Went shooting with my AR10 and 1000 rds of LC .308 surplus.  I only fired about 30 rds as I was just sighting in my EOTech for it.

As I policed my brass, I found something bothersome.  Of the ~30 rds, 5 had split cases; long, 1/2 inch splits near the base, all in the same place.  It turns out that ALL 2001 headstamps were split, except one, and it was discolored in the same place.  None of the other headstamps were split.

I just sorted ~470 rds and I have 69 with 2001 headstamps.  I still have to sort 500 more, but I assume I will have another 50-100 more 2001's.  That's 120+ out of 1000.

Questions:  What to do?  Ask for replacements for the 2001's?  Just shoot and shut up? (I can't imagine this is anything but harmful.)  

Anyone else experienced this?

All advice is appreciated.

Dawg

Thanks, Troy.  So, is there any major harm in shooting the 2001 which is splitting the case?  Seems just about as accurate as the rest...

Later,
Dawg

What causes the splits?

Can you inspect for the defect(s) yourself (before shooting it)?

When I sorted out the 2001's I didn't see any obvious defects on the cases.  I did notice that they looked more "tarnished" than the others, but that was it.  I wonder if they had a problem annealling the 2001's, but that is just a wild ass guess.  I have no expertise in that area.

I bought 1000 and was planning on using this brass for reloading in the AR10.

DAMMIT!

Quoted: I bought 1000 and was planning on using this brass for reloading in the AR10. DAMMIT!

Me too, Falarak.  I just got my Dillon 550 set up for .308.   My problem was only with the 2001 headstamps.  I sorted them out and 2001's only made up about 150/1000.  I think the rest will be alright for reloading, though I haven't started yet.  I still need to buy a swage for the primer crimps.

Quoted: Me too, Falarak.  I just got my Dillon 550 set up for .308.   My problem was only with the 2001 headstamps.  I sorted them out and 2001's only made up about 150/1000.  I think the rest will be alright for reloading, though I haven't started yet.  I still need to buy a swage for the primer crimps.

I guess if the 2001's had such a major failure... I will just be "nervous" about the others.  I thought the only thing wrong with these things were slightly mixed headstamp and higher than average tarnish.  

I wonder of the brass would still split if it was fired from a bolt action?

Bad brass is bad brass.  I would think that if the case split on the first firing, it would have split in any rifle.

Ok, I sorted all mine out... at least the first 500 rounds, and I had 4 of the 01 headstamps.  Guess what?  Three had a dent in the side where you describe, where it looks like tooling hit it of some kind, and ONE of the 4 had a visible crack exactly where you describe yours blowing up.  I am going to post a detailed post on what I found and link back to this thread.

Quoted: Ok, I sorted all mine out... at least the first 500 rounds, and I had 4 of the 01 headstamps.  Guess what?  Three had a dent in the side where you describe, where it looks like tooling hit it of some kind, and ONE of the 4 had a visible crack exactly where you describe yours blowing up.  I am going to post a detailed post on what I found and link back to this thread.

I'd like to see that post, Falarak.  Thanks!

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=219468