[snuffy]

A case head seperation usually only results in an inoperable rifle until the front half of the case can be removed. It CAN burn a ring in the chamber IF it seperated enough for hot powder gases to "get to" the chamber wall.

Usually there's just friction holding the front part of the case in the chamber. One trick often used to remove it is to take a bronze cleaning brush, jam it into the neck of the remaining case piece from behind, then pull it back out. It should provide the necessary force required to remove the brass. Inspect and clean the chamber, you're back in business!

As for which case design has the most problems with case head seperation, they all can and do! IF the reloader sets the sizer die wrong for that particular rifle, ANY type of case can be made to seperate.

When I first got my 7X30 Waters, I had trouble with CHS. It is based on the 30-30 case, but with a much more defined shoulder. I was setting the shoulder back too much, CHS happened at the second or third reloading for some cases. I had to follow some advice from the gunshop owner on how to set the FL die. Taking a shell fired in my chamber, I backed out the FL die 2 turns from it's previous setting. I then sized one case, then tried to chamber it and close the contender action/barrel. It would not close! Duh, of course not! Then turning the die down 1/4 turn at a time untill I could only close the barrel with a sharp SNAP! I then locked the die ring at that point, it was more than a half turn too tight!

Firing that too short case before caused the shoulder to move forward under chamber pressure, with the rim holding the head, the web HAD to stretch. I had to trim a LOT with those cases, that SHOULD have tipped me off that something was amiss! After properly setting the FL die, the cases only grew slightly, not requiring trimming until the third firing!