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Posted: 8/1/2006 5:24:41 PM EDT
| I know I need to get my headspace checked, I have blown several cases and blew out the mag. My main question is if the headspace is loose enough to blow a case, and I mean rip it open, will it vent down towards the mag? It's possible this may have been some crappy brass. This rifle only has maybe 300 rounds thru it since I got the upper from J&T and they headspaced it with my resized brass for me and said it was fine, plus they fired it with LC and sent to empties to me. If it is bad or weak brass, which way will the gasses vent if it splits by the rim? |
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First off, make sure the headspace is correct. This is not rocket science, very simple task. If you don't have the guages, get them. This would be the first step I would take before I shot the rifle again. And yes, the gas will vent down the magwell, in addition, your dang lucky your not seriously injured. How many times have the cases been re-loaded ? Second. I assume we are talking about cartridges that have been reloaded ?? If so please list the following: Powder: what kind and what was your charge weight OAL: What was the overall length of the finished cartridge Bullet: What kind, what weight Case: Brand and caliber "5.56 - .223" Numer of reloads on the brass in question: How many times have you reloaded this brass (case) Primer: Which primer did you use Let us know ! |
| I'm not at home right now so I'm going from memory, the powder was AA 2230 using 25 gr in LC cases, I am unsure if these cases were loaded more than once, the bullets were win 55gr FMJ, and the primers were either CCI or Win, regular small rifle primers. Right now I can't recall the oal, one thing that makes me think it may be the brass is that it has only had 4 cases split and curl by the rim, the rest look fine, no bulges. |
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Where did the brass come from, and if range brass was the primer pocket still crimped when you got it. Simple put, when my LC brass has come to the end of it's loading life, it is let go after the last firing, and if I'm at a range, they will sweep it up and put it in the bucket with the rest of the brass that they sell off. Worst would be if you were to buy this old worn out brass and someone has soaked in a solvent to clean it which could cause it to be brittle and let loose on the next loading. Bottom line is once fired LC brass is best to buy from vendors like GIbrass or Pats since this brass still has the primer crimped in (shows it only been fired once), and as long as it has not been run fired through a M-249 with a worn out chamber, just needs to be cleaned and de primer crimped. |
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Have you shot any factory ammo through this rifle ? if so, did you have any issues with brass ? I do alot of reloading, and it appears that you have one of two problems, 1) loaded to hot (too much powder) 2) worn out cases Run some factory ammo through this rifle, and repost the results here PLEASE ! If you have any issues with the factory stuff, then you can start checking the gun out. BTW, considering the barrel was not factory installed, I would go ahead and check the headspace. Get the guages, you'll need tham down the road anyway. Sooner |
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The cases that blew did not come apart like a case separation, they just had a short curl-shaped opening close to the rim, it never blew any primers. The majority of my reloads are with Schartz once fired brass, altho I do grab empties at the range, this so far seems to be one batch that's giving me problems, but I want to check everything just to be sure. I've loaned my camera out so I can't take pics, but these are the weirdest blown cases I've seen, if they resemble weak blown brass I haven't seen any pics to compare. "They headspaced it with my resized brass" They said the headspace was fine when I first got it. It had a barrel crown problem so I sent it back along with some resized brass and asked them to check these, they did say mine were fine and also test fired with some LC which they sent the empties to me, they look fine. |
I guess this is the reason that I get to drive the company Yugo. Been told that as soon as the speedometer turns back to 0’s for the sixth time, I may even get to keep it. Rumor has it GB has his eye on a 73 Ford Pinto for the new staff car (just needs to clean up the fire damage from it's last rear end collision). Got to believe the rumor since one of the Nomex suits has gone missing from the office closets, and figure he is just out of the office taking it for a test drive.  Joking aside, thanks for the complement.  |
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