I sometimes wonder about the necessity of loading up "max loads" . I have never met an elk, deer or pronghorn that complained about the lack of 100FPS in my loads. Backing off a little never hurt anything and results in longer case life, along with longer barrel life.
Sometimes loads shoot the smallest groups right at max
Originally Posted by shrapnel
I probably hit more elk with a pickup than you have with a rifle.
Originally Posted by JohnBurns
I have yet to see anyone claim Leupold has never had to fix an optic. I know I have sent a few back. 2 MK 6s, a VX-6, and 3 VX-111s.
I sometimes wonder about the necessity of loading up "max loads" . I have never met an elk, deer or pronghorn that complained about the lack of 100FPS in my loads. Backing off a little never hurt anything and results in longer case life, along with longer barrel life.
Sometimes loads shoot the smallest groups right at max
Be that as it may, for hunting, good accuracy combined with ease of extraction, reliability in weather extremes, and bullet performance usually are more important than minor (or maybe not so minor) differences in accuracy, and while we're at it, top velocity. All depends on your situation and what twists your winkie. Not that long ago, brass life could be a big deal because of supply "issues", though hopefully we've learned our lesson there and won't get caught short again.
From the looks of the split and location I'd be wondering if there wasn't a defect in the brass. And probably send it to Remington in hopes one of their metallurgists would reply.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
Looks like several factors, any one of which or in combination, could pose a problem... 1-new barrel.
2-brass was sized for the old barrel and possibly short in headspace.
3-max load listed as such but "OK" in the old barrel.
4-changed the primer.
In effect you used a load that featured brass that had been sized for the chamber of the old barrel, is listed as maximum in a manual, AND modified it with a different primer AND fired it in a new barrel. Looks like you got lucky with just a partial head separation.
NRA Life,Endowment,Patron or Benefactor since '72.
As someone else posted, in those days Ruger barrels were .003" oversize to prevent this sort of event. That load was hot in the original barrel if you got loose primers at 5 firings.
The initial two loads acting fine indicates other issues. It could be as simple as loading it muzzle down versus horizontal. Cold welding could have played a role,
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
As someone else posted, in those days Ruger barrels were .003" oversize to prevent this sort of event. That load was hot in the original barrel if you got loose primers at 5 firings.
Good to know about the older Ruger barrels.
I never disussed the (short?) case life with anyone, just figured 5 reloads was par for the couse on a high pressure hunting round.
As I have a number of loads worked up for the old barrel looks like I've some serious bullet pulling in my near future.
If I recall correctly Hatcher wrote about a lot of National Match ammo with tin plated bullets that unexpectedly cold soldered to the brass. Scared the crap out of everybody. His investigation found no problem as normal forces easily overcame the joint strength well before peak pressure. Again IIRC he said that the ammo proved more accurate than average for National Match ammo.
Also he discussed brass failure that looked like the one in the picture and that far back. He determined it was due to a flaw in the blank which he found to be very rare. That's what gave me the idea. But could as well have another cause.
(No, not disregarding that inconsistent bullet pull could affect accuracy.)
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
It might be worthwhile to mention, once more, case head separations are caused by excessive head clearance; not by changing primers or by properly sized barrels. By the way, I've worked with a bunch of older Rugers and none had a .003" oversized barrel. Modify case sizing procedures and separations will cease. There is an exception; in a rifle with rear locking lugs, case stretching occurs to a greater extent at higher pressures. GD