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I took a friend out to the range to sight in his 20" Colt HBAR Match Target AR15 Rifle. He loaded a couple of 30 rd magazines and we proceeded to sight it in. After we were done and were cleaning up I noticed that every piece of brass was split on the neck.
I asked what type of ammo he was shooting and if they were reloads he said it was "bulk" ammo. He had no idea. I checked the casings and found they were marked LC 92 Nato Stamped, LC 90 Nato stamped and one or two other types not Nato stamped.

[ I suspect he bought some cheap 5.56 reloads at a gun show thinking he was getting a good deal on ammo. I don't really know. Neither does he apparently.

I have never seen this with any of my bulk ammo loose or on stripper clips LC, boxed Winchester or boxed IMI, m193 or m855. I suspect the split casing is due to brass being reloaded too many times and would likely not happen with never fired brass.

I was just curious to get some more opinions on the possible cause. If it was indicative of a problem with the gun or how dangerous to use this ammo (he had a whole bag full of loose ammo). We shot a couple of 30 round mags with no issues and the accuracy was decent. (2moa)

Clean your chamber first and fire again.

MONGOOSE wrote:Clean your chamber first and fire again.

This. Plus, I have HEARD before (but never seen it myself) that some of the Colt Target model of AR15s are chambered in .223, not 5.56, so if he's shooting 5.56 ammo in a .223 chamber, he might be running into pressure issues.

He confirmed that they are old reloads. But I will check to see if his gun is chambered in .223 or 5.56.

I'm learning lots of new stuff as a result of this between research and feedback.

The more you know....

Have it reemed to .223 Wylde and be done with it.

I had the same issue with some reloads I bought at a gun show. I no longer purchase reloads as a result. I spend the time required and reload myself, knowing that the brass has been correctly inspected.

Could be a pressure issue specially if 5.56 shot in a .223 chamber but maybe not. I've had cases split like that on some of my reloads but only if I try to get too much life out of them. After reloading a half dozen times the brass can become very brittle. Some reloaders anneal their brass to prevent this but the simplest solution is to keep track of how many times the cases have been reloaded and put a reasonable limit on it.

Since these were bought they probably hadn't been reloaded that many times but who knows. If the reloader bought his brass at a shooting range where they just swept them up who knows. Could have laid in the weather for months which could have weakened it. If it doesn't happen with new brass do as suggested. Clean the chamber and keep shooting.

I think the Colt HBAR is a 223 at least mine was. I solved the problem by fitting a 5.56 barrel to mine. Also, agree that reloads should generally be avoided. Lake City does not sell reloads, and the genuine is not priced too bad.

tlt wrote:I think the Colt HBAR is a 223 at least mine was. I solved the problem by fitting a 5.56 barrel to mine. Also, agree that reloads should generally be avoided. Lake City does not sell reloads, and the genuine is not priced too bad.

But you can reload LC brass, and too many times!