Reloading .223 WTF? (Picture)

greg11

greg11

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I used my RCBS hammer bullet puller to take down a .223, here's what happened:

necksep.jpg


Is there a name for this? Is this super dangerous (like I think it is)???

Imagine if that happened in the chamber?! I have a feeling I'd be eating my bolt.
 
COOL.

Never seen a seperation like that just while using a kinetic hammer. I guess that tells you that that piece of brass was loaded one too many times. ;)

Have a peek at your other rounds, but it probably would not have harmed you if that did go off in your firearm and it seperated like that. (Assuming you had the correct OAL and charge of course)

The worst that would likely happen is if the case neck stayed in there like that, then it would jam the gun as the next cartridge tried to enter the chamber.

Stay safe and check your brass for stress marks.
 
"...a name for this?..." Fornicated up case. Like Kevin M. says, it was very likely excessively work hardened from repeated sizing. Never seen that before either though. You need to anneal all of your empty cases.
Highly unlikely to cause any grief upon firing, other than cracking the neck. Isn't 'super dangerous' in a kinetic puller either.
 
Neato. No-one's seen it all, but now I've seen that, thanks for sharing. Give the rest of the batch of brass a quick check, but I wouldn't get too stressed, likely just a bad piece, that failed.
 
Haha! Funny no one's seen this...

It's Federal "FC .223 Rem," an it's range brass...

I know, I know, don't load range brass some will say. I don't know if these have been reloaded before, or how much they've been reloaded if they were. But they all seem to look fine.

I'll look into annealing...
 
What kind of dies are you using? Is the bullet seating die set up too low and its compressing the case? I once crumpled a case with a lee bullet seating die that I set too low.
 
Nope. I know exactly what you're saying too, because I've messed up a few rounds the way you describe...

That set was actually one where I was experimenting with seating the bullets out to touch the lands, so that's definitely not the case. In fact, the neck didn't move at all in relation to the cannelure on the bullet, that's pretty much the depth I was seating that set to.
 
KDX said:
Are you sure that you're not Chuck Norris?
Click to expand...

I needed that laugh first thing in the morning.

I have never seen that happen and I doubt that the action on your rifle would have been able to have done this either as it is no where as near as violent as a kinetic hammer.
 
Your bullet puller is sending you a message: it's time to buy new brass.

No danger to you, the pressure of ignition expands the case neck when the cartridge is fired. The worst that would happen is the neck splits but there would be no catastrophic blowup event like you imagine.

Anneal your brass or just buy some new.
 
+2 on the annealing. It's simple enough and should give new life to those cases.

I note that the nose of your bullet is distorted. Were you using any kind of pad inside the bullet puller? A little piece of sponge rubber or a wadded up kleenex will protect the bullets from damage, allowing you to reuse them.

I'd also agree with the low danger assessment. The only way things could go seriously south would be if the bullet tried to go down the barrel with the neck still around it and that would seem quite unlikely.
 
ha ha ha ha ha. Now that's neck tension. Good thing for RCBS warranty, Ive had to use it 3 times with the hammer i own. I have to say ive never done anything like that to a load case.
 
Look at it this way. With a heavy bullet in a 45-70, the bullet could easily weigh twice of what the rest ot the components of the cartrifge weighs.
Common sense dictates that not much of a jolt with the hammer will remove the bullet.
With a 223 cartridge the bullet may weigh only one quarter of what the entire cartridge weighs. Thus, it will take a tremendous amount of "kinetic energy" to move that light bullet.
In other words, your "kinetic energy hammer," is not suitable for removing very light bullets from rifle cases.
I think you have a record, though.
It looks like no one else has ever seen this!
 
I still think the brass is fatiqued in some way. No matter how tightly it was crimped to that bullet it should slip off before tearing the brass, unless the brass is damaged already at that neck's sharp bend.
 
Usually, when a case fails from repeated neck sizing, the neck cracks vertically so that it won't hold a bullet securely. I've never seen a case let go like that before.

I don't think this is a dangerous condition. The worst that would happen is that you would need a bronze brush or a broken case extractor to remove the stuck neck from the chamber. Even head separations rarely result in gas being blown backward.
 
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