Federal civilian brass went boom on me.

Does the use of handloaded ammunition void any and all warranties on the rifle?

Was the bolt locked closed after the discharge?
 
Federal brass is alleged to among the softest commercial brass available. This will result in less ability to contain high working pressures compared to it's competition.

Normally this would be typified by loose primer pocoets or ejector scuff marks after being fired.

I did find that new Federal rifle brass tended to have the largest headspace, which would exacerbate case stretching on firing in loose chambers.

Was the case failure a repeat reload, or first time thru (to your knowledge)?

Some reloaders treat Federal rifle brass as "only use once" because it dosn't stand up to repeat reloadings well.

I won't drift this thread, but the pictures don't seem to be consistent with a "simple" brass failure.
 
I`ve used Fed brass in 222, 22-250 and 243 for 30 years and had no problems. I also think more than a case failure happened, but as i wasn`t there and haven`t looked over the firearm it doesn`t matter what i think happened. Good thing you weren`t hurt.
 
I am curious as to how a definitive statement could be made that it was the brass, and not an OOB malfunction. From the pictures, it appears to be clear that the brass had a gross failure and was not supported by the chamber. Perhaps someone could provide an alternate explanation based on the shape of the failed case?
Sounds like a slag on Federal brass without justification.
A case failure in a fully supported case, with a bolt locked in place (and not OOB), would be a barrel failure or a case head failure based around the primer pocket. Unless the chamber is so loose that the case is not supported at all.
 
The only brass or factory ammo I've ever had problems with were Federal.

I find the brass hard to work with, not sure why. Once bought a box of Federal Premium Sierra Boattail ammo for a 30-06 model 70. Blew three primers out of the five rounds I fired.
 
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