You are right - I was typing faster than I was thinking and should have caught that....Could be stressed brass ie: reloaded two many times. I agree its really hard to double charge a .223 cartridge, but you could over load it a bit.
Ultramax is a commercial brand of reloaded Remington .223 but I'm pretty sure they're reloaded with a machine, not by hand. I've put several thousand rounds of Ultramax through my AR with exactly one ftf. But I expect it only takes one round exploding to put you in a bad mood.You said he "bought" handloads? Was it from a reliable company, or did he buy some off of a guy at the range or something?
Yesterday at the range a buddy of mine was shooting some reloaded ammo he bought. Well the shell exploded in the gun. The casing ripped apart completely about 3CM above rim.
Depends on several factors. Assuming you reload to specs listed in the various powder manufacturers data manuals, you should get at least 5 safe reloads from a .223. Inspect the brass and check case length with a trimmer after every 2nd reload. If your using Lake City or brass from any military supplier it should last longer because military brass is generally thicker-walled, that's why the max load listed for commercial brass will be a compressed load in military brass - less volume due to thicker brass. Some mild calibers like the 30-30 I have reloaded 6-8 times, other's like the .308 no more than 5. This does not mean they do not need to be resized - they do. The .223 is a high power, high pressure load and won't go beyond 5 or 6 at maximum loads. Bright ring forming at the base of the case generally indicates case head separation, but don't confuse that with the marks left by the resizing die.He shot a full 20 rd clip and on the second one it did it. No rapid fire. We were sighting in his red dot so the shots were spaced quite a bit.
For those reloaders do you have a personal maximum reload time on brass?
For me - after extensive testing and MANY case seperations, I refuse to reload any LARGE RIFLE .308/30-06 more than 3 times.
"Stovepipes" are not a function of reload vs. factory. They are jams which are usually caused by ammo not feeding properly due to bullet head configuration, magazine, or feed-ramp problems. Some handguns only feed FMJ's or round nose style bullets reliably. Certain bullet styles (truncated cone H.P's in particular) may hang up on the feed ramp. This is why it's imperative to test various types of ammo in your auto before loading up and heading out! Properly hand-reloaded ammo can be more accurate than factory ammo, and much cheaper. Commercial reloads are another story.i hate reloads. not a big fan of them. you have less chance of a stovepipe from quality factory ammo. why risk your fingers for a few bucks..
....Which is one of the reasons quality gunsmiths have been making money with "polished" feed ramps. The smoother the surface, the less chance of a hang up"Stovepipes" are not a function of reload vs. factory. They are jams which are usually caused by ammo not feeding properly due to bullet head configuration, magazine, or feed-ramp problems. Some handguns only feed FMJ's or round nose style bullets reliably. Certain bullet styles (truncated cone H.P's in particular) may hang up on the feed ramp. This is why it's imperative to test various types of ammo in your auto before loading up and heading out! Properly hand-reloaded ammo can be more accurate than factory ammo, and much cheaper. Commercial reloads are another story.