Ever have this happen?

[Kurt505]

Was breaking in the barrel of a new rifle the other day, everything was going fine and then on shot 17 out of a box of factory Hornady Superformance ammo it seemed louder, kicked a bit harder and I thought I saw a bit of a flash come from the chamber (not 100% sure it came from the chamber, might have just been extra muzzle flash). When I ejected the shell, I noticed the casing was all cracked up on one side.

Ever see this before?

[catnthehat]

YUP! Had that happen before.
Cat

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

YUP! Had that happen before.
Cat

Do you know what causes it?

[gtr]

Was a 308. Gunpowder and primers can cause some strange stuff to go on.

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by gtr

Was a 308. Gunpowder and primers can cause some strange stuff to go on.

I can see if I was experimenting with loads, but this was factory ammo. I wonder if I should contact Hornady?

[Diesel_wiesel]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I can see if I was experimenting with loads, but this was factory ammo. I wonder if I should contact Hornady?

yup send them a picture of the box , shell ,lot number, and case number
they will probably refund you for a new box of ammo

[buschy03]

Looks like overpressure,,, throw the rest of the box away,,,hornady won't do anything for you,, you can try....

[JD848]

Superperformance would be at the bottom of my list for breaking in,even when using handloads I back off for the first 20,then increase 5 round groups by 1 grn till I am near where it reaches close to the proper velocity then just move up .5 grn for accuracy.Them things clip 200 feet faster than most loads putting lots of pressure on a new pipe ,between heat and speed .

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by buschy03

Looks like overpressure,,, throw the rest of the box away,,,hornady won't do anything for you,, you can try....

I shot off the whole box, that was the only shot that did that.

[Benelli1]

Originally Posted by buschy03

Looks like overpressure,,, throw the rest of the box away,,,hornady won't do anything for you,, you can try....

the very least they will do is pull a sample from this lot disassemble and advise you of their findings.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I can see if I was experimenting with loads, but this was factory ammo. I wonder if I should contact Hornady?

Mine was factory Winchester. I never did anything with it, but as already stated , let the boys at Hornady have a chance to give you an explanation.

[Dean2]

Kurt

I had some defective Hornady 17 HH. They replaced the entire 500 round case, including shipping both ways to Korth, no problem. They were excellent to deal with.

The load you have there looks like a defective piece of brass that let go. Super is already loaded right to max so any small defect can cause a problem. It is not ammo I would use in most guns as it is hotter than most top end reloads. I would definitely send pictures and an email to Hornady.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by buschy03

Looks like overpressure,,, throw the rest of the box away,,,hornady won't do anything for you,, you can try....

Nope not the answer,
Contact them like an earlier post said, I have had nothing but good things when dealing with hornady.
Ya never know until your try but chucking things out and not contacting them solves nothing.

[Groundhogger]

Originally Posted by Diesel_wiesel

yup send them a picture of the box , shell ,lot number, and case number
they will probably refund you for a new box of ammo

^this

[Grizzly Adams]

That a ring near the base of the case as well ? Incipient case failure ? Might be more happening here than meets the eye.

Grizz

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

That a ring near the base of the case as well ? Incipient case failure ? Might be more happening here than meets the eye.

Grizz

It might be, I'll have to check that out. It's funny because I showed these pics to another member and he picked out a mark on the head stamp, almost looks like it's from the extractor. I never noticed in real life, but it's pretty clear between the "A" and the "D" in the pic.

[catnthehat]

Piece of brass that slipped past QA/QC .
Cat

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Piece of brass that slipped past QA/QC .
Cat

This is what I'm hoping happened, those superformance bullets were making tight little groups for me.

[Bigbuckwsm]

I had the same thing happen but with the hornady American whitetail ammo. Oddly enough it was a 25-06 as well.

[JD848]

Kurt keep them photo's and them shells,hornady will want to know why this happen and the main thing is your not blind or hurt and believe me it can happen to anyone,if you don't some poor other guy may run into the same or worst,hornady takes this stuff seriously and well figure out what went wrong with there product,BEST OF LUCK..I like lotsa hornady stuff and they answer things for me years ago at anytime.The primer never flatten because the puff of smoke was blow back.

[Smokinyotes]

I have never had any luck shooting superformance ammo. I just cant get it to group. My nephew picked up a box of superformance for his 338wm. The primers all looked like rivets and a few the bolt was pretty stiff. Personally i wouldnt buy superformance again.

[DevilsAdvocate]

Superformance!!!
Got a partial box of it sitting right now to go back to them.
Son couldn't seem to group for sighting in a scope on a new gun.
I tried. One shot seemed weird. Looked at the gun, the scope, then the cases.
Half of the cases were split down the side.

Not impressed with their S! Quality control!!!

140gr in 6.5x55 in a tikka......in case it matters

[aardvaark]

QUOTE Grizz post #15 I forgot to add it and can't figger how to get it in there now.


That ring is called 'case head expansion ring' (I believe). Starts to develop at the first firing of any hot load. (Not at all implying that this load is dangerously hot.) Gets more and more pronounced with every subsequent firing when you reload them and more quickly the hotter you reload them. The reason for this becoming more pronounced is cuz this is where the case head meets the body and this is where a lot of the case/brass expansion (stretching, the stuff you have to trim off the neck) comes from. This is where the brass gets thinner and thinner. This is where reloaders of 303British have their biggest problems - the head separates from the case right here. This is also where some shooters measure case diameter to help them determine if they are starting to get overpressure.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by aardvaark

QUOTE Grizz post #15 I forgot to add it and can't figger how to get it in there now.


That ring is called 'case head expansion ring' (I believe). Starts to develop at the first firing of any hot load. (Not at all implying that this load is dangerously hot.) Gets more and more pronounced with every subsequent firing when you reload them and more quickly the hotter you reload them. The reason for this becoming more pronounced is cuz this is where the case head meets the body and this is where a lot of the case/brass expansion (stretching, the stuff you have to trim off the neck) comes from. This is where the brass gets thinner and thinner. This is where reloaders of 303British have their biggest problems - the head separates from the case right here. This is also where some shooters measure case diameter to help them determine if they are starting to get overpressure.

The above needs to be qualified because it is the rifle that causes the .303Brit to split cases in front of the web not the cartridge itself .

My commercially made Stephan Grant, lee Speed, BSA, and even my Long Branch service rifle have / had no more issues with incipient case separation than any modern cartridge rifles and my Ruger single shot is better than most because of its tight chamber .

Any rifle that is produced with big tolerances like the SMLE and other Lee Enfield were will have the same issues .

In this case however I firmly believe it was a bad case .
Cat

[elkdump]

A bad piece of brass , poor quality , as stated, missed at QC inspection

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

The above needs to be qualified because it is the rifle that causes the .303Brit to split cases in front of the web not the cartridge itself .

My commercially made Stephan Grant, lee Speed, BSA, and even my Long Branch service rifle have / had no more issues with incipient case separation than any modern cartridge rifles and my Ruger single shot is better than most because of its tight chamber .

Any rifle that is produced with big tolerances like the SMLE and other Lee Enfield were will have the same
Cat

Yes, the SMLE and Lee Enfield variations in .303 Brit were specifically designed with a generous headspace to compensate for use in situations where water,mud debris could jam up a action with a tight headspace , basically for uses including trench warfare ,
The bolt heads were interchangeable as most of the rifle karts, again to accommodate a constant supply of rifle/weapon repairs in conditions of extreme use and remote locations,
Really quite ingenious, that a rifle with millions and millions of copies would have many interchangeable parts

[Grizzly Adams]

Really quite ingenious, that a rifle with millions and millions of copies would have many interchangeable parts

Thank Eli Whitney.

http://www.history.com/topics/invent...angeable-parts

Grizz

[Kurt505]

I've sent an email off to hornady, I'll keep this thread updated.