Case head seperation?

[bigedp51]

bigedp51 that is excessive headspace.

I collected Enfield rifles and any books and manuals I could get my hands on for a very long time.

The military Enfield chamber was reamed larger in diameter and longer to the chambers shoulder in 1914. This was for two reasons, there was a political ammunition scandal over "who" was awarded contracts to make ammunition for the military. Some of this ammunition was so poorly made it was hard to chamber and the mud of trench warfare complicated the problem further.

If you can learn to reload the .303 British case and get 32 reloads with moderate pressures you will understand the word "headspace" and old surplus rifles.

My No.4 Enfield rifle below has had the headspace set below minimum just kissing the rear of the case to .010 over max headspace. Normal headspace was min .064 and max .074 and the Australians set .084 as emergence wartime headspace. And this rifle had the headspace set from .057 to .084 and I'm still here alive and well with all my body parts. Bottom line, chamber pressure, and the strength of the case have the biggest effect on your cases life. And the reloading manuals data for the .303 British and other older rifles are for the weakest link in the chain, meaning older rifles made from softer steels and weaker actions.



If you look at a SAAMI cartridge and chamber drawing headspace is listed as min and max with .010 in between the two. And many older milsurp rifles have headspace over maximum and measuring the base of the case above the extractor groove will let you know when you are pushing the case limits.

The link below does not tell you chamber pressure, it simply tells you the strength of the case and how much pressure it can take before you reach its elastic limits.

Simple Trick for Monitoring Pressure of Your Rifle Reloads
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/relo...-rifle-reloads

So ask yourself "why" a new Remington 700 in 30-06 can't be loaded to .270 Win chamber pressures, its just a necked down 30-06 case. And ask yourself "why" the table below was even made up.

[bigedp51]

Below are fire formed .303 British cases using the rubber o-ring method. The rubber o-ring serves two purposes, it holds the case against the bolt face so the case will not stretch and thin. And when the o-ring is compressed it centers the small diameter case in the rear of the "fat" chamber. If this wasn't done the case would just lay in the bottom of the chamber and after firing if the case was stood on its base it would look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.



These cases are fire formed with reduced loads and using .312 100 grain pistol bullets.



And when forming 100 to 200 cases the reduced loads help make the brass butt plate "softer" and they are fun for 50 yard plinking.



Case forming load at lower left.



Bottom line, your cases will not separate if properly fire formed and resized with minimum shoulder bump. Meaning staying within the brass elastic limits and being able to spring back without stretching.

You can fire form your cases by seating the bullet long and jamming it into the rifling to hold the case against the bolt face. You can also create a false shoulder and let it hold the case against the bolt face.

Or you can fire form using the COW method (Cream of Wheat) but the firearms industry does not stand behind this method. (nor should anyone)