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question for JustC
brickmaster1248
Member Posts: 3,344
Comments
Yes, it is a pressure problem. Assuming the cases weren't worn out with loose primer pockets, then a primer being backed out is a sign of too much pressure. Now,...at only .002" longer than book length, you were a ways off the lands,....in fact nowhere close.
whose OAL guage are you using?? each type works differently. I use the Sinclair tool because it utilizes a fired case from your chamber. This is IMHO the best way to determine proper OAL measurements for each different chamber.
Now,..even though my 308 chamber is tight, with a .337" neck requiring turning necks on anything but winchester match brass,....I can run 44.5gr of varget behind a 168gr a-max or SMK. But I have not tried a TSX. I am betting between the TSX alloy solid construction, the fact you had it seated sooo deep in the case by using a book OAL (which reduced powder capacity and increases pressure) as well as the stiff load of 45gr of varget,..you have run into possibly the 75K psi or even higher range. It takes a LOT of pressure to blow a primer and stick a case. I have stuck a case that had to have the bolt beat open by my hand to remove it (thank god for having a sako extractor installed) but didn't pop the primer. Maybe because the chamber was a match chamber and the casehead was firmly against the boltface, the primer stayed in. Your OAL sounds so short, that the firing pin pushed the case fwd in the chamber, and pressure spiked fast enough to push the primer out before the case expanded back toward the boltface, which would have reseated the primer and flattened it.
Do you have a headspace guage?? if so,..I bet a fired case and your sized case have major differences. I like to keep my shoulders just where they are after the first firing so the case can not move around in the chamber and is also being worked far less, allowing longer case life. You FL sizing isn't going to help as the case is shorter than the chamber.
keep us informed of what you find after this response. More info and more measurements will almost always solve the problem.
ps extractors are cheap.
as to the comparator,...I am not 100% on the Hornady/stoney point with those threaded cases. That case most likely is very different from your chamber. You need to (until you get a sinclair OAL tool which uses a fired case from your chamber), set your FL die to only partial full length size. This way, you basically size the neck, and slightly compress the expansion ring for smooth feeding, without pushing the shoulders back. Now your case will positively headspace on the chamber shoulder.
Next,...back down on the varget. I have a feeling that is a hot load,..especially to push out a primer. That primer probably was pinned against the extractor during full chamber pressure, which then broke the extractor.
Also,..get a sinclair headspace guage to measure the casehead to shoulder length for your chamber. This way, you can adjust the die little by little until you have sized the case without moving the shoulder back.
the issue you have isn't all that bad,..and we all learn the same way. You didn't have to beat the bolt open, you didn't seize the action, you didn't blow the gun, etc etc. So just learn a lesson and move on. I still think, without having the case etc in my hands,..that excessive sizing creating a headspace issue, coupled with a stiff load of varget, casued this.
You can try 44gr or even 43gr of varget and fire the load. Then just push the case out with the cleaning rod. If your primer is fine,.there is your answer.
Were your other primers flat from other rounds of this load??? or did this happen on the first round fired??