Head separation on my brass

[elkaholic]

.008 difference on the 308's
.0015 difference on the 280 AI

.008" is a bit much!
Should not be happening with .0015" for sure.
I'm wondering now if Hornady is stretching them paper thin in their extruding process.
Case head separation usually occurs closer to the web than your pics show too when its a head space issue.

 

[Unoboats]

Possibly, I'm throwing all Hornady brass from factory ammo in the trash after once fired. But the New reloading brass doesn't do it. Weird, maybe the two are different

 

[Dean2]

Run a no-go gauge into your rifles, if it closes on that try the Field gauge. Separation like that on the first firing of factory ammo is for sure a head space issue more than 98% of the time. If however the no-go gauge won't close then something else is going on. If you don't have a no-go, measure an unfired Factory round, compare to SAMI specs, now take a fired round and measure it. If the shoulder moved forward more than .007 you have excess head space, assuming the unfired case was not shorter than spec. Do both guns do this with other factory ammo? If they do, then for sure it is head space, if only Hornady then talk to Hornady because there is something wrong with the brass.

 

[Unoboats]

will do thanks for the help

 

[Unoboats]

neither bolts would close, its something else I assume. Weird how only the Factory ammo brass does this and not the box of loose 308 brass. Have not tried to load any of the 280AI brass and most likely will not.

 

[338 dude]

The last two batches of Hornady Brass that I have worked up was terrible and did the same thing in my 308 with .001 bump, IMO Hornady brass is now on the same level as Federal brass, It's a shame it was good stuff at one time

It known for being soft

 

[Dean2]

neither bolts would close, its something else I assume. Weird how only the Factory ammo brass does this and not the box of loose 308 brass. Have not tried to load any of the 280AI brass and most likely will not.

If neither closes on the No-go then call Hornady, send them some pictures and measurements. I would also measure a unfired head space length and a fired one for both guns. Will be very interested to hear what they have to say for themselves. They have always been excellent with me. I had some issues a few years ago with overly hot 17 HH ammo that the brass also had dished heads on it. They replaced all 2000 rounds no problem at all.

 

[Unoboats]

Will do

 

[Unoboats]

Contacted Tech support at Hornady and they are going to look at this thread to see if there is anything they suggest.
Thanks for all the help guys.

Best
Chip Bell

 

[Almondgrower]

I know that several brass/Ammo manufacturers don't use their brass in their own factory Ammo especially the ones that are considered by many to be good brass ( nosler ) ... .008 is definitely to much head space but I'm thinking it's a Manufactureing defect , thinking thats why it's that high up too . Try cutting a case in half length wise and measure wall thickness at different points , keep us posted !

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

Try cutting a case in half length wise and measure wall thickness at different points , keep us posted !

id like to see that too.

 

[MTGEEZER]

id like to see that too.

Something else you may want to do, especially with the .308 since it appears you have had a total case separation, is to scope your chamber for a carbon ring; happened to me once on my 300WM. Subsequent firings of a known safe load caused rings onto appear on my brass not unlike those shown in your photos. Thought I'd ruined my Tikka! A good gunsmith (Really wish he wasn't retired now!) checked it all out; no damage to rifle, just told me to scrub the chamber until carbon ring was gone- my problem was solved. Good luck resolving your issue! GEEZER

 

[Unoboats]

Barrel had been stripped earlier and had no more than 10 rounds thru it, so no carbon ring.

 

[freddiej]

Unoboats: let me educate you on how a case head separation happens. (what conditions must exist)
it takes 30,000 PSI to stretch brass
it takes 0.010" to 0.011" excessive headspace to start showing signs of excessive head space.(that ring around the outside of the brass) if you look inside you can see ring more pronounced.
It takes 0.012" or more to separate case heads on brass
IF you had only bumped the shoulders 0.005" case head separation would never happen. Atleast I have never seen it with only 0.005" of excessive headspace in my 19 years of being a gunsmith.
Something in this whole mix is very false. If it is brittle brass as some have stated with Hornady brass then it is something I have never seen with Hornady.. R-P brass very much so.
here is how I would check how much excessive headspace you have. its easy and cheap to do.
first take a resized piece of brass for each of the guns you want to check headspace in, put in a primer. go outside, load the primed case in the chamber and point at the ground and pull the trigger. then extract/eject the case and measure OAL of the case. then measure from the case mouth to include the protruding primer. then subtract the two, that is your excessive head space. you should find it much more than you believe it should be.