Refresher: a very light ring above the .303 head.

[Ignition Override]

The ring is very pale and very thin. Look at the "smilies" to the right of these responses. The rings are almost as thick as the brick wall where the orange head bangs.

Does this mean trouble without any signs of cracking, or tiny spots of carbon etc? The only powder has been IMR 4064 with 147 grain fmj bullets.

Everything looks normal on the rest of these cases-just dark smudges on the neck. Some have been used at least five/six times, I would guess.

My reloading has consisted of only neck-sizing. Most cases have been Prvi Partizan, with a limited number of somebody's old Greek HXP.

 

[ranger335v]

I have no firm idea of what you're talking about. What's "a very light ring above the .303 head" ? You calling a bullet a "head"? Or do you mean an incipent head seperation ring about 3/8" above a .303 Brit. case head? Or somethig else?

I can't see how "tiny spots of carbon" 4064 or 147 gr. FMJ bullets could cause "smiles" or smudges on a neck or "light rings" anywhere else. ??

 

[GP100man]

Do the paper clip test , bend a little L on a paper clip & inset it into the case & use it as a "feeler" , it should be smooth & straight , if it`s streching you`ll feel a little bump or void .

 

[Walkalong]

 

[243winxb]

Refresher? or Update?- 303 Case Head Separations

Neck sized brass should not have a case head separation problem, unless the brass was damaged on the very first firing. This does happen. This was covered in your other post here >http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=569265

 

[Joatmon]

What is the rifle that you are shooting this in? That can be the key for what you are seeing. If this is a SMLE (Lee enfield) service rifle the problem could be excessive head space which leads to excessive case stretch and head separation. As others have said above, check the cases for thinning inside with a probe. Take the rifle to a gunsmith and have them check headspace with go-no go gauges. It is money well spent to find out if the rifle has issues (many of these old military ones do). Be safe.

 

[res45]

You can rent your own headspace gauges for around $5 to $10 bucks once the insurance fee is refunded. http://www.reamerrentals.com/


Good read here on headspace issues on the 303 including the technique using a rubber o-ring agents the case rime to basically center the case in the chamber and more importantly hold the case head agents the bolt face when fire forming the brass to the chamber,which basically will eliminate the headspace issue.

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=24699

 

[Ignition Override]

ranger335v:
Trying to find where I called a bullet a head. The very thin, light colored ring either touches, or almost touches the rim.
Do we still call the bottom of the case (which contains the primer) "the head"?

When we are typing a response to any topic (at that very moment), we see the colorful faces to the right of the white rectangle called "smilies", i.e. frowns, mad, devil, head banging the red wall etc. To repeat, the ring (much lighter/paler than the brass) is a bit thinner than the 'red wall'.

Maybe the thin pale ring is incipient case head separation, but I've never had one.

The rifles are #4/Mk 1s and a #5. All bolt numbers match the butt socket numbers. I appreciate all of the questions and responses.