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Old July 3rd, 2009, 03:20 PM   #12
bmcgilvray
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Texas
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bmcgilvray
It is a case head separation. Such failures generally result from fatigued brass that has been reloaded several times and combined with excessive head space.

Brass cases used in one of my SMLE .303 rifles are only good for about three loadings and then will begin to exhibit stretching. Continued reloading of the cases will result in a separation such as this. I've also had a couple of old antique Winchester lever action rifles whose actions were springy and would also give problems with stretched cases and separations.

It was convenient that the subsequent round extracted the case body. A handy trick for removal of a case body stuck in a chamber from a head separation such as this is to utilize a bronze cleaning brush significantly larger than the diameter of the chamber. Pushed into the case, the bronze wire bristles grab the inside case walls and when the brush is withdrawn the ruptured case will come with it.
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