Houston, we have a problem....

[x101airborne]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/album.php?albumid=408&pictureid=2799

Sorry its a link, i couldnt figure out how to load the picture on the post. This is a pic of a 257 roberts case with holes detonated through the side. Load was rcbs 120 gr gc and 12 gr. red dot. Cases have been loaded about 5 times. Winchester brass. Any ideas what caused this? Iwould suspect too hot a load, but this load has worked well many times before w/no problems.

[geargnasher]

Never seen anything like it.

Gear

[x101airborne]

me neither. wonder if it was just a case failure. may junk the whole batch and start with new.

[wills]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/album.php?albumid=408&pictureid=2799

Sorry its a link, i couldnt figure out how to load the picture on the post. This is a pic of a 257 roberts case with holes detonated through the side. Load was rcbs 120 gr gc and 12 gr. red dot. Cases have been loaded about 5 times. Winchester brass. Any ideas what caused this? Iwould suspect too hot a load, but this load has worked well many times before w/no problems.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=408&pictureid=2799

[dragonrider]

That's a new one to me, certainly your load should not have been a problem. All I can say is it must be a bad piece of brass.

[fryboy]

wow ..... i've never seen anything like it either but it's undeniably a major case of case failure , plz tell me that there isnt screw holes above them from a scope mount or something !!!! the top one looks to be about where a vent hole in the sizing die would be , and i'd seriously examine the rest of that batch as well as anything that mite of possibly corroded that case ( or others )

[qajaq59]

plz tell me that there isnt screw holes above them from a scope mount or something That sounds the most logical, but I've never seen anything like it either.

[square butte]

Looks like places where corosion may have been present, either internally or externally. Brass might have been thinned in these areas and allowed burn through of gas.

[PAT303]

I had that happen with some 6.5swede cases,after a closer look I could see contaminants in the brass. Pat

[waksupi]

Those holes like like they go from the outside, in.

[OutHuntn84]

Those holes like like they go from the outside, in.

That's what I was thinking

[koehn,jim]

Check the cases for corrosion especially inside if the brass has corroded and been cleaned it leaves a weak spot. I have had it happen with 7mm brass especialy foreign.

[x101airborne]

As you can see on the other brass, there are no marks indicating contact with any sharp or detrimental objects. This was shot out of a factory Winchester 70. im still guessing simple case failure.

[x101airborne]

This rifle has standard scope mounts and bases. There is nothing screwed into the chamber area of the rifle.

[lwknight]

It was the brass worms. hehe.
Just check inside the chamber to be sure that nothing could been there.

[AZ-Stew]

Even if there are no intrusions into the chamber from scope mounts (they wouldn't explain the hole at the shoulder, anyway), do be sure to have a gunsmith with a bore scope check out the chamber. This type of case failure causes localized jets of high pressure, very hot gas to escape and may have left the chamber with some pits. A hot load later may stick a case.

Regards,

Stew

[ghh3rd]

Gotta stop adding Sulfuric acid to your tumbling media to get extra shine :shock:

[cbrick]

Those holes like like they go from the outside, in.

That they do, they look like they were drilled with two different size bits.

Rick

[RP]

Weird very weird I got to say looks like the holes were sucked into the case not blown out to me also

[Wayne Smith]

Brass exposed to drops of - is it ammonia that pulls the zinc out of the gliding metal? - very localized. This weakens the brass at the point of the loss. When fired with even a normal load the gasses could cause a pinhole that then collapses as the pressure is released. At least that's my very uneducated guess.

Remember, I'm a psychologist, not an engineer or a chemist!

[white eagle]

could there have possibly have been something in the chamber ?

[JIMinPHX]

Looks to me like impact stress fractures, sort of like when a BB hits a glass window. The shiny area keeps me from thinking that it's corrosion. It could be a poorly alloyed batch of brass. A better picture might help.

[geargnasher]

Hey Wills, how'd you do that? I've been trying to figure out how to post the same pic from my album to multiple threads, but don't see how to create that link so it actually shows the pic in each thread. Heck, you did it from someone else's album, so I know it can be done.

Gear

[cbrick]

Hey Gear, you mean like this?

Rick

[geargnasher]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=408&pictureid=2799

No, like this ^

But the thumbnail works too.

Gear

[cbrick]

Can't do much about the fuzzy but it may look a bit better here.

Rick

[Bret4207]

Had a case or 2 like that sorta before. I put it down to an acid of some sort corroding the brass. My holes were more oblong. The brass was thin and crumbly in that area, I'd get a glass and look for that, maybe section the case.

Why they look like they are indented? Gas pressure builds inside the case, escapes through holes, is trapped, pressure falls in case, gas rushes back in leaving holes looking like that...maybe.

[Cap'n Morgan]

That's corrosion alright. Probably galvanic corrosion since the holes are in line as if the case has been in contact with a metal surface.

[clintsfolly]

my sister-inlaws cat got into my brothers reloading room a used a large box of odd brass as a litter box and any one that he tried to use did the same thing. the cure was to use one case and shoot the d#$m cat! a cat using the cleaning media will do the same thing D$%M cats Clint

[x101airborne]

Well, I dont have a cat, but I do have a neighbor I could live without. Maybe I could just blame it on him? -JK

[Moonie]

Great, now I gotta worry about brass worms... Time to lock up all my brass that's out in the building.

Does sailboat fuel keep them away?

[Hammer]

Can't say what or why, but does anyone have an idea why the one case with the holes might have the slight discoloration emanating from a spot just below the hole closest to the web and spreading to the neck? Other case is NOT discolored and does NOT have holes....

[beagle]

For one thing, I'd section that thing with a Dremel and a cuttoff wheel and see what the inside looks like. Can't ever tell unless you do./beagle

[noylj]

Drill press?
Child with ice pick?

[LAH]

Drill press?
Child with ice pick?

Makes as good a sense as any. HEE HEE