berry’s 55gr FMJ in place of Hornady’s pill. Inspected the Berry’s bullets with caliper, all seems to be in step. At round 80 or so (fired in 10 shot groups) rifle went click instead of bang. Looking into the receiver I found the top third of the last round was blocking the next from feeding (sideways on the feed ramp). Bottom third was ejected about 6 inches onto the bench.
Doesn’t seem to be any damage to the rifle, did a quick dissemble and visual check at the bench to be sure nothing else was amiss. Probably shouldn’t have, but I sent the last 20 through without issue. This separation has me concerned with what I missed on inspection or loading. Any thoughts? I have pictures of the case in the postmortem condition, will post after resizing to a format this site will allow me to upload. There are no pressure signs on the primer or case head of this one or the others In this batch that I recovered. Confused…
I don’t run my AR loads hot. Powder charge (BLC2) is mid range Hornady book loads for 223 (25.1gr). Standard (CCI) small rifle primers. Rifle barrel is stamped 556. Loaded the same way 1000s of times over different head stamps. Only thing different about this batch of 100 was berry’s 55gr FMJ in place of Hornady’s pill. Inspected the Berry’s bullets with caliper, all seems to be in step. At round 80 or so (fired in 10 shot groups) rifle went click instead of bang. Looking into the receiver I found the top third of the last round was blocking the next from feeding (sideways on the feed ramp). Bottom third was ejected about 6 inches onto the bench.
Doesn’t seem to be any damage to the rifle, did a quick dissemble and visual check at the bench to be sure nothing else was amiss. Probably shouldn’t have, but I sent the last 20 through without issue. This separation has me concerned with what I missed on inspection or loading. Any thoughts? I have pictures of the case in the postmortem condition, will post after resizing to a format this site will allow me to upload. There are no pressure signs on the primer or case head of this one or the others In this batch that I recovered. Confused…