coloradokevin
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,285
After reloading for quite a few years, and many thousands of rounds, I today encountered what I believe is incipient case head separation for the first time. I've worn out a number of pieces of brass in the past, and most of my rifle cases seem to give up at around 8 loadings or so, usually due to loose primer pockets or splitting necks.
This is the first time I've seen cases show signs of an imminent case head separation, and it was on my .260 Remington (using Lapua brass). What baffles me is that this problem occurred with only five loads on the brass, while running a relatively moderate load (140 grain bullet at 2717 fps). Given Lapua's reputation for long brass life, and the great expense of this brass, I'm a bit disappointed to see it failing already. This rifle also has a fairly tight chamber, so I can't see this being a excessive headspace issue with the rifle.
Nevertheless, it raises a few questions for me:
1) How do I increase brass life to avoid encountering this problem for a few extra loadings in the future?
2) Should I discard the remaining loaded ammo? Should I discard the other cases that don't show this problem? NOTE: I didn't notice this issue until I was picking up brass after shooting about half of my loaded ammo. The problem was visible on about 5 cases of 25 or so that I fired, and consisted of a slight groove around the base of the case (in a ring). If I diagnosed this correctly, those pieces are very near failure, and obviously can't be loaded again.
This is the first time I've seen cases show signs of an imminent case head separation, and it was on my .260 Remington (using Lapua brass). What baffles me is that this problem occurred with only five loads on the brass, while running a relatively moderate load (140 grain bullet at 2717 fps). Given Lapua's reputation for long brass life, and the great expense of this brass, I'm a bit disappointed to see it failing already. This rifle also has a fairly tight chamber, so I can't see this being a excessive headspace issue with the rifle.
Nevertheless, it raises a few questions for me:
1) How do I increase brass life to avoid encountering this problem for a few extra loadings in the future?
2) Should I discard the remaining loaded ammo? Should I discard the other cases that don't show this problem? NOTE: I didn't notice this issue until I was picking up brass after shooting about half of my loaded ammo. The problem was visible on about 5 cases of 25 or so that I fired, and consisted of a slight groove around the base of the case (in a ring). If I diagnosed this correctly, those pieces are very near failure, and obviously can't be loaded again.