Thread: A couple of hunts and a reloading debacle.

@tikka....the primer is looking just fine so maybe headspace is OK too. Usually too much headspace will cause head separation, but also it will cause a top hat effect on the primer and that is not apparent. What is notable is the vertical scratching full length of the case...could be from a dirty chamber or dirty or damaged dies, and just maybe not allowing the case to equalise in the chamber ie grabbing at the front first then the back is stretching until it is stopped by the bolt.....?

Pretty unusual for a 308 to fail after 5 firings, but you need to check all the others for case head separation...I use a small rat tail file with a kink on the end....it is rigid and doesn't slip in your fingers. This could have happened with an oversized FLS or from the factory brass and started the process as early as the first firing and progressively worsened thereafter.....check the others looking for at first a smooth deflection and not necessarily a sharp depression.

Give the chamber and the die a polish and discard any brass with noticeable defects. Watch for further scratching and eliminate the cause....!

Cut one in half and inspect that base.....you will be surprised how it looks particularly at the early stages.