243 split case

[Steve29]

Had this happen on me this evening. The shot sounded funny and I couldn’t open the bolt very easily. When it eventually came out I picked up the round and it was split near the base, all the way around. Fortunately the target pricket still died, but not as cleanly as usual. It would have had another if I could have got a round in quickly enough. I wonder if the bullet was going slower than usual?

Should I be getting my rifle looked at or is this likely to be an ammunition fault and a one off? Factory Winchester PowerPoint 100grn rounds. I’ve put many of them through this rifle and never had anything like this before

 

[andyk]

I’d take the box (and any others you have from the same batch) back to the dealer and ask for them to be swapped and this reported back to the importer.

I’d also strip my bolt to look for any signs of damage from escaping gas, as well as checking the magazine, bottom metal etc. It sounds as though this was reasonably contained but it could have damaged your rifle.

What you’ve got there is case head separation. Usually seen if brass is reloaded too many times (the case thins around that point every time it’s resized, coupled with the inevitable work hardening, that’s where the case tends to fail if it’s been overused). Of course, with this being factory it simply shouldn’t happen.

Some may say not to worry, but case head separation can be very dangerous and can do serious damage to your rifle, so I wouldn’t risk it.

Edit and quick addition, if your rifle hasn’t done this before and has fired many shots, I doubt that’s the problem. A very slack (out of tolerance) chamber might cause this if it left the head unsupported, but chances are you’d have had trouble already. My vote would be that the case has been made too thin.

 

[ashray]

case head separation ,if this if factory ammunition dont fire any more of that box and return them to the seller ,too much powder or wrong primer. check for a carbon ring in the chamber and make 100% certain you did not have any oil left in the chamber !.

 

[Smellydog]

Don't worry about it but ask for the ammo to be swapped for a different batch if you bought a lot of it.