Guns are dangerous. Federal AE223BK Kaboom.

[RKG]

Lake City XM193 has the heat marking where the brass necks down, at least all the Federal XM193 and white box Lake City XM193 I have does. Why does that not have the typical heat discolor I'm used to seeing?

Just to admit, I do not know what the heat mark is from or why it is there, I just know I see it evertime I open my ammo. When I look at the picture a few posts up, I instantly noticed that the brass is a constant color and not the same as what I am used to holding/seeing.

Larry

That mark you see is from annealing, which is a process employed to restore plasticity to the neck and shoulder areas of brass, so as to reverse the work hardening that results from case formation. Failure to anneal usually results in split necks, not the circumferential case separation that appears to be the issue here, which often occurs from reloading brass previously fired in rifles with excessive headspace. However, there really isn't enough data on which to base any judgment as to the failure mechanism in this case.

Sorry: posted this before reading the rest of the thread; others had already given same info.

[Cold Zero]

was this Federal XM193 in the brown box, or the brown sleeve w/strippers? or was it American Eagle Tactical black box? was it Speer Lawman blue box?

Derek, most important, I am glad that you nor anyone else was injured.

Is the Speer Lawman Blue Box referenced above Lake City Brass?

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed (to AE .223 reloads) since we now know that this was not XM193, just to be fair and accurate to Federal and XM193 buyers ?

[Iraqgunz]

Derek,

I have some Federal .223 55gr. ammo at home. I believe that the item number is 223N or something like that. I shot about 200 rds through my Noveske last time I was home and it fired w/o problems. Now, if this is reloaded stuff then that is a whole other story.

[Derek_Connor]

Derek, most important, I am glad that you nor anyone else was injured.

Is the Speer Lawman Blue Box referenced above Lake City Brass?

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed (to AE .223 reloads) since we now know that this was not XM193, just to be fair and accurate to Federal and XM193 buyers ?

good suggestion.

Here is an exact picture of the same type of ammo case it came in (inside this box was a large bag filled w/loose ammo):

Derek,

Now, if this is reloaded stuff then that is a whole other story.

If you take a look at the pictures i posted before on page 1, others have pointed out, that there are little "dinks" in the brass that lead them to believe its reloaded brass..

Im not a reloader, I cannot verify this.

[Cold Zero]

Posting the photo of the box is most helpful. Thanks.

Note, it was not even the hotter NATO spec 5.56MM stuff.

[Derek_Connor]

Posting the photo of the box is most helpful. Thanks.

Note, it was not even the hotter NATO spec 5.56MM stuff.

Anything to help others.

In the end, if the barrel is scrapped, bolt is scrapped, i really dont want anything more than Federal just to buy this case of ammo back from me so I can buy another 1k of something else.

We shall see.

[Iraqgunz]

Derek,

I think that may be the ammo that I have as well. I'll check my spreadsheet. However, mine was in red 20rd boxes and not loose bulk. I would definitely get with Federal on this and see what they have to say. I am also not a reloader so I can't comment. However, I have see new M855 ammo out of the can where the brass had little dings and dents.

[Ned Christiansen]

Guys, I think it's safe to say we may be seeing more of this in the current and coming period of ammo scarcity. As ammo continues to be harder to get, more people will be offering it. Maybe they will be people that shouldn't be making ammo, but anyone can make one mistake out of a million-- and who knows which of us will wind up with it.

Might be a good time for us individually to look at reloading....? Although, from what I hear, primers are really hard to come by right now...... bullets like ammo, are expensive and scarce.... I never cared for reloading 5.56 myself with the lube being a minor inconvenience and cases having to trimmed or at least checked for length. Plus what I've learned in recent years about popped primers and all, who's to say that the case you're reloading didn't almost pop its primer, and now the primer pocket is opened up just a tad so that this time it's gonna lose it for sure.

Side note-- and warning-- I recently saw an upper destroyed by a guy getting into reloading. He didn't do his homework AT ALL. Powder is not powder! If it was there'd be one kind and not, what, 3-400 kinds available (just a guess). Those of you who reload pistol and rifle ammo will cringe appropriately when I say, this dude loaded 23 grains of Bullseye into a .223 case.

Plenty of pitfalls in reloading your own but once you get going up the learning curve it can be very rewarding too. Nothing like putting 10 shots into a dime-sized group, and they are your roll-yer-owns. Or hearing that >thwack< on a prairie dog at a laser-ranged 380 yards and knowing you created the round that did it.

Glad your experience did not so much as put a sliver of brass under your skin-- you were lucky.

[Heavy Metal]

Anything to help others.

In the end, if the barrel is scrapped, bolt is scrapped, i really dont want anything more than Federal just to buy this case of ammo back from me so I can buy another 1k of something else.

We shall see.

Federal loads, not reloads AE 223.
Federal owes you nothing. The person who defrauded you owes your restitution.

And to my knowledge, Federal never loose packs AE .223.

[beaker1013]

Hey Derek,
I can't find my camera, I think I out-smarted myself putting it away so my son couldn't get to it, but I have a 500 round count box of XM193 left, and here's what is listed on the end of the box:

Federal Ammunition
XM193
5.56mm
Ball M193 55GR. MC-BT
Federal Rifle Cartridges
25 boxes of 20 500

Does the web site show that they also have the AE223? If so, they probably pulled the wrong stuff to fill the order and their inventory would reflect this. The problem lies on their end. I know nothing about this company, but they could've ordered the wrong junk in the first place and not caught it to begin with. Hopefully he'll buy it back from you.