Malfunction - Loading next cartridge into split casing - .223 follies

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  • cobber

    Parrot Daddy
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    I had two of these today. The first shell splits on firing and the bolt extracts the rear 3/4, leaving the front end in the chamber. The bolt carrier then picks up the next cartridge and jams it into the remainder of the case.

    As far as I could tell they were simply failures to feed and I would just clear them and move on. But on picking up brass, I found what appeared to be some oversize .223 with bullets set back. ;) Didn't recover the base, so not sure what headstamp.

    Had a few other more conventional split necks as well. Maybe no more range brass? The load may have been a teensy bit hot as well...

    IMG_2946.jpg

    IMG_2949.jpg

    I have a split case extractor for my AK, so I assume I'm not the first to accomplish this feat?
     

    Clay Pigeon

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    Might be worth a headspace/chamber check too if you can't relate it to a specific case/load.

    If the brass is pliable like it should be and not hard by excessive use or age, having excessive head-space will just blow the case out to fit the oversize chamber and not separate it.
    Most likely some of his brass has been reloaded past its useful life, along with constant over pressure loads.
    OP, what load out are you using...
     

    cobber

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    Might be worth a headspace/chamber check too if you can't relate it to a specific case/load.

    It's a hot load, so it will probably split more cases before I'm done. Oh well.

    Gauging wouldn't be a bad idea, however...

    This is the remains of a run of 21.5 gr AA2495, 62 gr. M855 bullet.
     
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    jrh84

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    Looks like a case head separation that left the top half of the case in the chamber. I've had a couple, but they always extracted both pieces.

    What brass was this? It's not uncommon for once-fired LC brass that's been fired through a SAW with a very generous chamber. The brass stretches, and then gets worked on resizing.

    The best check is a bent paperclip that you run on the inside of the case after resizing. If you feel a groove anywhere between casehead and shoulder, scrap it.

    Many times its lower down on the case than what you saw, but not always.

    https://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/case-head-separation-cause-diagnosis/
     

    Clay Pigeon

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    It's a hot load, so it will probably split more cases before I'm done. Oh well.

    Gauging wouldn't be a bad idea, however...

    This is the remains of a run of 21.5 gr AA2495, 62 gr. M855 bullet.


    Can I ask where you found this load with that bullet?
    I ran this load through my Quickload software, and your high pressure curve happens just after 2 inchs of bullet travel my friend.
    Accurate doesn't have a load posted with that powder and a 109 bullet either.. Thats a long bullet because of the steel core.
    Personally I would pull whats left...
     

    JeepHammer

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    I don't (can't) know your specific chamber since I haven't inspected the firearm...

    Common causes of case separation,

    Beating the shoulder back too far, the case stretches excessively every firing.

    Chamber oversized, case swells/bloats excessively thinning brass.
    Almost all guys with frequant case separation use 'Small Base' dies when reloading, which pushes the upper side walls in further *Hoping* to bend enough of the lower bloating out to chamber the case again.
    Works the side walls of the case too much...
    Overpressure/Heat stressing the case excessively, this isn't often a consideration when people load 'Hot' and don't consider what the extra pressure/heat does to brass.

    Case being bent back in too far, then the expander ball drags the neck back out to size...
    This produces a LOT of neck splits.
    Honing out the neck sizing part of the die so the cases are excessively undersize (before expander ball) will stop a bunch of this.
    An oversize neck in the chamber will cause a bunch of splits also, this takes a gunsmith to fix.

    Some fixes,
    Like I wrote, you can take the expander rod/ball out of the die, do a few brass, measure necks, and see if your dies are squeezing the brass down excessively.

    Measure fired brass necks, see if they are WAY oversized, and if so, see a gunsmith for options.

    Measure case bodies on once fired, see how big they are coming out of the rifle chamber...
    Measure the sides in about 3 places, see where the bloating is worse.
    This will let you see how chamber is treating the brass.
    The ONLY way to get lower bloating out of the case is a die plate case roller (expensive) since no top down die can reach way down the case.
    See a 'Case Pro 100' machine for an example of a die plate case roller.

    Put your fired cases in a case gauge, the shoulder in that gauge works as an analog to the shoulder in your rifle.
    The gauge allows you to precisely measure how much you need to bump the case to get it back into YOUR chamber.
    This WILL NOT be a SAAMI specification case, but fitted precisely for your firearm chamber (even if it's oversized).

    This video will show you ONE function of a case gauge...

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJYpm-qplQ
     
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