Ever had a catastrophic ammo failure?

[Aim_Shoot]

Anyone ever had ammo mess up at the worst time? Tell me the story! Did it cause a big problem and how did you deal with it?

 

[Jovy]

Here's the quick take: If a shot feels wrong, stop ASAP. That tiny safety check can save your bacon and your gun.

 

[Rottweiler72]

Most of my ammo failures were of my own making.
I've had case head separation on 300 win mag, blown primers for a couple reasons and squib loads along with the primer failures. As Jovy has stated if it feels wrong stop keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction waiting to a five count and unload.
I have a 10mm auto casing I found that was completely blown out and split down the side from the mouth to the web of case. I looked for fingers but didn't see any. I would have liked to see the handgun that fired it though.

 

[marshalldodge]

I had taken a trip down to Nevada to shoot with a buddy. When I got down there, I was getting misfires in my 223 bolt action.

It wasn't until I got home that I figured out the problem- headspace. The sizing die I was using got a build up of lube and other crud, and was pushing the shoulder back too far when sizing. I now clean the die more often and use a Hornady case gauge to confirm case dimensions.

 

[Alan]

Most of my ammo failures were of my own making.
I've had case head separation on 300 win mag, blown primers for a couple reasons and squib loads along with the primer failures. As Jovy has stated if it feels wrong stop keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction waiting to a five count and unload.
I have a 10mm auto casing I found that was completely blown out and split down the side from the mouth to the web of case. I looked for fingers but didn't see any. I would have liked to see the handgun that fired it though.

Hard lessons, but good reminders

 

[Alan]

I had taken a trip down to Nevada to shoot with a buddy. When I got down there, I was getting misfires in my 223 bolt action.

It wasn't until I got home that I figured out the problem- headspace. The sizing die I was using got a build up of lube and other crud, and was pushing the shoulder back too far when sizing. I now clean the die more often and use a Hornady case gauge to confirm case dimensions.

Good catch! Shows how small oversights in reloading can cause big problems.