Kaboom! What should I do with this ammo?

[Makinchips208]

Had a case split in two, primer was flat like a pancake, primer pocket is .003” over the primer size.

Story. Picked up 500 rounds of “reman” ammo couple years back. Have shot few dozen rounds fine.
Went to plink some of it the other day. Had a round click no bang. Extracted it and no mark on primer, tried that same round again and same thing. Set it aside and loaded a new round, gun worked fine.
Reinserted the bad round, didn’t seat fully, hit the forward assist and it locked in, aimed at target and it fired. But didn’t cycle normally, this partial case was stovepiped in the action, the front half of case was still in the chamber.
No injury, inspected gun, all is well.
AR-15 16” chrome lined barrel.
Carbine gas system.
Standard bcg

Label on box says
“223 REM A-max
Reman range grade”

Disassembled one, the bullet appears to be a vmax, it weighs 54.9 gr.

There is 26 grains of powder.
What does this powder look like?

Freak accident or should I ditch this ammo?
Or do something else?
Remanufacture the remans?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Grim's Reapers]

Why'd you keep messing about with that one round after it didn't fire twice then had to jam it in there with the forward assist. I'd have chucked that sucker the second time it didn't fire. If you have another round that doesn't fire, chuck it. If it happens again after that, I'd get rid of the stuff. If you reload, check the brass. If it looks okay, pull the bullets and reload em with a powder you know belongs in there.

 

[Makinchips208]

Good point! Thanks.
From this side of the incident I can now see that it was dumb to stick it in again, especially after the second try.

Actually the first time in many thousands of rounds I have ever had a round not seat.
And, first time ever using the forward assist.
I won’t do that again!

 

[Grim's Reapers]

Good point! Thanks.
From this side of the incident I can now see that it was dumb to stick it in again, especially after the second try.

Actually the first time in many thousands of rounds I have ever had a round not seat.
And, first time ever using the forward assist.
I won’t do that again!

Since it's reman ammo, the brass could be picked up from a range or who knows where, fired who knows how many times. It could have been a one off with that particular piece of brass. Check what you have left before you create a lot of work for yourself reloading the stuff.

 

[Grim's Reapers]

This right here looks wrong. Looks like that might have hung up your case in the chamber causing you to have to force it in there.

 

[Makinchips208]

This right here looks wrong. Looks like that might have hung up your case in the chamber causing you to have to force it in there.View attachment 8389248

Yes that does look different.
Like it wasn’t sized or else bulged somehow, and got smashed in the chamber.
Another pic of that same spot. It seems concentric. But scuffed more for sure.

I don’t mean to over analyze it. But I’ll learn for sure!

 

[FimRire RongLifle]

if you have a case gauge, (if you dont they arent expensive and worth having) i would consider visually inspecting it all for obvious culls, and then running through case gauge, culling all fails for pull down, with a powder shake check on all of it.

Id then take a sampling of CBTO measurements like every 10-20 looking for anything loaded too long. If its mixed headstamp Id keep note and sort seeing if the culls share anything in common there as well.

All culls id tear down then and weigh powder, if load seems consistent and reasonable for bullet weight id have a 'bit' more confidence in the remainder.

Finally id weigh if its worth it for 150-200$ of ammo, and if cull rate was high percentage id also give up on it. Concern or lacked confidence around ammo is always a significant distraction not worth having on a range or elsewhere.

I would not consider 'reman the reman' as all that's let is the brass really and that's exactly what is currently suspect and unknown history in the components and not worth investing into with additional components.

 

[supercorndogs]

I would guess the firing pin was proabaly not reaching the primer due to excessive headspace. Then, when it did manage to get under the extractor so the pin could reach the primer. You had a CHS due to all that headspace. That leaves the question was the case way to short, the chamber way to long, or a little of each sprinkled with the first firing of that brass being in a chamber with excessive headspace.

Of course that is assuming the bolt was in battery when it didn't fire.

 

[smoothy8500]

Case thinning from too many reloads. No mystery, look how thin the brass is at the crack. The primer just flew out as the case extracted and some residual pressure popped it out.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/attachments/img_0697-jpeg.8389227/

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

When one round in a batch goes bad, it might have been a fluke, but you did not load this ammo, so, I would think it prudent to find something else to shoot.

Ammo is cheap compared to fingers, eyes, forearms….

 

[Aftermath]

Get that stuff from downtown Lewiston next to the chiropractor?

 

[Makinchips208]

Get that stuff from downtown Lewiston next to the chiropractor?

I have no way to know, since bought in my hometown, a bit upriver.
But I wondered about that, and most likely is the source. I don’t remember the name of that place?

 

[Doom]

Reinserted the bad round, didn’t seat fully, hit the forward assist and it locked in, aimed at target and it fired. But didn’t cycle normally, this partial case was stovepiped in the action, the front half of case was still in the chamber.

This sounds like a resizing of the base issue. First try the firing pin didn't hit the primer as the bolt was out of battery. Not knowing the history of the brass it's anybody's guess but the most likely issue is the case. I would not shoot this crap.

 

[Doom]

Unless someone is shooting at and you are down to your last round don't use the forward assist.

 

[cas6969]

I was thinking the shoulder got pushed way back. No headspacing on the first two tries, hence the click. Third time it hit it hard enough to go off, but, it was "short" enough to stretch and split when it did.

Got a case gauge? Prolly-not.

ETA: I guess I missed the not going fully into battery thing.

 

[Makinchips208]

I was thinking the shoulder got pushed way back. No headspacing on the first two tries, hence the click. Third time it hit it hard enough to go off, but, it was "short" enough to stretch and split when it did.

Got a case gauge? Prolly-not.

I can’t say it wasn’t short. But I know it wasn’t fully chambering. The bolt was visibly out of battery, then when I seated it with the FA it was able to fire.

No case gauge.

 

[Dave62677]

 

[Makinchips208]

View attachment 8389505
View attachment 8389508
View attachment 8389509

What is this? Intentional case head separation?

 

[MadDuner]

I would toss the entire lot.

 

[Dave62677]

What is this? Intentional case head separation?

weak brass on 5th reloads 338nm

 

[spife7980]

View attachment 8389505
View attachment 8389508
View attachment 8389509

I’ve used a brass shotgun brush but I’m not brave enough to stick a rat tail in there!