Case Failure yesterday

[MtJerry]

Another first in my handloading experience.

I was deer hunting yesterday for the opener here in Montana and while shooting at a doe, I experienced a case failure in the 445 Supermag.

Case split/seperated about halfway up the case, leaving about 1/2 of the case in the chamber. It was easily removed with a tight patch at home.

I am REALLY confused by this. This was new starline brass that had been fired 3 times at the most.

Anyone know if Starline had a bad batch come thru their system about a year and a half ago?

P.S. - I got the doe, but it was an UGLY shot and required a finisher ... I am very unhappy with myself. :(

[475/480]

I have a TC Contender 445 SM,maybe the chamber is large and the cases are stretching more than is usuall.
I have had cases do the same thing as yours did but after about 10 firings.And it was do to the cases stretching,if you see a slight ring around the case this is a sure sign it is about to happen,also are you loading close to Max, if YES then this will cause the case failure quicker than normal.

Sean

[9.3X62AL]

Intriguing post--I've had a few such occurrences with rimless rifle brass and rimmed neck-and-shoulder brass (bad lot of 25-35 WCF cases), but none to date with straightwall/rimmed stuff. Was there a prior need for trimming during previous service of this brass? I'm kinda curious about this occurrence, and would like to hear from others with similar outcomes using straightwall/rimmed cases.

[montana_charlie]

I have no first-hand experience with case separations, but just thinking about it logically...

If the case separated (more or less) in the middle, it says there was room behind it for the head to move away from the neck. That is not unusual in a revolver, as you can't have it lock up tight (like a rifle) or it wouldn't 'revolve'.
Since the brass tore, instead of stretching, it indicates there was so much room back there that the brass couldn't stretch far enough to fill.

That may indicate too much endplay in the cylinder (stretched frame?)...or 'brittle' brass. Among BPCR shooters, Starline has a reputation for needing to be annealed.

I haven't told you why it happened...and I can't . But there you have some things to consider.
CM

[mike in co]

what was the load...powder.oal .boolit

[Bass Ackward]

Jerry,

You have some investigating to do. Try taking a paper clip and straightening it out so it will reach below midway on the case and then put a 90 bend in it. Move this around the inside of the case going in and out and see if it hangs up anywhere. I can't see it letting go in the center like that unless pressure is way to high.

I started working with 6 rounds of Starline brass that started to go on the second firing. The split was from the case mouth almost to the rim. And the load was a 20,000 psi area load. When I tried to size those remaining 5 cases for the third firing, I lost two more. So I had to stop and anneal. And for these, I heated the neck and then I let the whole case air cool instead of quenching so that the anneal went all the way to the bottom of the case. My 44 Mag brass was just so hard it was brittle.

Remember that brass will age harden just sitting. And how do we really know just how long ago brass was made? So when I buy brass, I try to buy "fresh" brass by getting it from someone who moves a lot of brass like Midway. I know that it isn't a guarantee, but it helps the odds.

[MtJerry]

what was the load...powder.oal .boolit

load was:

17gr of AA5744
Lyman 429244 (255gr. GC SWC)
CCi Mag Pistol primer

Bass,

My cases did not split, but seperated. The piece that came out was just slightly shorter than a 44 special.

This brass was BRAND NEW from Midway about a year, year-and-a half ago.

[MtJerry]

I have no first-hand experience with case separations, but just thinking about it logically...

If the case separated (more or less) in the middle, it says there was room behind it for the head to move away from the neck. That is not unusual in a revolver, as you can't have it lock up tight (like a rifle) or it wouldn't 'revolve'.
Since the brass tore, instead of stretching, it indicates there was so much room back there that the brass couldn't stretch far enough to fill.

That may indicate too much endplay in the cylinder (stretched frame?)...or 'brittle' brass. Among BPCR shooters, Starline has a reputation for needing to be annealed.

I haven't told you why it happened...and I can't . But there you have some things to consider.
CM

Twasn't a revolver ... it was a re-chambered NEF 44 mag barrel.

[Bass Ackward]

load was:

17gr of AA5744
Lyman 429244 (255gr. GC SWC)
CCi Mag Pistol primer

Bass,

My cases did not split, but seperated. The piece that came out was just slightly shorter than a 44 special.

This brass was BRAND NEW from Midway about a year, year-and-a half ago.


Jerry,

My point about my spliting was where and how the case was stretching or failing to stretch. But brass is brass and will seperate if stretching becomes too high or too thin in one area. After looking at the pressure, (Quickload says @12,000) looks like you need to anneal.

It simply could have been an isolated incident, my guess is that it will happen again if it needs annealed.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I use the paper clip trick on 22 Hornet brass. I only ever had that sort of split happen on a 44WCF, sorta looked like a 44BB Cap case. Mick.