The Firearms Forum banner

New gun, factory ammo, and a big problem

5K views 50 replies 24 participants last post by  tuckerd1 
#1 ·
A friend posted these pictures on another site. He thinks the ammo is defective but I think it looks like a head space or chamber problem. He fired 15 rounds and said the recoil nearly broke his shoulder and it is now swollen and black and blue. The last round is the one in the pictures. I asked if the other 15 pieces of brass were swollen at the base but haven't heard back from him. What do you think? The gun is a brand new Remington 700 SPS heavy barrel (26") varmint rifle.

Button Ammunition Hand Wood Bullet
Brass Ammunition Bullet Metal Finger
Brass Ammunition Metal Bullet Finger
Text Font
 
See less See more
4
#2 ·
On first glance, I'm thinking it's an ammo issue. Sounds like a hot load...but if he's not used to the rifle yet, it's hard to judge just by recoil feel. a HB .308 shouldn't kick the snot out of you too badly...but if the stock doesn't fit that can make the recoil feel 10x worse than it really is too.

It might be defective brass or an oversize chamber. It shouldn't be a headspace issue since that would normally give a lateral split or full case head separation instead of the longitudinal split shown.

I would mic the dimensions of the fired cases. Post up the numbers here if you don't have another .308 to compare to. Two rifles probably won't have the exact same chamber dimensions but it'll be a ballpark number to work with.
I'd also suggest pulling a bullet and double-checking the charge weight...but this is factory ammo so that's out. DOH! :)
 
#4 ·
I agree with Bindernut.Either an oversize chamber or weak/brittle/bad brass. Too bad he (I assume) didn't try another sample of cartridges. Joe
 
#5 ·
I say take the gun and the cases to a Remington repair station (authorized by the Remington factory) and have them measure the chamber to verify it is right. If you want to do it yourself get the go/no-go gauge set and checkout the chamber. A machinist has hole gauges in 0.001 inch increments and can measure the inside diameter of the chamber if you find the go/no-go gauges rattle around in the chamber.

If all is well with the gun then contact Hornady about the ammo. They can determine if the cases are bad or not. They can also determine if this particular lot of ammo has shown to be faulty by others. I am assuming these are factory loads and not home reloads.

Don't fire this gun again until it is given a clean bill of health.

LDBennett
 
#6 ·
One thing that caught my eye is the pattern of carbon around the base. It looks like a piece of .40 S&W brass that has been fired from a Glock with the unsupported chamber. The "Glock bulge" looks like that without the carbon ring.
 
#51 ·
First thing I would do is verify that the rifle is, in fact, chambered in .308.

I know that sounds stupid, but stranger things have happened.
I have a friend whose wife gave him a rifle for Christmas. He bought 270 ammo for it and we went to the range to try it. The first shot the case would not eject. I had a cleaning rod so I pushed the case out and it was split BAD! I looked at the markings on the barrel and it turned out to be a 7mm Mag.

It happens.
 
#13 ·
A QC issue with the SPS line of Remington rifles is far more likely than Hornady Match ammo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikld
#18 ·
It is an ammo problem! Look at pictures 2 and 3 in original post.
The brass was folded when the case was formed.
I have seen a lot of 50 BMG that had the same problem.

Ammunition Bullet Copper Gun accessory Metal
 
  • Like
Reactions: todd51
#20 ·
I don't see any way for bad brass to cause recoil so severe that it would bruise and swell a shooters shoulder from a 308. The pressures had to be ridiculously high to split the thickest part of the case and cause that much recoil. Is the gun in fact chambered for 308 win?
 
#22 ·
Keep us posted.
 
#23 ·
So the gun shop said it was a 308.

What does the GUN say? It will be marked on the barrel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hstout1143
#27 ·
If you look at the primer - it is NOT flattened, and to me that says that the pressure was likely not excessive. The case failed at the head. I'm thinking that it is (1.) either the round was fired in a chamber of the wrong caliber, (2.) the bolt holding the round in-place was completely wrong for that rifle, or (3.) the ammo itself had defective brass (maybe the head portion was annealed too soft?) I can't wait to see what is found out about this one.
 
#30 ·
One thing that it took me a long time to understand is that you can't trust a flattened primer as a high pressure warning sign. Josh (JLA) kept mentioning not to trust em. That's one of the signs that was always pointed out to me when I started reloading many years ago...but it wasn't until I started shooting across a chronograph and measuring case head expansion that I found I had two pet loads that were seriously hot but primers looked just fine. One is a .25-06 100gr H4831 load that was smoking out at just over 3400fps (darn near .257WM velocity). The primers looked just fine regardless of what brand I was using but case life was very short...loose pockets or neck splits after only 4-5 loadings. So there were other indicators, but the primers looked fine.
Primer cup material comes in different hardnesses, bolt faces and firing pin recesses are different from rifle to rifle, pressure curves come slow or fast. All of these determine what that primer is going to look like. I've have some fairly mild loads that would flatten and/or crater the primer and I've had some hot loads where the primers looked just fine.

Like Alpo just posted, I really don't trust Hornady brass anymore either.
 
#28 ·
I rarely buy factory ammo.

But when once fired brass if offered to me, I accept it.

Except for Hornady. I don't know what it is, but I have not had good luck with it. All Hornady brass that I have fired has been pistol ammo type - 44 magnum or 44/40, but it has all failed (longitudinal splits in the body) either in the first resizing, or the first firing.

I no longer shoot Hornady brass. If I find it, I leave it on the ground.
 
#29 ·
I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here, and that's about what it's worth. The ammo pictured is Hornady "Match" ammo. I don't think that the ammo is the problem. The very first picture posted is of the primer, and that primer does not show any signs of over pressure. That leaves the gun.

My brother bought a brand spanking new Remington 270 a couple of years ago. He bought a scope for it, and headed to the range. Three shots, and the gun stopped functioning. Empty brass in chamber, can't get it open. So he takes it back to the LGS and the LGS smith gets it open, replaces the bolt, and gives it back. Next time he shoots the gun, the same thing happens. Back to the LGS who now wants no part of this deal. My brother calls Remington, and they say send it back to us. They return the rifle saying they can not reproduce any malfunctions. The gun still won't work!

My advice is take your gun to a good gun smith, and get it fixed!
 
#31 ·
Just for kicks, I went searching the Remington line. From what I could find, the 700 SPS Varmint is only offered in four calibers. The .223, .204, 22-250 and 308 Win. I can't verify this on Remingtons site because I keep getting a 503 error. But I think we would all agree that it would be hard to get that 308 in any of the other chambers. I'm not ruling out the possibility of a faulty rifle but, I'm certainly not going to rule out the ammo just because it's Hornady Match ammo.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top