PeterH
Well-Known Member
Yes when I posted at #25 I had not seen Heym's post
Reloading 223 very lucky escape
- Thread starter oxonhunter
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Yes when I posted at #25 I had not seen Heym's post
oxonhunter
Well-Known Member
right i just finished pulling the 9 bullets and there was 24.0gr of powder in 7 shells and the other 2 had 23.8gr
so going by Vhit's own data 24 grain and Hornady says 23.7gr.
so going by Vhit's own data 24 grain and Hornady says 23.7gr.
african jack
Well-Known Member
what is the diameter and the weight of the bullet ( as
Hornady
do a .227 bullet in 22 cal not sure of the weight )
Harry mac
Well-Known Member
Many years ago I had a friend who was testing some 30-06 loads. All was going swimmingly and then he had a real screamer of a load recoil was increased, bolt lift was harder and the primer was flat as a pancake. He fired a couple more, which were fine, and then it happened again so he stopped shooting and went home to dismantle the rest of the batch. What he found was that in a couple more of the cases, case cleaning media was caked into the bottom of the cases and had reduced the case volume and increased the pressure.
Could this be the cause here?
Could this be the cause here?
deerwarden
Well-Known Member
I've had this many years ago when tumbling cases with a cleaning compound added to the media. Noticed some of the flash holes had embedded media and compound blocking the flash hole, cleaned those out and checked the insides of all the cases, and found some had crud in the base of the cases, enough to fill the cases with powder slightly higher, and would have compressed the load, and increased pressure spike. I reload for all my rifles, and always check and double check each case for ANY possible abnormality. I enjoy reloading, but I've been an engineer, mechanical and electrical all my working life, and reloading requires constant checking to ensure we don't f**k up. deerwarden
All my cases after cleaning, with any media, cob or steel, get the airline blowgun treatment followed by a visual.
N.F.W.M
Well-Known Member
I like that idea.
I once had a spent primer from a crowded reloading area fall out of a .223 case waiting for charging.
One of the advantages of ultrasonic cleaning is the reduced chance of any media remaining...but I still blow gun the cases after trimming and before going in the U/S tank for the second zap, in order to remove any bits of brass swarf.
I tried putting them into a Hornady factory box holder for blowing out in groups of twenty...but in the end decided it was better to do them one at a time and blow and inspect them individually.
Alan
ChesterP
Well-Known Member
The only other thing that springs to mind is oil or grease in the chamber. I used to lightly oil my barrels after cleaning, a hangup from my service days where it was drummed into us. A few scares with reloads later cured me of this (bad) habit, since even dry patching won't remove all the oil traces. This affects obituration, allowing the case to slam back against the bolt. In my case, a moderate round resulted in heavy recoil in a .308 and pretty well defined ejector marks on the case. I cleaned the chamber out with meths and the problem went away. In the photo that the OP posted, the neck area and below the shoulder looks to be free of carbon which is one indicator that obituration may have been fine.
Or lubricant on the case?
Or lubricant on the case?
What effect exactly does an oily case and/or chamber have? I though it significantly increased the amount of back-thrust by the case on the bolt-face compared to the unoiled scenario - so one would get in a mild situation more strain on the lugs, marks on/deformation of the case-head, difficult bolt-lift etc, and if more severe, either case and/or bolt failure.
Is there also a mechanism whereby this would increase the actual pressure (as opposed to a change to what the normal pressure does) - leading to the remarkably deformed primer that we see in the OP's pics?
Is there also a mechanism whereby this would increase the actual pressure (as opposed to a change to what the normal pressure does) - leading to the remarkably deformed primer that we see in the OP's pics?
ChesterP
Well-Known Member
It's not an increase in chamber pressure. It's the fact that any round which doesn't obiturate will be forced back hard onto the bolt face so the bolt will take much more pressure than a round that has obiturated properly as the case is then forced to grab the chamber walls. Think along the lines of a steel rod forced down the muzzle and then hammered with a sledge-hammer and you get the idea.
Highlandsjohn
Well-Known Member
ChesterP, In which case (sorry) you should see some evidence on the HEAD of the case, as you can in the pic. john
View attachment 93240
ChesterP
Well-Known Member
Hi John...yes, agreed, absolutely right. It was just a thought but the photo of the case head isn't very clear, so there may well be evidence that we haven't seen. If the OP could re-post a clearer picture of the case head, it would be easier to establish, but one assumes that as the bolt flew back, there must have been a fair amount of pressure slamming back into it?
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Highlandsjohn
Well-Known Member
ChesterP, It is not at all clear in the posts, but I believe it was the residue from the 'blast/primer' that blew back in his face and the bolt (thankfully) remained stuck in the closed/battery position.
The OP said, and I paraphrase. The bore was clear as I had only just cleaned it. I wonder if a part of the cleaning kit, maybe a tight patch, a bit of snake(topical), could have been lodged up the spout.
Whatever caused it, be it a rogue primer, it was indeed a bit of luck the rifle did what it was supposed to do in the circumstances. The pressure escaped out of the magazine away from the operator. john
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