FACTORY NEW Federal 130gr Power Shok Primer popped loose! PICS ADDED.

[longdayjake]

What is funny is that ATK owns both Federal and Savage.

I was going to say that the marks on your brass can be caused not only by excessive pressure, but also by excessive headspace. That said, my guess is that Savage may be the culprit here. I have some firsthand experience with Federal's quality control and I can tell you that they try REALLY hard not to let bad ammo get out there. I buy a lot of their pulled bullets that came from ammo that only had very minor issues.

 

[ironworkerwill]

You can reface your bolt (face truing kit is $100+)or buy an after market bolt face($50 like the one PTG makes) and your loose primer pockets will go away under NORMAL conditions. The new bolt face is easily installed with common tools or have a smith do it( shouldn't cost much).

I think you may have an other issue. I would also try it in a different rifle just to see what it does.

 

[777funk]

I had posted about the headspacing in post #4 and it seems to be headspaced properly as far as I can tell. Also the bolt face looks flat (haven't checked it with a small straight edge) but I don't see anything raised there and to my eye looks good.

 

[777funk]

Just had a chance to try a Remington 150gr and a Win Super Speed 150gr and both of those worked fine with no pressure signs. Also the recoil was moderate (12 GA game load). The Federals kicked like a 3 1/2" turkey load... very hard.

I'll probably just pull the bullets on the remaining 14 rounds and reload them. This is the first time I've EVER had an issue with Federal. They've always been my go to for everything from 20 GA pheasant/quail loads to 22LR, to rifle.

 

[rodregier]

Given the difference in recoil, there may be a production lot issue with the Federal.
Chrono would tell for sure, but given the other issues that's just too scary.

\\

Federal brass is often soft. That can also cause pressure issues too. (Casehead extrusion, expanding primer pockets).

Federal brass is one of the last choices for reloaders because of that :-(
(Esp bottleneck brass reloaders).

 

[777funk]

Great to know. I've heard Remington is good brass, is that correct? Any other brands to purchase in the future?

 

[steveno]

just my opinion but I think for brass that is generally available I like Federal and Winchester the best. if you can find it Norma brass it is probably the best but it is usually more expensive than the others. I'm still a bit skeptical on the reply from Federal but that is my opinion also

 

[rodregier]

I'm not a topic expert, but I have used all of the following and read more on the topic.

If I am given a choice in the matter I would rank commercial bottleneck rifle brass as follows from first to last choice sequence:

Lapua
Norma
Winchester
Remington
PMC
Federal

There are others.

I've reloaded Federal rifle brass, but don't expect to get any where near as many reloadings thru it as the better ones. I find their brass has excessive headspace as new to begin with in factory ammunition. That's good for fit into all chambers, but will cause excessive stretching on first firing.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Winchester is the best bang for the buck. Norma makes good brass but it's high as moon dust. I've never used lapua but folks swear by it.

 

[rodregier]

I use Lapua for my long range rifle shooting, but not compelling for shorter distance.
(.308 Win at 800 meters).

The fact that Canadian Lapua importer is local is helpful. I can also buy 1x fired Lapua and Norma brass (from ammunition) locally is very helpful too.

I can select Lapua .308 Win cases with weight variance range from 171.9 thru 173.7 w/o a lot of rejects. The more uniform the case weights the less velocity variance due to "combustion chamber" volume variance in the rifle. Of course, there are other variables like powder charge, primers as mfgr and projectile weights.

 

[777funk]

Had a chance to shoot some Winchester factory (Power Point) that were the same price ($19.99) and MUCH less recoil than this blue box of Federals by comparison. I knew something seemed strange when they kicked as hard as they did.

 

[rodregier]

Seems to have all the hallmarks of an excessively hot loading of the Federal product.

Suggest reporting your findings about Federal versus competitive products in the same rifle to Federal Cartridge for possible action. Federal lot number detail and competitor product SKU too in the report would help them too. Copy of sales receipt if available would also make case for "recent" production acquisition.

http://www.federalpremium.com/company/contact_us.aspx

Mail Address:

Federal Cartridge Company
900 Ehlen Drive, Anoka, MN 55303-7503
1-800-322-2342
Fax: (763) 323-2506

This smells like a possible lot number recall issue in the making...

 

[rodregier]

1 year warranty T's and C's, contact and warranty detail


http://www.federalpremium.com/downloads/warranty/2013_Federal_Warranty.pdf

 

[gamestalker]

I have a buddy that has an M98 with a heavy Douglas on it that's chambered in 7mm RM. He runs real hot loads through it, and he gets primers that fall out upon extraction from time to time. So I have to agree primers that fall out of pockets is usually a pretty good sign of excessive pressures.

GS