8uck5nort Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 First shot seemed normal. Second shot felt like the rifle "jumped" almost out of the rest and I felt stinging/burning on my face. It was difficult ejecting spent case and when I did get it out it had ruputed just above the rim. I then inspected the first case and it too had an albiet much smaller fracture. This ammo was from Reeds Ammo (online) and should be new Rem. brass with a 180 gr Hornady XTP. I pulled a bullet from an unfired round and measured the gun powder. 18.9 gr of what looks like BLC2, but not sure. I am pulling a few more and reloading them with some speer 158 gr HP and some Herco or HP38 to see if this will resolve my issue. Not sure what is wrong, but that was a little disconcerting. Before I go shooting this again any comments or suggestions welcome. Darin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzRednek Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 My first thought is, it is loaded to hot. Next is a possible headspace problem or the brass expanding beyond what it is capable of. Drag out a mike and compare the dimensions of new and expended brass. Possibly the chamber was reamed to large. Hopefully it is something simple like a defective piece of brass or the one single cartridge was over loaded. Have to really give you an "Attaboy" for being wise enough to stop shooting and see what the problem is. Myself apx 10+ years ago experiencing defective brass with new factory ammo. After writing Remington they promptly made it right. Remmy's letter blamed the bad brittle brass on the contractor they outsourced to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojelio Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Just be sure and wear safety glasses with further testing. Eyes are kinda hard to replace. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gun nutty Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Where was the fracture at? Can you post a pic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8uck5nort Posted November 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I will add some pix tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8uck5nort Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Pics as promised. First shot Second shot Comparison of the two I pulled the 180 grains and replaced with a lighter 158 gr and it failed with a complete separation. After taking these pictures I started examing the bolt from my 357 mag carcano and noticed it locked into place in its rifle and in the max and would move very little once locked. I checked the bolt from the 357 max carcano and it does not feel like it is locking all the way in either rifle. So, I don't think the bolt is locking completely for whatever reason. That would explain the "extra room" in the chamber for the case to expand to a breaking point, and the puff back of gases. I don't want to give up on this project because the rifle handles very well and will be a nice knock around deer gun for next season, If I can get this problem resolved. Thanks in advance for you review and suggestions. Darin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Do you still have the go/nogo gauges? First I would recheck the headspace with proper gauges. you may need to set the barrel back a little. If it passes the go gauge test then get some different brass. I once had a similar problem with some 223 ammo I bought around the same time I got a 223 barrel for my contender. I thought the new barrel was bad, turned out it was the ammo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gun nutty Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 What are you headspacing on? The rim or the case mouth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8uck5nort Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I will have to re-acquire the guages. I was under the impression that with a rimmed cartridge you headspace using the cartridge rim thickness as a guide to perform any modifications to the bolt face/extractor. I could be wrong, but I think that is where my problem lies after a close examination/comparison of my two bolts last night. The Mag bolt has it's bolt face rim ground down more than the Max bolt. I am thinking this is why the Mag bolt locks up tight. I have fired the Mag rifle many times with no issues using several different types of ammo. The rim on the other bolt is still too high. I think it is contacting the barrel face not allowing it to lock fully. It still closes, but does not completely lock if that makes sense. At this point I don't think it is the ammo. It appears I have an excessive gap between the bolt face and the cartridge head. I may try grinding down the rim which may allow the bolt face to move closer to contact the head on the cartridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gun nutty Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I'm reading what you're saying as: the bolt face is recessed, and because of this this - even with the barrel fully butted against the face of the bolt - you can't get adequate headspace. You're talking about grinding down the bolt face to close that gap. You'll probably need to mill part of the rear of the barrel face to allow the extractor to rotate without touching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8uck5nort Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I'm reading what you're saying as: the bolt face is recessed, and because of this this - even with the barrel fully butted against the face of the bolt - you can't get adequate headspace. You're talking about grinding down the bolt face to close that gap. You'll probably need to mill part of the rear of the barrel face to allow the extractor to rotate without touching. To specify I am going to file down the rim that rises up from the edge of the bolt face. I don't think I will need to actually remove material from the bolt face itself. As for the extractor, good point, I don't know yet what that will entail. I'll figure something out in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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