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

 

[R eight]

I reckon internal corrosion. I have a mate who had a batch of PPU 9.3 x62 factory ammunition that wouldn’t go bang. Pulled some projectiles and the was a guey mess inside. He had the dealer replace the batch. About 1000 rounds IIRC.

In the late’90’s I had problems with a batch of Federal Gold Match in 308 . The powder corrupted and ate its way out of the brass. Was a green colour. I just binned the 100 or so rounds that I had.

I’ve shot a lot of Federal and PPU without any other problems. Touch wood.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

That is brass case failure , do what Mark O said, do not shoot any more of that lot
Return the ammo to the shop for a refund
Gumpy

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I weigh each trimmed brass on the powder scale and compare to weight of first fired quality factory brass. If an old case is way light, that tells me too much metal is missing somewhere. Into the trash it goes. I had case separation from wore out brass in Africa on third safari. We pulled the bullets and primers on the lot and reloaded some new brass the safari operator had on hand (another reason to shoot a boring commonplace 30-06). Not dealing with that again!

 

[Tex .416]

Please notify the manufacturer. That a serious manufacturing defect they need to analyze and correct. They likely will need those to analyze, so don’t dispose of them before talking with the company. Also, please share whatever the manufacturer has to say.

 

[M70375!]

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

sounds like when the ammo was loaded , they used the wrong powder by mistake. I had similar performance but without the head separation one time when I was using a very coarse military powder designed for 20 mm cannon for some practice loads. I had no load data for it. the guy that sold me the powder said to use the same load as I would for IMR4831 and reduce it by 10%. I would get occasional hang fires and inconsistent noise levels. I abandoned that Idea quickly. Covid era experimenting. I have seen plenty of head separation over the years, but nothing like the pattern of breaking like this is showing.

 

[Axle2010]

Please notify the manufacturer. That a serious manufacturing defect they need to analyze and correct. They likely will need those to analyze, so don’t dispose of them before talking with the company. Also, please share whatever the manufacturer has to say.

I didn't think about that, I'll get in touch with PPU and see what they say

 

[Axle2010]

sounds like when the ammo was loaded , they used the wrong powder by mistake. I had similar performance but without the head separation one time when I was using a very coarse military powder designed for 20 mm cannon for some practice loads. I had no load data for it. the guy that sold me the powder said to use the same load as I would for IMR4831 and reduce it by 10%. I would get occasional hang fires and inconsistent noise levels. I abandoned that Idea quickly. Covid era experimenting. I have seen plenty of head separation over the years, but nothing like the pattern of breaking like this is showing.

That figures I'd have something nobody else has even seen lol. I'm glad it's factory stuff and not some of my first reloading attempts, id be nervous to reload anything else

 

[coyote wacker]

PPU I wouldn't even think about useing it at all !
It a real shame it happen at all to factory ammo ! Glad nothing happened to you or your gun firing the ammo.
I would give the gun a very good cleaning and disable the bolt to clean it out incase any brass ended up inside.

 

[Throwback]

Ive had similar issues with brand new ammo before. I notified the manufacturer and they sent me new ammo for free. I would:

- *Trash that brass, the relative amount of money you are throwing away is tiny compared to the risk of what could happen to you and/or your gun
- Notify the manufacturer * - they will likely ask that you send them the ammo. I would keep a few for yourself and send back the rest, and take plenty of pics.
- I would train with the ammo you will hunt with, not use cheaper ammo for practice.

Cheers

 

[Daryl S]

Please notify the manufacturer. That a serious manufacturing defect they need to analyze and correct. They likely will need those to analyze, so don’t dispose of them before talking with the company. Also, please share whatever the manufacturer has to say.

DITTO
That "LOT" of brass was not heat treated properly. It is not safe to shoot.

 

[Rafiki]

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,

View attachment 783085

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!

Ah, what cartridge is this? Certainly not a belted magnum as in the other images.