Posted on 11/24/2010 11:26:33 AM PST by archy
[IMG]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/weaponspc/Documents/hornadyTAPammowarning.jpg[/IMG]
Well, DOH! Next they won't want ammo that actually explodes.
It sounds to me like someone was firing with a bore obstruction. Maybe a couple of cadets left cleaning rods or boresighting spuds in place?
Luv the 'noob' slam
I had a case failure in an Armalite, I don’t know if the round even chambered. But rat-tat-tat-POW kching whizzz!
The mag was belled out at the bottom, all the rounds had been pushed right out through the bottom, looked like the round at the top had ignited when the one in the chamber went.
The charging handle on the Armalite went flying to the right.
The bolt was a loss, extractor bent, and it could not be disassembled.
Nobody got hurt, luckily, but having that happen in your arms is a high-adrenaline event.
We think that some of the ammo had failed-to-feed before but got put back in the box, not a very good idea.
Hopefully that's all the time, because you do not want to fill the case so full that seating the bullet compacts the powder. Then you do get a *boom* when you pull the trigger.
Actually my best .06 load is slightly compressed when the 165 gr bullet is seated.
*ping*
I love my M-1. It's as accurate as can be. Now if I could just shoot straight.
Christmas is coming!
Had something bad happen to a CZ-52 when I fired it. Slide became hopelessly jammed and had to sell for parts. Was using custom ammo, too.
I got mine when CMP was called DCM...
I got it in the early ‘80s and it was delivered on Christmas Eve after an almost 1 year wait and without the letter saying it was coming (got the letter the following week) , what a Christmas present.
it cost about $125 at that time.....
and it was hand delivered by my mailman....who got a really good Christmas tip that year.
***I love my M-1. It’s as accurate as can be. Now if I could just shoot straight.***
I got one through the CMP about fifteen years ago. It is a great looking International Harvester with an Iver Johnson trigger assembly.
It is so accurate I put three shots in one hole at 100 yards before witnesses. Unfortunatly that was the “sight in” shots for the match so the shots didn’t count. I have never been able to do that again.
The second one from the DCM was a Springfield m-1D. Not in quite as good of shape as the IH but it still shoots well. It came with a Weaver B4 scope. I wrote the NRA and they confirmed that the Army did issue some M-1Ds with Weaver scopes in the mid 1960s. I still have all the paperwork on this jewel.
“you do not want to fill the case so full that seating the bullet compacts the powder”
Study a few reloading manuals and you are bound to discover that *some* powders can be very lightly compressed. Loading density is one the factors that I consider when selecting a powder.
You shouldn’t have any problems from a slightly compressed load.
There are many professionally developed loads that are compressed.
What you really don’t want in a smokeless load is that the load density is so reduced that you can get ignition across the top of the powder for the length of the case. Pressures can go up markedly in that instance.
mine is a springfield made in 1942. it stays in the black at 100 yds....my son’s Harrington and Richardson (1950s vintage) groups a bit tighter. he carrys his for deer hunting with a hunting legal 5 shot clip...too heavy for me to carry afield at my age.
There is a difference between a compressed load and a compacted load. Some people purposely look for a full case load so the powder doesn’t rattle about lose its grain shape.
But you have to agree that 99% of factory loads have air space in the case, which was my point.
The problem with compressed loads is that sometimes they will push the bullet forward over a period of time. This can be a problem if you are feeding them through a magazine...not much of a problem if you are loading single shot.
Dropping your powder very slowly or through a long drop tube will allow it to settle more in the case and you are less likely to need to compress the load.
I shoot benchrest and we use loads so hot that if we drop them into the case quickly they fill it up and occasionally overflow. Dropping the powder slowly solves this problem.
Or incorrectly seated bullets. A bullet that is seated too short or too long can cause excessive chamber pressures. In a best case, like this one, it only results in a ruptured case and some damage to the rifle. Worst case is a breach failure, which results in bits of metal flying around the room.
Military firearms are designed for this to happen. I have seen the barrel group of an M60 MG go flying down range when a squib got just past the gas port and the following round sheared the barrel. The barrel was designed with a failure point just in case and functioned as designed. No one was injured, only soiled.
Then how do you load a light target load? With a .38 and a 148 grain wad cutter, you only need 2.7 grains of Bullseye. That's about a third of the case volume.
Usually, if you're compacting the powder, you've accidently double charged the case, and it will go boom. If you're working up a compressed load intentionally, that's a different matter.
Yes, I am familiar with drop tubes to load black powder. No surprise it is done with smokeless too.
“Then how do you load a light target load? With a .38 and a 148 grain wad cutter, you only need 2.7 grains of Bullseye. That’s about a third of the case volume.”
I hear what you’re saying. The fast double-based powders like Bullseye and Unique have been around a very long time and seem less prone to low density detonation than some other powders. Some reloaders even fire form new rifle brass using squib loads of the stuff. Reloaders for cowboy action shooting load for low velocity (pistol 700-800 fps) and often use bulky powders like “Trail Boss” to prevent accidental double loads. That should work well for target shooting.
You and me, brother.
With pistol powders, the problem isn’t as apparent. Pistol powders are already fast burning. The issue really arises with rifle powders because you’re effectively changing (increasing) the burn rate by igniting such a wide swath of the powder stack.
Some of the new rifle powders are very slow burning by comparison to pistol powders. In a .223, the issue might not manifest itself in overpressures high enough to cause chamber failure, but in large capacity magnums of .30 cal and up, I’ve seen more than one case failure and one stuck bolt from a “light target load” that filled only perhaps half of the case capacity.
The meta-issue is what you’re effectively doing to the burn rate of the powder.
Can’t find anything on their web site, yet.
All reloading manuals list loads which are assembled with the bullet compressing the powder as the bullet is seated in the case.
Shotgun shells often have detailed powder pressure data, so that the over powder wad (and sometimes the other wads) applies the correct amount of pressure to the powder.
Is this for real? Do we have any source?
That sounds like the Hornady steel case training ammo, right?
(Not the regular brass cased TAP ammo?)
http://www.hornadyle.com/products/detailfe40.html?id=72&sID=94
Hornady® Training™ ammunition provides a cost-effective alternative to the standard TAP® loads for tactical training. Loaded with Hornady® bullets and proven propellants coupled with a higher quality lacquer-coated steel case and berdan primer, Hornady® Training™ ammunition is designed to deliver point of aim / point of impact consistency when compared to comparable TAP® offerings. Hornady® Training™ Ammunition—an economical, high-quality solution for Law Enforcement training.
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