Garand Failure on M1 Page

[Hefights]

http://www.jouster.com/forums/showthread.php?43897-Catastrophic-Failure

Fellow reloaders, in case you have not seen it, refer post above wherein a very experienced reloader and Garand shooter had a failure. One candidate cause was possibility of contamination of Bullseye from previous reloading session in his IMR 4895 charges dispensed through an RCBS Charge Master - i.e. Bullseye not being totally cleared out of the system. Another is maybe the possibility of cell phone interference with the machine, which apparently has happened before to others using that machine. Shooter was using Federal brass, sold as once fired from a vendor. Pretty clear that it was not an out of battery fire.

This is a good lesson for reloaders, although cause remains undetermined. While it does not appear that case head failure alone could have caused this (due to damage to bolt lugs), I personally do not use Federal brass in milsurp rifles.

One thing is for sure, generally speaking. Whether you are using a Dillon 550, a Charge Master, or whatever, you have to take pains to ensure that your powder system is free from the previous session's powder. You also should not have a cell phone around automatic dispensers, and no distractions during reloading.

[broom jockey]

Good points. When reloading, a person has to be on the ball the whole time.

[RED]

I had an experience that may or may not be relevant. I was loading some "once fired" LC '06 match brass that I purchased from Jeff Bartlett. My procedure was to full length re-size, manually clean the primer pockets, tumble, and then trim using a Dillon RT 1200 just as a measure to ensure uniformity. I used my tried and true powder charge and Sierra Matchkings.

At the match the following week I experienced a complete case separation leaving just the case mouth in the chamber. The bolt on the next round almost closed but didn't quite make it. I cycled the action and the next round came very close to going into battery. Fortunately I stopped and field stripped the Garand. Even using a bore light I couldn't see the piece of brass that by now was "ironed" into the chamber throat but my instincts prevailed and I sent the rifle to a quality smith and he figured it out.

Bottom line, remember the Dillon Rt1200 trimmer. There is a die for every caliber and they also re-size the brass... I adjusted the die for OAL and never thought about the fact I was doing so by adjusting the shoulder length instead of the OAL.

Bottom line, there is always a way to screw up you haven't thought about. I have sold all my "modern" reloading tools and have gone back to the basics... a 10-10 balance scale, a RCBS Rock Chucker, hand trimmers and such. I no longer reload anything but for my bolt action hunting guns.

Bottom line of the bottom line is that if you can afford an expensive rifle, you can afford to buy high quality factory ammunition. In the incident cited, I very much think it would have never happened if he had been using Hornady Match Ammo.

[Hefights]

I use the RCBS Range Master which is just a 750gr electronic scale, but an excellent one. I do not overly automate reloading for use in semi auto rifles, I like to inspect brass and observe more at the varioius steps in the process. Hence my Dillon 550 is only used for pistol.

One thing is for sure, a malfunction may be a cry for help and one should stop and look, and check things out before moving on to more shooting. I have seen that lesson in other incidents.

[joem]

I use the Dillon RT1200 trimmer. I also use a max length case gauge to insure every part of my setup is correct. Powder charge is checked on two different scales ( 1 electronic and a mechanical ) and must be within .2 grains or less of each reading. I might be over the top or anal about setting up but I don't want any KABOOMS.