What should he do?

[GRiNGo]

Hi all, my friend got a Remington VTR in 22-250 and it is tearing up cases. The only way to get it to stop is to neck size the ones that don't break. Head spacing is good. What else should we check or do?

 

[dan belisle]

Post pics of the cases please. This is not normal in a new rifle in good condition. - dan

 

[rishu_pepper]

Return the gun.

 

[sbtennex]

Do as dan suggested - worth a 1000 words. "Tearing up cases" can mean a few things but doesn't help much. Need to see to them to figure it out.

 

[horseman2]

How old is the brass. I had some 6mm Rem that were splitting on the first firing. On examination there were small cracks showing in the unfired necks.

 

[GRiNGo]

Sorry guys I didn't take any pics, but they are opening up about a centimeter from the base about a 1/3 of the way around the case. Also the primers come out past flush on some and they flatten. This is with factory ammo and reloads (even reduced loads), but we get no splitting of cases and no primmer poping when neck sizing.

Just to clarify the factory ammo did not split but the primers pop and flatten and some of the full length reloads split but the neck size ones don't.
We had a gunsmith check the headspace and he said it was very good. I will get some pics.

 

[Gatehouse]

Factory ammo splitting like you say sounds like a headspace problem to me.

I'd return it...

 

[dan belisle]

Yeah, those sound like typical headspace cracks. I would get it checked to make sure, and then deal with Rem. - dan

 

[GRiNGo]

Here is a couple of pictures.

 

[martinbns]

First thing is stop firing it, second thing send it to a competent smith to have it diagnosed and repaired. Whatever the problem is it's serious.

 

[martinbns]

HOw do the loaded rounds chamber?

 

[GRiNGo]

Nice and smooth. Also as I said before any that don't crack, we can neck size and then they seem to fire alright and stop flatening primers. Our gun smith said the head spacing was good.

 

[mahony1977]

Take it to another smith for a second opinion on the headspace . Did you'r freind see him check it with GO & NO GO gauges ?

 

[sbtennex]

Sounds like an over generous chambering job. Too much slop, too much brass moving. Flattened chambers alone don't necessarily mean a whole lot, but it'd be interesting to know what the case expansion at the head is after firing. That looks like a classic head separation, like what belted mags can do if F/L resized too often. Is that barrel and chamber clean? If it came new full of the classic layup gunk in it and wasn't cleaned first, almost anything could happen. Odd - the little 22-250's are generally very easy on brass if the length is watched.

 

[todbartell]

im sure everything is 100%, keep firing it! guns fix themselves over time

 

[H4831]

Quote, "im sure everything is 100%, keep firing it! guns fix themselves over time."

Your little joke could cost you, if someone gets hurt on the next firing.

 

[MTM]

im sure everything is 100%, keep firing it! guns fix themselves over time

Yup, but lay off the Red Dot. And have gun gunsmiths headspace checked. Looks like somethings got room to move a fair bit.

 

[MTM]

Just thought I'd add, could be the dies or the handloading practices. Is the full length die too short? Somethings creating a ton of extra headspace.

 

[RePete]

Have a look at the flattened primers.

Are they reloads or factory rounds?

Stop firing that rifle.

 

[Eagleye]

You are oversizing your cases for that chamber. Setting the shoulder back when resizing will cause this problem. If the headspace is even a tad too long, it will exacerbate the issue. Have the headspace rechecked, and if it is good, back that FL die off a bit so you are not setting the shoulder back. That is why neck sized cases work Ok, the shoulder-to-base dimension is not altered by neck sizing. Regards, Eagleye.