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7.62x54 case splitting

mossberg500manmossberg500man Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
edited July 2013 in Ask the Experts
Was at the range today and trying out some communist surplus and had a lot of cases split at the neck is this common or? I've shot brown bear and wolf through my rifle no problem before

Comments

  • charliemeyer007charliemeyer007 Member Posts: 6,572 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sounds like poor annealing/work hardening issue with that lot. Do the spent primers look normal and did the report seem ok?
  • mossberg500manmossberg500man Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yes normal primer strike and report so it might just be bad anealing or workmanship
  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,650 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Some of the old Warsaw Bloc ammo, is in poor condition. It dates to the 50's or earlier? And has been stored under questionable conditions.

    I was disassembling some of the "Heavy Ball", machine gun ammo for the components, awhile back. The powder in the cases was so deteriorated it was almost in a solid mass, not individual grains.
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Assuming your gun is otherwise OK, I'd chalk this up to a bad lot of ammo.

    There is a LOT of 7.62x54R still floating around out there from most of the Commie-bloc countries, and its not all good. (Its typically steel cased, by the way, with "brass" being copper washed steel).

    But its not all bad.

    I've recently tried some of the Bulgarian surplus, in SPAM type cans from the 1970s, and the ammo was absolutely pristine, looking like it came out of the factory yesterday. I mean perfect gleaming cases, bullets, and lacquered primers. I even cracked one open and the powder looked perfect.
  • 11b6r11b6r Member Posts: 16,584 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In GENERAL- a case split vertically at neck- ammo
    Split running AROUND the case- rifle.
  • TRAP55TRAP55 Member Posts: 8,289 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The older brass case Bulgarian surplus is notorious for neck and shoulder splits. Some of it was re-packaged Chinese surplus.In my SVT-40 the cases would separate below the shoulder on extraction.
    What's the head stamp on your ammo, and is it brass or steel case?
  • mossberg500manmossberg500man Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by TRAP55
    The older brass case Bulgarian surplus is notorious for neck and shoulder splits. Some of it was re-packaged Chinese surplus.In my SVT-40 the cases would separate below the shoulder on extraction.
    What's the head stamp on your ammo, and is it brass or steel case?
    copper washed steel I'm pretty sure and I don't know check when I get home
  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Happens a lot. Old poorly made cases are to blame. If you aren't seeing any pressure signs there's no reason not to shoot it, a cracked neck isn't going to hurt anything.
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