Home Forums Reloading Reloading Software Case Failure

The other day I had a case failure while shooting my M77.308---
After shooting 2 other loads out of a clean rifle, I thought the
recoil was a little stiff, but, thought it was because I was going
from 125 grainers to 165 grainers. on the 2nd shot the gas and
maybe some primer pieces escaped the relief port. The bolt was a
little difficult to open, but, I hit it with the heal of my hand.
My loads were from 2/11/98.
Rem. 165 gr. PSP, W-W Primer, Rem. cases and 47.3 gr. Win. #748,
a load my son and I have been shooting on and off. I ALWAYS clean
cases and primer pockets between loadings. since about 1997, I
have only been using #748, buying 1# cans so that I don't have too much old powder standing on the shelf. I went to the one powder concept as I am only loading for the boys and my .308's
and four .30-30's; hence a good powder turnover for the 1# cans.
The case was flattened enough to show much of the marking gone,
primer pocket lose, but, no 'pressure ridge'. I store the ammo
in a dry area in the basement. there has never been even a hint of mold or off color smell, so I know moisture could not be a problem. I pulled bullets from the next 5 cases and they all were showed the powder being 'brownish' as opposed to the normal
black-gray color. I measure and weigh periodically when reloading
and double checking levels in the 'loading block'. I work up the
loads carefully and usually stay below max and go for accuracy.
I have been reloading 45 years with only one other 'incident'.
(A normal .30-30 load that gave a head separation in a generous
chamber [with a different powder].)
Has anybody experienced a similar incident with #748 and/or
11 yr. old powder? Comments appreciated.

contender,

I am responding more to bump your post to the top than to give a sure answer. To be frank I don't like ball powders at all for loading and I have used a lot of Ball C but little 748.

Perhaps others will ask some revealing questions. Without that information I would drop using 748 for all loadings and switch to some other powder. The IMR series has been good for me for the last 56 years of handloading.

I use 748 but have never had the problems you describe. I use it in 300 Savage because I get good case fill and it shoots great. I have some ammo that is about 7 - 8 years old. I will certainly watch for problems when I shoot it next. Thanks for posting and the heads up.

Alan

I used to use the IMR powders----4895, 4064, 3031 and 4320 with
pretty decent results when I reloaded about 7 calibers in addition to those mentioned here. When I decided to downsize, I
went to #748 for simplicity and ease of metering over the 'stick'
powders. I'll give Winchester a call tomorrow. I just pulled some bullets from some ammo from 2-99 and it showed none of the
'rusty' color that the aforementioned did a year earlier.????

I have heard of some powders "breaking down" but have never actually seen it. I have , and use, some bullseye that I know is over 40 years old. I have some other powders (ball c, and some surplus 4895) that is in that age range too. I don't use it but keep it for "just in case". If you're getting the kind of failure you're talking about I would say that the best bet would be to pull bullets and dump the powder, clean out the cases with a bottle brush and load them up with new powder and cheap bullets to plink with. I really need to pull some bullets on my older 300 Savage ammo to check for irregularities.

Alan