Somewhere along the line in my reloading career I picked up a bad habit. I'm safety conscious, I do a ton or reading, if I'm tired or distracted I stay away from the bench, I only have one powder on the bench at a time, there's a long, long list of things I do right. However...there is also something I do wrong.
My bad habit is that I do not keep track of how many times I've reloaded a particular piece of brass. No big deal on 45 ACP...but on something like a 7 mag? After today I'm a believer.
Allow me to rewind the tape to last week. I was working up a load for an elk trip. Everything was going well. I was casually working my way from the lower powered loads, up to the higher pressure loads in groups of 3 or 4 shots at a time, letting the barrel cool in-between groups. It was a leisurely afternoon.
The first shot of my last group was a flyer to the right...and I noticed some smoke coming from my magazine well. "Hmmm...never seen that before."
I looked at the spent case and it had soot around the primer, but I could see no obvious deformity. My next three shots were about a 1-inch group on the lower right side of the target. Below are my data sheet and target for that group.
data sheet last session Friday by scarfam, on Flickr
last week flyer target by scarfam, on Flickr
I called it a day and decided to come home and do some research on smoke coming from the magazine. I thought it might have been the result of a loose primer. The primers were pretty easy to seat on that batch of brass...but some manufacturers are just easier...ultimately I chalked it up to a loose primer pocket and got rid of that brass.
Today I was back at the range with a new batch of brass...same load. Before I started shooting I came 6 clicks left, 6 clicks up. From that last target, the adjustment should have me centered.
I loaded the gun and sent one. The first shot was outside the target at 10 o'clock...not anywhere near where it should be. "hmm" I thought..."do I have a scope problem? Is my scope loose? Or is something inside busted? The scope has never given me a problem, but maybe this is the start of something."
The second shot landed 2 inches outside the bull, also at 10 o'clock. Third shot was very near the bullseye. At this point I was thinking that maybe I'm seeing a really big shift from a cold-bore shot to a warm barrel shot. This is something to consider since my shot at an elk will be a cold-bore shot. I made a note to monitor this. Fourth shot, just to see where it would land, was also close to the bull.
today first group by scarfam, on Flickr
After the initial weirdness it looked like the gun was settling down, my last two shots were centered. Now it was time to start adjusting the BOSS system and see how tight I could get these groups.
I moved to my next target, eased the trigger...boom...and the round was nowhere on my target. "WTH?" I had six targets on the board. Three on top and another row of three below...makes it easy when testing loads.
The first shot on my second target...actually hit the target to the right. What...the heck...is going on? The gun that just put the last two rounds in the center ring...threw a flyer about 8 inches low and right!!!!
The only thing I could think was that my quality control was off...maybe I didn't crimp that one just right. I looked at the case head and there was soot around the primer. "Hmmm...I'm not sure I like the look of that."
I loaded another round...boom...right in the middle. Next round...boom...it was touching the previous hole. Next round fell within 3/4 of an inch of the first two.
today flyer target by scarfam, on Flickr
My magazine was empty and while the rifle cooled down I took the brass to a place with better sunlight so I could really see what was going on.
I did NOT like what I saw. The case that generated the flyer on target two had soot around the primer and looked like the one from the prior week that put smoke in my mag well (from the batch of brass that's getting tossed in the trash).
By keeping a log book, taking pics of my targets, and inspecting my brass I was able to piece it together that the flyers were generated by the cases with sooty primers.
My eyes aren't what they used to be (getting glasses soon) so I broke out a magnifying glass when I got home and noticed that each of the suspect cases has a pinhole between the primer and case head. Gas was leaking past the primers, altering the pressure in the chamber, and impacting the accuracy of those rounds.
Furthermore the case that generated the last flyer had another warning sign for me. I check the cases prior to loading, visually and with a paper clip to inspect the inside for case head separation signs...they were all good to go. However...today...the case that had the pinhole, soot, and poor performance...had a glistening ring around the case...indicating a separation was imminent.
Below are pics of the cases, showing the pinholes and the case-head separation warning sign:
primer on flyer last Friday by scarfam, on Flickr
today flyer by scarfam, on Flickr
today flyer case head by scarfam, on Flickr
This was my first experience with this type of incident, and I thought it was interesting enough to write it up and share it here.
Now...I'm off to fix my bad habit and find a system to keep track of how many times I've reloaded each batch of brass!!!
My bad habit is that I do not keep track of how many times I've reloaded a particular piece of brass. No big deal on 45 ACP...but on something like a 7 mag? After today I'm a believer.
Allow me to rewind the tape to last week. I was working up a load for an elk trip. Everything was going well. I was casually working my way from the lower powered loads, up to the higher pressure loads in groups of 3 or 4 shots at a time, letting the barrel cool in-between groups. It was a leisurely afternoon.
The first shot of my last group was a flyer to the right...and I noticed some smoke coming from my magazine well. "Hmmm...never seen that before."
I looked at the spent case and it had soot around the primer, but I could see no obvious deformity. My next three shots were about a 1-inch group on the lower right side of the target. Below are my data sheet and target for that group.
data sheet last session Friday by scarfam, on Flickr
last week flyer target by scarfam, on Flickr
I called it a day and decided to come home and do some research on smoke coming from the magazine. I thought it might have been the result of a loose primer. The primers were pretty easy to seat on that batch of brass...but some manufacturers are just easier...ultimately I chalked it up to a loose primer pocket and got rid of that brass.
Today I was back at the range with a new batch of brass...same load. Before I started shooting I came 6 clicks left, 6 clicks up. From that last target, the adjustment should have me centered.
I loaded the gun and sent one. The first shot was outside the target at 10 o'clock...not anywhere near where it should be. "hmm" I thought..."do I have a scope problem? Is my scope loose? Or is something inside busted? The scope has never given me a problem, but maybe this is the start of something."
The second shot landed 2 inches outside the bull, also at 10 o'clock. Third shot was very near the bullseye. At this point I was thinking that maybe I'm seeing a really big shift from a cold-bore shot to a warm barrel shot. This is something to consider since my shot at an elk will be a cold-bore shot. I made a note to monitor this. Fourth shot, just to see where it would land, was also close to the bull.
today first group by scarfam, on Flickr
After the initial weirdness it looked like the gun was settling down, my last two shots were centered. Now it was time to start adjusting the BOSS system and see how tight I could get these groups.
I moved to my next target, eased the trigger...boom...and the round was nowhere on my target. "WTH?" I had six targets on the board. Three on top and another row of three below...makes it easy when testing loads.
The first shot on my second target...actually hit the target to the right. What...the heck...is going on? The gun that just put the last two rounds in the center ring...threw a flyer about 8 inches low and right!!!!
The only thing I could think was that my quality control was off...maybe I didn't crimp that one just right. I looked at the case head and there was soot around the primer. "Hmmm...I'm not sure I like the look of that."
I loaded another round...boom...right in the middle. Next round...boom...it was touching the previous hole. Next round fell within 3/4 of an inch of the first two.
today flyer target by scarfam, on Flickr
My magazine was empty and while the rifle cooled down I took the brass to a place with better sunlight so I could really see what was going on.
I did NOT like what I saw. The case that generated the flyer on target two had soot around the primer and looked like the one from the prior week that put smoke in my mag well (from the batch of brass that's getting tossed in the trash).
By keeping a log book, taking pics of my targets, and inspecting my brass I was able to piece it together that the flyers were generated by the cases with sooty primers.
My eyes aren't what they used to be (getting glasses soon) so I broke out a magnifying glass when I got home and noticed that each of the suspect cases has a pinhole between the primer and case head. Gas was leaking past the primers, altering the pressure in the chamber, and impacting the accuracy of those rounds.
Furthermore the case that generated the last flyer had another warning sign for me. I check the cases prior to loading, visually and with a paper clip to inspect the inside for case head separation signs...they were all good to go. However...today...the case that had the pinhole, soot, and poor performance...had a glistening ring around the case...indicating a separation was imminent.
Below are pics of the cases, showing the pinholes and the case-head separation warning sign:
primer on flyer last Friday by scarfam, on Flickr
today flyer by scarfam, on Flickr
today flyer case head by scarfam, on Flickr
This was my first experience with this type of incident, and I thought it was interesting enough to write it up and share it here.
Now...I'm off to fix my bad habit and find a system to keep track of how many times I've reloaded each batch of brass!!!