What in tarnation!?!?!

[The Infamous Jim B.]

Yes, it's me - the infamous Jim B. of Savage Shooters lore!

Founder of the Brotherhood
Former Great Chief of the Barrel Nut Tribe
Rightful heir to Hammer's collection of shot-out .220 Swift barrels
Master seeker of dropped detent balls and ejector springs
Banner of spammers and ;self-proclaimed internet know-it-alls
Accidental creator of the .204 Ruger Belted Magnum
Keeper of the knowledge of all things Savage (except whatever it is that you have a specific question about - ain't nobody got time for that!)

How's that for a Game of Throne's intro? Daenerys Targaryen ain't got nothin` on The Infamous Jim B.!

 

[Alan]

Good to see you, Jim. I'm glad you made it here.
The Brotherhood wouldn't be the same without you.

 

[chronoblip]

That's quite a reputation!

So...is the 204 Ruger belted just a 224 WBY MAG necked down?

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Welcome on board.

 

[Shoots100]

Holy introductions Batman !
Glad to know you're still kicking and that they gave you internet privileges back again.
SJC

 

[CFJunkie]

Good to hear from you, Jim.
Welcome

 

[SevenFan]

Great to see you Jim! We couldn't do without the brotherhood of the barrel nut.

 

[The Infamous Jim B.]

That's quite a reputation!

So...is the 204 Ruger belted just a 224 WBY MAG necked down?

Nope, it's a slightly more than overly hot load in a standard .204 Ruger case.

Exceptional velocity for a .20 caliber, but brass life was extremely short!

Joking aside, I still have no clue how this happened. I had loaded up 20 rounds with Varget after doing some ladder testing the day before, charges verified both by weight and column height visual inspection in the cases before seating the bullets. Shot the first 4 rounds with no issues, then pulled the trigger on this one which had a noticeably different report to it. The rim and webbing expanded soo much that it literally pushed the extractor out far enough that it locked up the bolt and the rim of the case was holding in the extractor detent ball and spring and locked up the bolt (first photo above). I had to pull the barrel, pry the case out of the bolt head and pry the extractor back into position to get the bolt out. Didn't hurt the action or barrel any, but it was an eye opener to say the least.

Pulled the remaining 15 rounds apart to and verify the charge weights and all of them were spot-on so no clue what happened with that one round. I can't recall the exact charge weight, but I know it wasn't excessively hot and only slightly compressed - probably somewhere in the 27.0 to 27.5 range. No pressure signs what-so-ever on the four cases I fired just prior to this one - no flattened primers, no hard extraction, no ejector markings, nada. It was a truly a fluke that to this day some 20 years later I still have no explanation for.

 

[ONE-TEN]

Howdy Jim.
Bout time you got here.