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NAPOTS
12-22-2011, 12:45 AM
I was going through my fired cases and I noticed one of them ruptured in the side of the case below the neck. I didn't notice anything when shooting and only found it when processing the cases to be reloaded again. None of the other cases showed excessive pressure signs. In the past I have had bottle neck cases split in the neck/mouth area and have had magnum cases split around the curcumference and nothing came of it.

Is this something I should be concerned with or is this normal to run in to once in a while as cases run to the end of their service life?

Should I worry about flame cutting of the chamber?

abpt1
12-22-2011, 08:34 AM
I was going through my fired cases and I noticed one of them ruptured in the side of the case below the neck. I didn't notice anything when shooting and only found it when processing the cases to be reloaded again. None of the other cases showed excessive pressure signs. In the past I have had bottle neck cases split in the neck/mouth area and have had magnum cases split around the curcumference and nothing came of it.

Is this something I should be concerned with or is this normal to run in to once in a while as cases run to the end of their service life?

Should I worry about flame cutting of the chamber? pic?

Richard Simmons
12-22-2011, 08:39 AM
What cartridge is it and what were you shooting it out of?

Schuetzenman
12-22-2011, 10:13 AM
What cartridge is it and what were you shooting it out of?

This! Dude you give no details as to cartridge, manufacturer or age or the weapon it is being fired out of. If it's a Mosin and some form of 54R surplus, probably just a bad cartridge case. Even if it's current new Russian made X39 it's still probably just a bad case. Even if it's a new case from Federal or Winchester, etc. one case splitting is not a trend. You start seeing more than one out of a lot of ammo, then you might be concerned.

NAPOTS
12-22-2011, 01:29 PM
sorry guys, its .223 shot out of a AR.

I destroyed the case so I wouldn't load it by accident and threw it away

Richard Simmons
12-22-2011, 01:44 PM
Might depend a little if it was military brass of commercial but I'd say it was probably just worn out/work hardened from repeated reloadings. Any idea how many times it had been reloaded? Also were you shooting rapid fire? Was thinking that perhaps it was a little over length and you might have had an out of battery condition when it went off.

If it happens again, expecially with new brass or new ammo you might want to check your headspace.

NAPOTS
12-22-2011, 01:53 PM
it was a commerical case. PMC .223. Should have been reloaded only once. Was not shooting rapid fire. Was trimmed to 1.750 +/- .001.

The other 50 casings I shot in that string looked fine. I doubt it was an over charge. I was using varget and it dam near fills the case.

Could it be just a bad case? Or maybe it had a scratch in it that I missed when I reloaded it the first time?

Nothing noteworthy happened when it ruptured, I didn't even notice.

I am more worried about screwing up my chamber.

Richard Simmons
12-22-2011, 04:00 PM
I did a Google search on PMC brass as I haven't heard anything bad about it. Did turn up one post on ARFcom where someone said that PMC 5.56 brass has/had a smaller case capacity than US surplus.

I'd say keep an eye on it and if it happens again with the same brass them it might be related to PMC. If it happens with other brass then that just leaves the load of the rifle. IMHO I'd be inclined to say it was just a bad case and be careful moving forward.

O.S.O.K.
12-22-2011, 06:29 PM
This isn't that uncommon - the case was probably only partially anealed - if no other cases show this and no other pressure signs and particularly if the load isn't a max load... you are probaly fine and nothing to worry about.

Schuetzenman
12-22-2011, 06:37 PM
it was a commerical case. PMC .223. Should have been reloaded only once. Was not shooting rapid fire. Was trimmed to 1.750 +/- .001.

The other 50 casings I shot in that string looked fine. I doubt it was an over charge. I was using varget and it dam near fills the case.

Could it be just a bad case? Or maybe it had a scratch in it that I missed when I reloaded it the first time?

Nothing noteworthy happened when it ruptured, I didn't even notice.

I am more worried about screwing up my chamber.

PMC=Pretty Miserable Crap. PMC brass is not up to standards that US makers of brass casings use IMO. That statement also goes for any cases made by the Brits, Greeks, Koreans etc. It would take many cracks in the same place to erode your chamber enough to make it sticky. Military cases are quite heavy walled, so less powder to achieve same chamber pressures. Commercial cases are thinnker walled and require larger charges. Both are superior to any foreign made cases with the exceptions of Finnish Lapua or Norma brass cases.

NAPOTS
12-22-2011, 10:32 PM
Thanks guys I just cleaned the rifle it was fired through. it looks like the brass from the rupture ended up on the rear of the bolt. I guess that means it vaporized and went through the gas tube right? When I have had case necks split or even .44 mag cases split into two pieces nothing seemed to come of it. I guess I will shy away from pmc. Locally for cheap ammo I can get the american eagle which is loaded into federal 223 cases, pmc bronze in .223 cases and pmc 62 gr in 5.56mm cases. I ahv found the 62 gr to actually be pretty accurate in my 1 in 9 twist a2

Silicon Wolverine
12-24-2011, 06:43 PM
given my recent expierience with PMC i wouldnt touch anything they make with a ten foot pole. im STILL fighting with them over it and havent got squat to show for it.

http://youtu.be/BfZo6q_V3mQ

http://www.gunsnet.net/showthread.php?14034-Dakota-Shootin-Extra-PMC-rant&highlight=pmc

SW