I went to the range yesterday and shot 200 rounds. It was hot as hell outside. I had no malfunctions or anything weird, but when I picked up my brass I found one of mine that looked a little weird…
Rifle: SR-15, approx 2,000 rounds through her
Ammo: PMC bronze .223 55gr
I have shot about 800 rounds of this same case(lot) of PMC with zero issues, and another case of PMC with zero malfs or issues. I always pick up my brass and this is the first time I’ve experienced a case that did this.
Are there any concerns here? Was I milli-seconds from a kb, or is this no big deal?
It’s just a case failure but nothing to worry about. I’ve seen it a few times with PMC “brass” and a lot of times from surplus Russian 7.62x54r. You may have some brass bits in your receiver now but a blast of soapy water followed by a drying and oiling would remedy it if you cared. Basically the case wall had a weak spot and the gases took the easiest route out.
The closer a case failure is to the case head, the more dangerous it is. I don’t like to see splits like that, but it does happen, especially in the neck area on cases that have been sized several times.
Nothing for you to worry about right now. Just one weak case.
That is not bad enough to worry about. Was that new ammo? Or handloads? If new it could just be an odd weak case. Usually reloaded cases will crack at the case neck first which is no big deal. Case neck brass gets work hardened from sizing and eventually will crack but no significant consequence.
Or you start to see a shiny ring near the base of the case body and that is when you toss the brass as a case head separation is BAD.
If this was new ammo was the brass exposed to any chemicals or fumes that could have made the brass brittle or weakened?
Exactly, this is more what you would expect to see from a case that has been reloaded several times, especially from full length resizing. It would be more unusual for new ammo but I guess anything new can occasionally have defects.
