Broken .223 brass

[cdb.308]

Last weekend I was shooting some .223 I loaded about a year ago. This was the first batch of ammo I had ever reloaded . On the 17th round fired I had a little incident. The case broke in half with the back half clearing the rifle and front half getting wedged between the chamber and the next advancing round. The case was broken in the center, not near the base where head-case separation normally occurs. Needless to say, I stopped shooting, pending a re-evaluation of my loading procedures which are as follows.

Once fired brass, from my rifle (mini 14), mixed headstamps.
Full length sized and trimmed to 1.750"
Winchester small rifle primers
24.4gr IMR 4895, worked up from 23gr
55gr Hornady FMJ-BT seated to 2.200" OAL with a light crimp
Broken case was F C headstamp

I fired about 60 round in the process of working up and function testing this load and never had a problem. I am pretty confident in my loading procedures and am starting to wonder if I can just chalk this up to a bad piece of brass. If anyone has any thoughts or sees something i may have missed, their input would surely be welcome.

 

[Walkalong]

You need to check the inside of the case to see if there was a rut where it came apart. A separation doesn't always happen low near the case head.

Make sure you are not moving the shoulder too much.

Or it could just be a bad piece of brass. Pics?

 

[cdb.308]

I have a Wilson case gauge coming from Midway so I can check the headspace. I can't feel any rut in the brass near the break. I'm working on posting some pics (I'm computer illiterate).

 

[GJgo]

Interesting, I've seen that happen one time before- and it was a Black Hills reload in a Mini 14. Hmm.

 

[119er]

See post #2.

This happened to me as well in an AR-15 with once fired military brass. I began checking for internal rings or rough spots with a fine dental pick. I found a small handful of cases out of 1000 or so that showed signs of separation. This test has become standard practice for all rifle ammo I shoot in semi-autos.

 

[br6ad]

I had the exact thing happen to me with my reloads. It never happened with factory ammo. The brass split all the way around right at the middle of the case. The back half ejected but the front half stayed in the chamber. The next round loaded into the front half. I checked my reloads and the shoulders were bumped a little farther back than spec. I also had the local gun smith check the barrel and he found that the chamber was way out of spec. He said the field gauge fit right in which he said should never happen.

I ended up getting a new barrel and setting my sizer back up so it passed my wilson case gauge tests. For my case it was a combination of the reload shoulders being bumped back too far and the barrel out of spec. I'm assuming the barrel had the most to do with my issues. Unfortunately it was a no name barrel and past the year warranty so the dealer I bought it from told me to kick rocks. I have had no more problems since then.

 

[243winxb]

223 case separation

What Walkalong said. When your Wilson gage arrives, place fired brass in it. Adjust FL die to size to give the same level in the gage. This allows for a little spring back of the fired case. Look for a shiny ring on your reloads, its a sign of a pending case separation. The shiny ring is a sign of case separation starting. It can happen in the middle of the body or near the head. Most times it is caused by pushing the shoulder back to much when full length resizing. The cartridge headspacing is to short for the chamber. On firing the brass streches to fill the rifle chamber, over working the brass. If this happens with new factory ammo, have the rife checked by a gunsmith.

 

[Walkalong]

If this was "once fired" or "range brass" it could have already been close to separating, and could have done so on the next firing even after being sized to fit a gauge properly.

I check every single brass case with a tool before I even tumble it to reload. Anything that leaves any doubt gets scrapped.

 

[lightman]

This is a very common problem when reloading brass fired in M-16's and even some AR's. The head space was loose, allowing the case to stretch. I see separated cases on the ground at our range often.

 

[243winxb]

M16A1 Carbine Headspace

This is a very common problem when reloading brass fired in M-16's

I didnt find this to be true of my M16A1. My problem was not using a gage back in the 1980's when FL sizing on a Dillon RL 450. The shell plate gave a different shoulder bump at each station. If the FL die was adjusted on the wrong station, the shoulder was pushed back .014" This caused excessive case stretch on firing. The Colt does have a slightly longer chamber than most, but not enough to be a problem, if in spec. . Usual takes more than one firing. http://www.photobucket.com/M16A1

 

[rg1]

I buy once fired brass and out of 1000 cases I always find a few with the classic stretch marks. Often 5-20 or so cases have this stretch mark and they get scrapped. Some have the stretch mark in the classic place near the case head but some have the stretch mark about 2/3 up the case nearer the case shoulder. These are the worse for possible separation for one reason is the cases are thinner near the shoulder. These are very likely to separate the next firing. I use the bent wire feeler method PLUS after sizing I shine a small light into the empty primer pocket and look into the necks of cases. You can easily see the stretched groove or depression especially nearer the neck. Sounds like a lot of trouble but you will definitely cut the chances of a split separated case. Always use a case gauge to adjust your sizing die to only push the shoulders back a measured amount from your rifles fired dimensions. Semi-autos, push the shoulder back 2-4 thousands usually and it will help prevent stretching.

 

[lightman]

Win243xb, your M-16 is probably head spaced correctly, and not worn out! I find separated case often at our range. I know most of the shooters and what they shoot. Most are not reloaders and don't have a clue whats going on. A lot of the 'Nam vets that I know talk about this too. Its a common problem for sure, probably just not for you. I have a few on my what-not shelf just for kicks. I even have a case neck stuck on a loaded round. I guess the next cartridge tried to chamber, became jammed in the old case neck, and pulled the whole thing out when extracted.

Automatic weapons do strange stuff to brass. I find lots of split 9mm commercial brass fired in Uzi's, and 1919's can be hard on '06 cases.

 

[GJgo]

I found a 10mm Auto case on the ground at the range last month that was split in two in this same fashion. That was a new one.

 

[cdb.308]

My Wilson case gauge finally came in today. All of the re-sized brass I measured was in the acceptable range on the gauge. After comparing this to brass that hasn't been re-sized, I found that I had been pushing the shoulder back .013". I also used a paper clip to inspect my brass for separation and didn't find any with a rut on the inside.

 

[D Rudd]

My son had a factory new Federal .223 break in the middle funny thing is both halves ejected.

Dana

 

[243winxb]

Pushing the shoulder back .013" would cause a lot of stretching on firing. Good you got the gage.

 

[GLOOB]

Once fired brass, from my rifle (mini 14)

had been pushing the shoulder back .013".

Sounds like your gun might have a generous headspace or your die might be short. Does your fired brass fit within the max of the gauge?

Try adjusting your die to push the shoulders back about 5-6 thou, for an autoloader.

In the meantime, expect to get some more separations. If the gun fails to feed the next round, clear the broken casehead, jack another round in and eject it - it'll extract the broken case.

It's apparently normal for 223 to separate higher up on the case than other calibers. I've had 7-8 or them, and that's how they all happened - around the middle of the case.

 

[cdb.308]

My fired brass was .009" over the maximum on the gauge. Now I'm wondering if I need to have the chamber size checked by a gunsmith. I don't want this to be a problem with the next batch I reload. I definitely don't plan on saving the brass from this current batch. I'm not even sure if I will fire it or pull the bullets and start all over.

 

[GLOOB]

My fired brass was .009" over the maximum on the gauge.

That seems a little excessive. My fired brass comes in right at max, anyhow.

Whether you fix your headspace or adjust your die, I would still fire the ammo, personally. I would probably toss all the brass, afterward, though. If you care about your fellow reloaders, you might wanna pick up the brass and toss/recycle it. Esp if you shoot it after fixing your headspace. I run my pickups through the case gauge before sizing, to weed out definitely stretched brass.

 

[rcmodel]

See post #8.

Read it twice so you are sure you understand what is being said.

Then do it with every case you have before reloading it!!!

rc

 

[GLOOB]

OP already knows all his fire/resized cases are stretched. And I, personally, ain't good enough at that test to find bad cases. One day, mebbe. Until then, it's a lot easier to find them when they separate, lol.

 

[rcmodel]

It ain't hard to feel an internal stretch ring with an L bent wire!!!

If you can feel at all, you can feel a stretch ring inside a case before it get serious enough to have a case separation.

On the other hand, it ain't no big deal.

It was common enough 100 years ago the military issued broken case extractors so solders could yank them out and keep on fighting.

There is seldom if ever catastrophic gas leakage to wreck the rifle or harm the shooter.

Still, is is best if it doesn't happen.
And it can easily be prevented with the L-bent feeler wire during case inspection.

rc

 

[Oldhandloader]

Been there done that

I just posted a similar response to another reloader a week or two ago. (printed below) Been doing this for over 40 years so I will say that I have made a few mistakes.
In my opinion, you are not setting your resizer properly. You are probably guessing at the measurement.
Get an RCBS PRECISION MIC tool. It is probably the best out there for helping the reloader set the resizer to the right length. If you do not resize enough, the case will be too long--especially from a semi-auto gun and won't chamber.

If you resize too much you will have a case that will produce excessive HEAD SPACING in the chamber. When you fire the round, the case will violently expand and you will bust the case. I did this 35 years ago. Bought the PRECISION MIC and never happened again.

Go to You Tube and research RCBS PRECISION MIC.





(this is my earlier post to newbie reloader)
A necessity
A sound choice. But I would still recommend the Precision Mic to get the exact setting on the die. The problem of course with not having the proper "resize" is HEADSPACE. You can have not enough and your round will not chamber properly or not at all. You can have too much (that is, making your case too short) and you may have a problem with a sudden and catastrophic case failure.
The result would be the bottom of the case ejecting (resembling a 9m/m case) and the top half would stay in the chamber---with the next LIVE ROUND being picked up by the bolt and slamming into it. Resulting in a seriously jammed Modern Sporting Rifle. It would make for a very abrupt end to a day at the range---or a hunt---or worse--a defense of life situation.
I hate when that happens. Good luck and keep those safety glasses on.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadin...prod33476.aspx

And:

http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instru...ecisionMic.pdf

 

[GLOOB]

If you resize too much you will have a case that will produce excessive HEAD SPACING in the chamber.

IMO, if your die and shellholder and chamber are in spec, you can't produce excessive headspace in your reloads. But I suppose that doesn't always happen. But a lot of reloaders FLR all the way and never use a precision mic.

Even if you want to partial resize, using a case gauge, your fired brass, and your rifle, you can get well close enough to matter without a precision mic tool. Once you start partial resizing, your cases are going to have a bit of variation, anyway, due to work hardening and press stretch. It doesn't mean anything to precisely measure to the nearest half a mil if your cases are going to vary by a couple mils, anyway.

catastrophic case failure.
Resulting in a seriously jammed Modern Sporting Rifle.

I'm not sure why this is catastrophic. The case was broken due to stretching/thinning, not from excessive pressure. And unless your rifle has a seriously rough or dirty chamber, a broken 223 case won't jam it any more seriously than any other malfunction.

the next LIVE ROUND being picked up by the bolt and slamming into it.

... if your rifle manages to eject the casehead and finish cycling (which mine never did), the broken case in the chamber keeps the live round seriously out of battery, preventing it from being able to fire. But the live round will conveniently jam into the broken case hard enough to extract it, if you clean your rifle's chamber more than once a decade.

I had some bad cases in my first batch of 223, and I got a little bit of practice clearing these jams. No big deal out of my rifle. Clear casehead, cycle action twice, and resume firing. No need to pound on the bolt or anything. This worked 100%, and it became second nature. Too much crimp will jam a rifle way worse.

I still load that brass, because I kinda know how many cases were going to fail. I started out by buying 1000 pieces of OF'd, and I ignorantly fixed some cases that gauged too long. 90% of the cases that were going to separate did so on the first firing. There was maybe 1 straggler that let go on the second reload. Heck if I was going to toss what was my only 1000 cases, at that time. I also did the paper clip test on that entire 1000 pieces of brass, and especially the cases I fixed. In hindsight, I might have been checking them too low in the case, not expecting the fault to occur so high.

At any rate, the long cases corresponded approximately 100% with later separation. And separation has not caused me any undo grief. Hence, I simply gauge any new pickups and call it good. Maybe I'll try the paper clip again, one day.

 

[243winxb]

Mini-14 case stretch

My fired brass was .009" over the maximum on the gauge.

Will this brass fit back into the chamber with the bolt locked, action fully closed?? I have read some auto rifles will open the action to soon. This lets brass stretch longer than the chamber, when measured head to datum. If the rifle has the largest chamber allowed 1.4736" and the fl die sizes brass to the minimum 1.4596", cartridge head clearance will be close to .014" Like my photo above. See SAAMI http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/223%20Remington.pdf