Was at the range today to get a little practice before the first sevice rifle match this year. I cut the trip a short due to some problems with 2 case/head separations. Attached are some pics.
My AR is a Compass Lake DCM upper (1x8 Douglas bbl) riding an Olympic lower with FN internals. Gun has approx. 1400 rnds on it and shoots EXTREMELY well.
I started shooting on bags to re zero my iron sights. Round 13 produced alot of smoke from the magwell as well as an unusual report. Grabbed the spent round and was surprised to see it ruptured. Broke the AR down and checked it over as well as I could at the range. Everything looked tight. Fired a few more rounds. Round 27 same as 13. Checked the brass and it too was ruptured. Gathered my stuff and headed home. Once home I grabbed the headspace gauges and checked it. Headspaced just fine. I cleaned the crap out of the 'whole' gun and checked the headspace again, good to go. I have never in like 12 yrs of reloading had this happen with any of my rifles and or my reloads.
Was shooting LC99 brass with WSR primers, a Win. 55 gr. FMJBT over 25 gr. of N135. Been shooting this load for ever with no problems in all 3 of my .223s. Brass was on its second firing and in good shape.
First thought is to break down all the practice ammo I have (150 rnds) and toss the brass, powder, and primers. Start with fresh components and go from there. Second thought is maybe something is wrong with the rifle and I can't see it.
Anybody have any suggestions or ideas?? If I haven't provided enough info let me know and I'll remedy that. Thanks for looking!!
Brian
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