Headspace Issue???

A

Arseno

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Hey all, Was shooting my old Savage 99 and noticed that the spent casings had an offset primer strike ... further inspection I noticed that most of the casings had a small budge on the side closest to the primer strike, and lastly one of the shells had a split neck. Its a 1958 Savage 99 in 300 savage ... is this a headspace issue or ???



 
I can not explain the split neck - various reasons for that. Your case bulge and off-centre primer strike - as if your brass case is smaller diameter than is your chamber - perhaps brass sitting on "bottom" of chamber - firing pin hits above centre - then case swells "up" to fill chamber - results in that bulge? Bulge looks to be forward of where the solid case head should be?? You do not say, but eye-ball your picture suggests R-P factory ammo - maybe time for some real fiddly measuring??

I doubt very much is related to excessive head-space or over-pressure - nothing unsurprising to be seen about your fired primers condition, other than off-centre strike - but I might have overlooked something.
 
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A split neck is unlikely to have anything to do with headspace.

Watch your rifle as the bolt closes to final lockup. You will notice that the rear of the bolt is rising against the locking shoulder in the receiver. It is possible that a bit of wear has occurred, and that the bolt has dropped slightly. This could cause an off-center primer strike, and the slightly eccentric expansion you noted.
The only real test is to check the rifle with steel headspace gauges, preferably NO GO and FIELD. It is not unusual for a used rife to close on a NO GO. It should not close on a FIELD.
If the rifle does have excess headspace, the easiest solution is to handload cartridges sized to fit the rifle. This works very well.
 
The off-centre strike and the bulge could be explained by a sloppy chamber, IE diametrically oversized, but that is not headspace. Headspace is the length of the chamber, not the diameter.

The split neck is unrelated.
 
BattleRife said:
The off-centre strike and the bulge could be explained by a sloppy chamber, IE diametrically oversized, but that is not headspace. Headspace is the length of the chamber, not the diameter.

The split neck is unrelated.
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When I put a live cartridge in the chamber, it does move around very slightly ... My Model 70 30-06 on the other hand doesn't have this movement at all.

Does this mean I can't reload the bulged cases ???
 
It's a Savage 99. Not uncommon to have an off center firing pin strike due to the actions design.Split neck may be old ammo and the case neck was hard.The bulge case is also due to action design ,cartridge lays in the chamber and the extractor forces the cartage to one side .Doesn't look that bad .Just fire away and have fun.Yes you can reload it
 
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Take a case and section the head to see if there is an internal groove indicating an incipient separation.
The expansion ring doesn't look excessive, just a bit eccentric. I would reload those cases, but I would be inclined to be careful not to push the shoulders back any more than absolutely necessary.
 
I had a brand new Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .243 Winchester that had the exact same offside case bulge and offside primer strike. But no split necks. Turned out the chamber was reamed incorrectly. It also patterned like a 12 gauge. How does yours shoot?
 
jiffx2781 said:
I had a brand new Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .243 Winchester that had the exact same offside case bulge and offside primer strike. But no split necks. Turned out the chamber was reamed incorrectly. It also patterned like a 12 gauge. How does yours shoot?
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I’ve only had a chance to shoot it to zero the scope in, but seemed like a solid 1.5 MOA for sure with a 2.5 power scope … so the accuracy doesn’t seem too bad
 
That case with the bulge also has a slight ring around it as well. That’s a for sure sign that you’re going to get a case head separation.
How many times have you loaded those?
 
45C said:
That case with the bulge also has a slight ring around it as well. That’s a for sure sign that you’re going to get a case head separation.
How many times have you loaded those?
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I disagree. The ring formed by a case wall yielding occurs well in front of the head. What you are looking at is just a little shadow formed where the case wall was thin enough to bulge outward a little, as opposed to the head itself which stayed its nominal diameter.
 
BattleRife said:
I disagree. The ring formed by a case wall yielding occurs well in front of the head. What you are looking at is just a little shadow formed where the case wall was thin enough to bulge outward a little, as opposed to the head itself which stayed its nominal diameter.
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Maybe, but that light ring sure looks like it’s in the same place that I’ve had Sepatations.
The split neck also got a lot of carbon on the neck and shoulder.
My issue was a loose chamber and not hot enough loads.
The hotter loads eliminated most of the excessive carbon build up, but the brass wore out quickly.
OPs brass looks wore out.
 
The OP didn't state he was using handloads, they look like factory cartridges and once fired, to me.

That aside, I'm struggling with this concept of worn out brass. Cases aren't subject to much actual wear in use, so what does the term "wore out" mean?
 
BattleRife said:
The OP didn't state he was using handloads, they look like factory cartridges and once fired, to me.

That aside, I'm struggling with this concept of worn out brass. Cases aren't subject to much actual wear in use, so what does the term "wore out" mean?
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Over worked?
My brass wasn’t sealing in the chamber ,so when I FL resized the brass was being stessed to much, after 3 reloads it started getting those light colored rings around the base.I ended up with a couple of separations.

I found a load close to max and the excessive carbon buildup disappeared.
And neck sized and annealing gave the brass more life.

That was in my 7 mm.

All I’m saying is , other than the off center pin hit, his brass looks similar to mine.
Caused by an oversized chamber.
 
BattleRife said:
The OP didn't state he was using handloads, they look like factory cartridges and once fired, to me.

That aside, I'm struggling with this concept of worn out brass. Cases aren't subject to much actual wear in use, so what does the term "wore out" mean?
Click to expand...

Correct ... Factory Remington Core-Lokts with 150 grain bullet
 
Arseno said:
Correct ... Factory Remington Core-Lokts with 150 grain bullet
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The piece with the split neck is pretty dirty looking… lol
My issue was the case was not expanding enough to seal it in the chamber, thereby blowing all that carbon back over the brass.
When I measured the chamber, I couldn’t get close to the lands,no matter how far out I seated the bullet.
I was told the chamber was over sized and to long?
Two issues I think.
My brass wasn’t able to expand enough,so I was getting that ring around the base, and it was blowing carbon over the neck and shoulder.
Maybe a new barrel is the way to go?
 
Chamber diameter too large, or case diameter on the small side? Both would need to be carefully measured.
Cut a .25-06 chamber one time, factory new ammunition produced a pronounced expansion ring. I was concerned the reamer had cut an oversized chamber. Measured the case head diameters of unfired rounds out of the box with a micrometer, and the observed diameter was well under the spec. Just a manufacturing variation in the ammunition.

Asymmetrical expansion can also result if the case walls are not uniform. If one side is slightly thinner, expansion on that side will be more pronounced.
 
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