Remington 760 question

Aaron Todd · Sep 14, 2015

I recently inherited a remington gamemaster 760 in 30-06, early model 1950s era. Well, I was given some old ammo that looks to be from the 70s (peters 220 grain). I shot about 20 rounds of brand new remington green box thru it and it performed flawlessly. I decided to see if any of that old ammo was any good, so I shot a few rounds of it and afterwards I picked up the brass and the end near the primer was cracked or melted a bit. I figured I shouldn't shoot any more of this so I wouldn't damage the rifle.... is there any negative consequences that could occur from using this ammo? I am not really going to use it, I'm more curious than anything. I don't see the point in using unsafe ammo when a box if decent ammo is under $20.

Member 5605 · Sep 21, 2015

A: welcome to the 760 club. I have one handed down in .300 Savage, quite the rare bird.

B: as powder ages it's burning rate gets weird.

C: buy new ammo, I wouldn't ever trust old stuff in an old or new rifle. Especially if that happened afterwards.

MountainBear · Sep 21, 2015

I shoot ammo loaded in the 1940's through the 1980's on a pretty constant basis through my Garand. If the ammo is not showing signs of corrosion, and is factory new (as in not old reloads), it should not be cracking in the neck. I would try a round or two of factory new ammo (since you shot the old stuff after the new stuff) and see if the problem shows up in the new brass. If it does, it might be an issue with the chamber such as a headspace issue. But likely, it seems you just got a batch of brass your rifle didn't like. It happens on occasion.

Aaron Todd · Sep 21, 2015

Thanks for the response... I took the rifle out a week ago and shot a few boxes of brand spanking new remington brand, corelok ammo thru it with zero problems. It must have just been the old ammo or how it was stored or some variable. It shoots great and hopefully it will take down a deer or bear this fall....