Federal cartridge failure

MaraD · Sep 24, 2013

I was up at AGC today shooting some new (not reload) Federal Premium 308 168-gr boat tail hollow points today when 2 of the 40 rounds experienced cartridge failures. The first failed in a Savage Model 12 (the cartridge split in two places) and the other in a Remington 700 (cartridge split in one place). Each was from a different box of ammunition but it appears both were from the same production lot.

Are cartridge failures like this common in factory ammo? Has anyone else had problems with Federal cartridges failing?

Pstango · Sep 24, 2013

Whoa... Never happened to me. Other than seeing the failure after ejecting the case, any damage or other problems before ejecting the round?

MaraD · Sep 24, 2013

There were no problems prior to firing the rounds that failed. We were trying out several different brands of ammunition prior to the Federal case failures. The failure temporarily jammed the ejector on the Savage and the Remington 700 just didn't shoot right after its round failed. The scope on the Remington (a no-name scope that came with the rifle) had to be re-zeroed. The Savage continued to shoot extremely well after the ejector problem was resolved.

amoebicmagician · Sep 24, 2013

Federal ammo has without exception been the cream of the crop as far as I've been concerned.

Once I had a primer that failed to ignite on a .40 S&W that came in a box of their "CHAMPION" walmart ammunition, but literally I've only ever had the one, in centerfire ammo anyways.

In rimfire I've had plenty of duds from Federal and others, but that's just the nature of the rimfire beast, and generally even then federal performs better than it's competitors.

This is troubling.

Pstango · Sep 24, 2013

Yeah, I have to agree. Federal for me has always been good rounds. I have always trusted them more than most other factory ammo. This is troubling indeed. I hope we can get some insight into this. I'm glad too hear that your guns (or you) escaped any permanent damage...

samcolt45 · Sep 25, 2013

Do you know for sure how old the ammo was. I once had a 30.06 WW round split at the base like that but it was about 30 years old. Only one out of a box of 20 split. The Winchester 670 wasn't hurt but the jet of gas I got on my face scared the sh+t out of me.

MaraD · Sep 25, 2013

I have to agree that it was pretty freaky to see the exhaust gases coming out of the trigger area and the back of the bolt. Didn't feel it on my face though!

My friend said he purchased the Federal ammo 2-3 months ago after he bought the Remington. I am wondering about the age of the ammo though. The box has the ammo type listed as P308M, which I can no longer find on the Federal site. I've found links that seem to imply GM308M is the new branding of the P308M, but nothing definitive.

I've sent an email to Federal letting them know of the failure.

byf43 · Sep 25, 2013

amoebicmagician said:
Federal ammo has without exception been the cream of the crop as far as I've been concerned.

Once I had a primer that failed to ignite on a .40 S&W that came in a box of their "CHAMPION" walmart ammunition, but literally I've only ever had the one, in centerfire ammo anyways.

In rimfire I've had plenty of duds from Federal and others, but that's just the nature of the rimfire beast, and generally even then federal performs better than it's competitors.

This is troubling.

^^^This!!!

To echo...... I've NEVER had an issue with Federal ammo. I don't use their shotshells, though. (I just like Win AA and Remington STS hulls.)

The 'standard' by which all other match ammo is measured..... is measured/compared to Federal Gold Medal Match.

OP: PLEASE keep us updated on what Federal/ATK says!

Jaybeez · Sep 25, 2013

federal was notorious (2000's era production) for thin brass, that's why many people choose to not reload it.

that looks different than typical case head seperation. 2 different guns, both bolt action, rules a lot of things out.

how do the primers look? cratered?

jr88 · Sep 25, 2013

That is a little scary, Thanks for sharing. Please let us know anymore info you collect.
I just bought a bunch of that when PSA had it on sale for 23 a box, hope this isn't the reason for the sale.

Pinecone · Sep 25, 2013

It is very strange to see it fail in a length wise split near the head.

I have seen necks split that way. But the base area tends to fail around the case.

I would contact Federal.

Uncle Duke · Sep 25, 2013

Definitely would contact Federal! No splits are good, and especially not splits in the case head area. They need to be made aware, and I think they'll do something for you too for making them aware. They should, and most likely will.

MaraD · Sep 25, 2013

Sent an email last night to Federal and this was their response:

It looks by the Lot number that ammunition is splitting due to stress crack corrosion. The ammo was manufactured in 1992 and the brass over time has weakened and the hot gases broke through the weak spots in the brass. We recommend disposing of that ammunition.

1992 - unbelievable! I guess ammo that was stuck in warehouses for decades and never rotated with new stock got sold during the ammo shortage. Kind of scary to be shooting ammo probably not stored in a climate controlled area that is as old as my adult children.

Blacksmith101 · Sep 25, 2013

Did they offer to replace it? If not break it down for the components and bad mouth them all over the internet. If they don't want you to use old ammo they better print use by dates on the boxes. I shoot mil. surp. much older than that.

tomandjerry00 · Sep 26, 2013

+1 Blacksmith101 on shooting military surplus (and factory ammo) way older than 1992

Jerry M · Sep 26, 2013

Contact Federal and have the lot number. They will replace the box or more if you have it.

Good luck

Jerry

antco · Sep 26, 2013

Ammo should be labeled like beer- with a "Born On" date.

Mike3888 · Sep 27, 2013

2 different guns and same results. Definitely ammo issue.

Pinecone · Sep 28, 2013

antco said:
Ammo should be labeled like beer- with a "Born On" date.

It is. The lot number tells the manufacturer when it was made along with a lot of other data.

Other than that, why do you need to know when it was made? It doesn't go bad like beer or women.

Federal cartridge failure

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