Case head separation?

[Axle2010]

Hey guys this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this and this is NOT a reload, this is brand new factory ammo. This was the last box off PPU ammo I've had for about a year now, I've shot at least 6 or 8 boxes of this stuff with no problems but these three all sounded and felt weird when I pulled the trigger and there was another round that didn't go off at all. No i didn't try to shoot it again. I opened up a box of Federal after these and had no issues so there's nothing wrong with my rifle, this is my Model 70 Safari Express and she shoots great. So what caused this and should I trash the whole box of brass just in case? These are 3 different cases but one case split in two places almost all the way around so I took a couple extra photos.

 

[analog_peninsula]

I’d dump the box, myself. The brass is either bad or suffering from some form of internal corrosion.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Pull the bullets, throw away the powder and brass.

Cases stretch just above the case head in a straight line perpendicular to the case. See the stretch ring flanked by blue lines,

Whatever happened to your cases I don't know but I bet the brass itself has defects. I've never seen any brass like that!

 

[skydiver386]

Brass is corroded from the inside, and/or excessive headspace.

After just a few rounds like this I'd bet it's a bad batch of ammo, especially if another brand worked with no issues.

 

[Pheroze]

The stretch ahead of the belt I have seen. But what’s going on between the belt and the rim. This brass is trash.

 

[Axle2010]

Brass is corroded from the inside, and/or excessive headspace.

After just a few rounds like this I'd bet it's a bad batch of ammo, especially if another brand worked with no issues.

I didn't think about INTERNAL corrosion. I wonder if that's why that one round didnt go off. One of these felt really odd, it had almost a delay and it sounded odd almost like a muzzle loader with a slow ignition

 

[Axle2010]

View attachment 783100

The stretch ahead of the belt I have seen. But what’s going on between the belt and the rim. This brass is trash.

Wow I hadn't even noticed that between the belt and rim. I'm definitely going to trash this box and doubt I'll ever buy PPU again

 

[DaddyFlip]

Wow I hadn't even noticed that between the belt and rim. I'm definitely going to trash this box and doubt I'll ever buy PPU again

It's a shame one bad experience can sour you on a brand forever, but that's the way it goes sometimes. What you're showing us isn't just case head separation but catastrophic failure if you ask me. I have a single lot of 1000 rounds PPU for M1 Garand that looks beautiful and I'm confident in it. But then again, I'm only using it for recreation, not life or death. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Axle2010]

It's a shame one bad experience can sour you on a brand forever, but that's the way it goes sometimes. What you're showing us isn't just case head separation but catastrophic failure if you ask me. I have a single lot of 1000 rounds PPU for M1 Garand that looks beautiful and I'm confident in it. But then again, I'm only using it for recreation, not life or death. Thanks for sharing.

Well i only bought them to stay with for the brass to reload and just to get some trigger time on a new rifle. They shoot pretty good but even the fairly cheap blue box Federal stuff is a lot more consistent so I really don't have much use in getting more PPU. I've shot several boxes of it and this was my first problem so I'm not cussing the brand in general