[hounddawg]

A week or two back I was shooting my .204 practicing technique and on the last round of my third group when I ejected the case had split cleanly in two about a 3/4 or an inch back from the neck. Nothing catastrophic or even mildly alarming occurred thankfully. In fact I was not aware there had been a malfunction until I ejected and was holding 2 pieces of case. The only obvious sign that there had been a issue was the bullet went about a half a MOA to the left. I did pack up that rifle immediately of course and when I got home gave it a good inspection, however I put examining the other 35 rounds until this morning.

Now to be honest I have gotten real casual about my case inspections. I have a nice lighted magnifier for that purpose but had just gotten lazy. I have just been giving them a quick once over with the Mark 1 Mod 0 eyeball instead of doing the full monty. This morning I went over those cases with the magnifier and found 9 more out of the 35 that had almost a imperceptible white line running partially around the case just about where that other one had split. You cant feel it even with a dental pick from the inside or the outside, it is just a faint line where the brass is a shade lighter.

Anyway just thought I would post this to remind others not to be lazy like I was. I guess it could have been worse this time ther ewwas no damage to the shooter or the gun. I suppose I was real lucky in that half the case could have been stuck in the throat of the barrel which would have least been a pain and possibly could have ruined a hunting trip