Thread: What would have this felt like?

He wouldnt have noticed anything. The case breaking like that reduced the pressures immediately. He might have noticed a little less recoil than normal....

I have had a couple of those over the years that look exactly the same, both were not noticable in any way until you open the action and the case drops apart into two pieces. Another one the case only let go most of the way around, and I didnt even notice till I got home.

Interestingly, in each case, the bullet still made part of a fairly normal looking group...

The lesson I learned was you can watch for the ring, a bit higher than you think - not the swipe mark from sizing - up from base of your old brass, and see when you need to junk the brass.
And a case head separation is not that big a deal.