My first firearms related accident

[BoilerUp]

Either to neck turn each piece or to buy commercially produced brass. A or B. Dropping every single round every time into a case gauge is possible but it has it's downsides as well.

Neck turning sounds like a lot of work but once I get a couple thousand pieces it will last me for a while. I will have to check on the prices of commercial brass but odds are I will just go that route.

I'm broke but not so broke that I am willing to risk another blow up. I like reloading but I like it for the sake of doing it. Saving money is another thing all together. 300 Blackout is still a very new round to me for the most part and I was operating under my standard safety protocols which have worked good for a long time already. Bad components are a whole other animal though.

People said you can form your own brass, and yes that's true...but I learned the hard way that forming your own brass comes with a big fat asterisk.

I really appreciate that you've shared your experience here so we can all learn from it. I never form my own brass but that's largely because I really don't like the idea of having brass that doesn't match its headstamp. For 300 BLK brass my preferred approach is to shoot factory ammo and save the brass. The S&B loaded ammo can be a pretty good value compared to buying just brass.

For the rounds you already have loaded, should you inspect each round with a case gauge? That should pick up any bulging issues, I would think. I never do that with loaded ammo but in this case it seems like it would tell you if you have any more rounds out of spec.

Also, I wonder if running the formed brass through a Lee Collet neck sizer as one last step would help. If the neck is too thick, I suspect the brass would mushroom and be ruined in the collett die.

[alamo5000]

It's real easy to get a wake up call on one's reloading protocol.

Yes sir. Absolutely.

Your story is pretty crazy. WOW. Glad we aren't calling you stumpy.

[alamo5000]

I really appreciate that you've shared your experience here so we can all learn from it. I never form my own brass but that's largely because I really don't like the idea of having brass that doesn't match its headstamp. For 300 BLK brass my preferred approach is to shoot factory ammo and save the brass. The S&B loaded ammo can be a pretty good value compared to buying just brass.

For the rounds you already have loaded, should you inspect each round with a case gauge? That should pick up any bulging issues, I would think. I never do that with loaded ammo but in this case it seems like it would tell you if you have any more rounds out of spec.

Also, I wonder if running the formed brass through a Lee Collet neck sizer as one last step would help. If the neck is too thick, I suspect the brass would mushroom and be ruined in the collett die.

Great questions... and yes that was the primary motive. I want others to learn what to watch out for.

As far as forming brass I am not worried a bit about mixing up brass for range ammo. 300 BLK is totally different in shape and size. Now though I am obviously rethinking that. Before the only time I really segregate brass was for match ammo etc. And I am not loading match ammo in 300 BLK :)

Fortunately I just loaded a little bit. I was actually finishing off shooting the remainder of the batch I had when the blow up happened. After 2 or 3 mags I had something like 20 rounds left and I just threw them out. Some of those rounds were damaged so I didn't want to mess with that obviously.

After forming the brass the cases would drop freely into a gauge but once a bullet was inserted the problem manifest itself. I would have to drop test each loaded round to detect it.

I do use a collet crimp die but that doesn't help. At very least if you crank it way down it will deform the bullet a lot before it does anything regarding neck thickness. I am not sure if that's the same die you are talking about but that is already in use.

[BoilerUp]

I do use a collet crimp die but that doesn't help. At very least if you crank it way down it will deform the bullet a lot before it does anything regarding neck thickness. I am not sure if that's the same die you are talking about but that is already in use.

No, the collet neck die is different. They are primarily used when shooting bolt action and all you want to do is resize the neck. This will keep your brass fire formed to your chamber and really doesn't work the brass at all so you can pretty good brass life. Eventually you'll have to bump the shoulder back. I keep them around for semi-autos as it's an easy way to take care of dented case necks without having to fully resize and therefore work the brass. No lube is required, either. The collet neck basically just "squeezes" the neck into shape and, to some extent, thickness. For your problem, though, i don't know where the brass would "flow" but I presume it would lengthen the case a tiny bit if the neck was too thick.

[alamo5000]

I want to buy a few more bolt carrier groups (probably up to 3 of them) to serve as back ups, but man, absolutely everything I am interested in is sold out.

I would like to have one spare bolt carrier group per rifle at a very minimum. I've been back up and running for a while now but now I have no more spares.

My currently owned favorite carrier is the one from Griffin because the fit and finish is absolutely top notch.

I have been looking around and I really lean towards the black nitrided ones. So far the Radian one looks very attractive to me. Cool logo and it seems to be what I am looking for. So far that's my top choice but if you have other options please let me know. I will ultimately buy probably 3 bolt carrier groups but I kind of don't want all the same thing.

https://radianweapons.com/enhanced-bolt-carrier-group

The nitride one from Ballistic Advantage could be a contender.

https://www.ballisticadvantage.com/556-bcg-nitride.html

I am seeing tons of brand names that I am not familiar with so I am hesitant to buy those. I also don't really want to spend $300 bucks on a BCG either.

Black Nitride with a cool logo in the $150ish range would be a good starting point. Depending on how things go I might try to load up when the next sale comes around...

I like this one as well. The Sharps XPB... I see them on sale for like $169 or so and free shipping...again don't know anything about them.

https://sunnystateoutdoors.com/sharp...arbon-coating/

Edit: Forgot to mention that I kind of prefer the M16 cut.

[Aragorn]

Mystic Black is the best thing going.

https://www.crypticcoatings.com/coat...carrier-group/

I’ve got a black and rose gold. Both are top notc.

[alamo5000]

Mystic Black is the best thing going.

https://www.crypticcoatings.com/coat...carrier-group/

I’ve got a black and rose gold. Both are top notc.

It says those are Tool Craft brand. I was under the impression that those are hit and miss...but I could be wrong. The coating they put on them looks fantastic though.

I also have seen some BCG from Lantac and Rubber City but man, they are certainly proud of their products. I don't know if I would get an extra hundred and fifty bucks worth of enjoyment out of those...

[Aragorn]

I was just talking as far as coatings go, that’s what’s best.

I just saw you have Sharps on there to, must have overlooked that last night. Definitely DO NOT buy that. I’ve had to send back both a bolt, and an entire BCG that was radically out of spec. That said, I do still have one of their bolts in my .300 That was also purchased around the same time. Still, 1 out of 3 is not good betting odds.

[Stone]

https://www.lwrci.com/LWRCI-DI-Bolt-...roup_p_37.html

https://www.lwrci.com/LWRCI-Direct-I...ier_p_223.html

Wait for their next 25% off sale...