Chilean casae head separation

[Super B]

Yes, I am the one who blabbed about how clean, consistent and accurate Chilean ammo was, and how I'd buy anybody's if they didn't want it. Went to the range today, after about 90 rounds of not so rapid fire, the gun went bang, I heard a SSSSHH, felt a hot breeze on my face, and smoke came from the BACK end of the dust cover. I thought "hmmm, that's not suppused to happen!", so I went to find my case. It had landed right next to me on my shooting bench, not thrown onto the pile with my other empties. There was a split in the case head that went about half the circumference of the case. The primer was not cratered or set back and other than the split, the case showed no signs of excess pressure. My good old ARS gun took it all in stride, and as a matter of fact, I fired a few more Chilean rounds after checking the bore for obstructions. Suffice it to say that I will not be buying any more Chilean ammo. I believe the problem to be a fault in the brass, not excess pressure. Still, once my Chilean is gone, I will start dipping into my other brands.

Headstamp is as follows: 75 NA F TO stamped clockwise around the primer.

Super B

[yorick]

I posted a pic of my casehead seperation with the Chilean ammo this summer.

It was a combination of loose headspace (closed on a no-go but not a field gage) and the weak ass brass on the ammo.

Never had a problem with Chilean in my other guns, and never had any other ammo sperate in that "loose" gun.

[bossman]

Has anyone had any bad reports of ones stamped 74 na f to. I have not try these yet. Any info would be great.
Thanks
Mark

[vicg1]

one of the better rounds of Chilean crap... 75 headstamp... stay away!!!!
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubimage.asp?id_=30540

[ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: vicg1 ]

[Madmachinist]

I shoot in the long range and course gun matches. A few years ago some chilean was imported that was some really bad stuff. lots of over pressures and even a case of a m1a blowig completely up and the shooter lost a couple of fingers. rumor was that some of the rounds were actualy loaded with some type of powder thats burning rate was approaching the speed of detonation. for what its worth i would salvage the projectiles and buy some better quality ammo. And rememmber ALWAYS wear saftey glasses when shooting.

[kev]

This stuff came in 5-10 years ago and had a very bad reputation. Only the '75, apparently no problems with any other year. The Chilean '75 was blowing up in guns left and right. I know of several destoyed MG's, mostly HK's and at least two MG42's. It seemed that once word got out, the ammo disappeared from the market, but I'll bet someone just pulled it back and sat on it until things simmered down. There are some real low-lifes in the gun bizz. I would not shoot it in anything I was interested in keeping. Trash it; it's not worth an eye. Return it if you can, but it'll just end up in someone else's gun next year.

[Hootbro]

Damm! I just ordered a 500rd can from Dan's Sporting Goods. Hopefully it is not the dreaded 75 headstamp. If it is, I do not know what i will do with it. Was planning on using this ammo with my Cetme and saving the Radway Green ammo for my FAL's and M1A. Oh well, guess it pays to check the site more often.


Regards,
Hootbro

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[Hootbro]

Well I received my can of 500 rounds of Chilean ammo from Dans Sporting Goods. I seem to be in luck and received the 74 headstamped ammo and not the dreaded 75. Ammo arrived in a well used ammo can. I can not tell if this was how it was shipped from Chile, or if Dan's packed it in the can themselves. Upon opening the can, there is a fine layer of dust/dirt over the top and one box was slightly open with a couple of round loose. I then finsihed opening the loose round box for inspection of the ammo. All cases seemed to be in very god shape. All crims on the bullet and primers appeared to be good. I dusted off the rest of the round and loaded up one spare FAL mag for future range test. For $55 delivered to me in Texas, the ammo seems to be a good deal. I will probably shoot just the one loaded FAL mag and use the rest in my CETME rifle. Hpefully this weekend I can try it out and give a range report of the results. If it appears to be good fodder, I may order another can. Enclosed below is a pic of the ammo received.

Regards,
Hootbro

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=245437&a=1824838&p=41673998&Sequence=0&res=high

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[This message has been edited by Hootbro (edited February 22, 2001).]

[vicg1]

It is repacked...
I think 74 is ok... good luck!

[Hootbro]

Originally posted by vicg1:
It is repacked...
I think 74 is ok... good luck!

Shot 40 rounds of the 74 head stamped Chilean ammo today. Seem to function fine and no cases showed and cracking or excessive head pressure. I did have one dud that failed to fire. While this is not an extensive test, I feel that the ammo will be fine for range fodder.

Regards,
Hootbro



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[Super B]

I'm going to shoot up the rest of mine. The problem seems to be weak brass, not overpressure. Even my case that split did not have any primer cratering or flattening
, and that is the first bad round out of approx. 350 fired.

Super B