Something Very Strange!! Need Help

[nitro476]

Hello Fellow members. I am new to your site and I hope I will be able to contribute in the future. Something very strange has happened and I would appreciate your input. I have a beautiful, custom rifle built by one of the best makers in the US. The action is a Remington 30S and it has been barreled and chambered to 375 Dakota by Pac Nor who do great work. The stock was also done by a very seasoned maker and the rifle has a Schmidt & Bender scope. The rifle was completed in 2002 and it is very, very accurate with 1/2" groups common. I moved to Chile and the rifle has been in storage for approximately three years. I took the rifle out today and was preparing to shoot it and loaded the magazine with the three rounds. As I pushed the bolt forward I noticed strong resistance as the cartridge was being chambered! I opened the bolt to remove the case and to my surprise the neck was split!!!! I examined the additional rounds and they appeared to be ok. Each time I tried to chamber a new round the same thing would happen!! These were rounds that were reloaded and I was curious if the die could have been out of adjustment?? Upon careful examination I found that the bullets could be pulled out of the cases with finger pressure. One round that I chambered had the bullet fall out when I open the bolt to extract the round!!!! These are new cases and were never fired. I would appreciate any help with this problem. Many thanks!

[LDBennett]

Since the gun has a record of shooting good in the past and the only new thing in the equation is the reloaded ammo then it would be a problem with the ammo, I would think. Inspect the barrel for obstructions first. Discard the ammo and buy either commercial ammo or reload a new batch with new cases. Inspect the dies used and make sure all is correct both in their markings and the sizing of the cases. If anything is wrong with the dies then replace them. Make sure any ammo that you make measures up correctly.

I have never heard of a case like this but if the ammo was stored with the gun or stored at all, then who knows what happened in the interim?

LDBennett

[nitro476]

Thank you LD. I am going to reload a batch and try it again on Thursday. It was as if the case was getting stuck in the chamber and when it was extracted, had a split the entire length of the neck. I have been loading a very long time and never had anything like this happen. I will post a new report after my next session.

[artabr]

Nitro, you sure named your thread correctly!! I like L.D. have never heard of this, The split necks are what really have me scratching my head???
Were the necks just split or torn?
Good luck on your next try.

Art

[armedandsafe]

Size some new brass and try them BEFORE you prime and load them. If they chamber properly, then seat a bullet in one of them, without the primer or powder, and try that one, If all is still OK, them proceed to load the rest.

Pops

[mtnboomer]

Hmmmmmmm.......


Well, a possible explanation may be that if the rifle was built with long leade in the throut and the reloads were made to sit just off the lands, if the bullets are a boattail-style that are loaded into overly tight case necks over a compressed powder charge, the bullets may have inched out during shipping or some other reason causing them to contact the rifling (the resistance you're feeling when you close the bolt) pushing the bullets back into the case causing the case neck to split.

Yeah, I know, it's far-fetched but a possiblity.

Yes, try some factory ammo to see if it works better.

[Popgunner]

Sounds feasable to me Boomer