45 colt starline nickel cases are splitting

[DrCaveman]

Title says it

I bought from midway, they had no brass ones in stock at the time. Loads have been 'standard' level and i have stayed within published data

Im getting about 1 out of 20 with a long split (about 3/8") from the case mouth.

I did not notice anything odd about the round when fired, in fact i did not see the splits until looking over my cases after the shooting session. So im not exactly sure which load caused them, but im pretty sure that both loads (255 rnfp w/7.0 unique, 255 rnfp w/4.5 competition) were causing the splits

Does this sound like i am over crimping or over expanding or over sizing or something?

Or do nickel cases just have shorter lives?

This is my first batch of nickel cases that i have used and i wasnt really too thrilled to have gotten them. But they shoot good, maintain neck tension (as far as i can tell) and MOST of the cases seem to withstand a few reloadings

I hoped that 45 colt cases would be nearly indestructible like my 45 acp cases which have maybe 20-40 reloadings under their belts. High hopes?

[ACrowe25]

Starline guarantees them for at least 5 reloads I think. Call Em.

[MattOrgan]

I've loaded thousands of nickel cases and have never seen any difference in durability. The issue I've always had with with .45 LC cases (and 38-40/44-40) is that the combination of thin cases walls, sizing dies that size to minimum, and large chambers all lead to short case life. I've got 41 and 44 Magnum cases that have been reloaded with moderate loads (about 1200fps) 30 or 40 times and they are still going strong. I'm happy to get 10 loadings from my 45 LC brass in my Ruger Blackhwk and Colt SAA. The Colt gets nothing but standard loads. The Ruger gets hotter loadings, but I till get mouth cracks and body splits sooner than any brass other than .38-40 and .44-40. In your case it sounds like you received a bad lot of brass that is too hard. Starline hs ways been a great to deal with, I'm sure it would be worth contacting them.

[tomme boy]

Thats why I always partial sized them. Size down to just where the bullet sits and no farther.

[Bullshop Junior]

Ive got some starline 45 colts my dad gave me that are probably at least 10 years old, and have countless reloads and they are still going strong. Starline is some of te best brass money can buy.

[dmize]

I have never read or heard about Starlines "guarantee" but Nickel cases and 45 Colt don't go well together.
From what I have read the nickel plating process hardens the brass.
Just take this as a lesson as I did and don't buy any nickel plated 45 Colt brass, and sure as hell no nickel plated WCF brass ever again.

[DrCaveman]

Thanks for all the input. I was afraid of what dmize says, and i am looking for some BRASS 45 colt cases to enhance my count of nickel plated

All the starline BRASS i have used was stellar. These nickel plated do not seem to be on the same level

I may have to try the pertial sizing mentioned by tomme boy in the meantime

[bedbugbilly]

I don't load/shoot 45 Colt but I do use nickel quite a bit for my 38 spl reloads - never had a problem with them splitting.

You don't mention this but I would take a look at a couple of things . . . you load them as "standard" loads . . . so that shouldn't be an issue. First, I'd look at how much you are roll crimping them. Second, I'd run through a quantity of them and pay attention to which chamber they are coming out of. i.e. - number your cylinder chambers and then mark your cartridge case on the side with a felt pen - shoot all #1 cartridges in #1 chamber, #2 cartridges in #2 chamber, etc. See if there is a pattern to it. Are the split casing coming out of the same chamber each time? If so, perhaps something is "amiss" in that chamber?

I would guess that there probably isn't anything wrong with one of the chambers and it just may be a bad batch of nickel brass? At least testing the chambers/casings would eliminate that as a possibility?

Good luck and let us know what you figure out on it.

[rststeve]

I had the same thing happen with Remington nickel cases. I do not buy nickel cases any more

[Silver Jack Hammer]

The same thing happened to me with nickel Remington .45 Colt cases. They were brand new and split at the case mouth. I called Remington and they said it was their error during the manufacturing process and paid me about 30 cents on the dollar for what I paid.

I bought Starline Schofield nickel brass and they seem to be working fine but I don't used them as much as the .45 Colt of which I have Starline, Remington and Winchester all brass. I'm not getting splits at the case mouth with the brass .45 Colt cases with any of these brands but I won't be using nickel cases anymore. Too bad, it would have been nice to have my .45 Colt in nickel and my .44 Special in brass but it is not to be.

[contender1]

Sometimes, a 45 Colt suffers from chamber dimension issues that can cause this. Also, as noted, sometimes a manufacturer can make a bad run of brass. If you have oversized chamber throats, or just one throat in the cylinder, it could POSSIBLY be the problem.
Get some regular brass cases & see what happens.

[jakec]

i had a lot of federal .357 mag nickel cases that split bad. i like nickel cases but that one lot was terrible. other than that one time i dont see a difference in them.

[rintinglen]

I have had several batches of brass over the years where the brass was not properly annealed after drawing. I had a box of CCI stamped 38 Special that ran over 50% splits on first firing, and similar, but worse, problems with 9MM Largo Starline brass--something like 80% split on first firing. I also had troubles with some 30-30-nickel cases. It's just luck of the draw, and all manufacturers seem to be prone to the occasional bad batch. You might try annealing any survivors to draw the temper of the brass. I've done it with brass cases, but never with nickel cases.

[dmize]

I have 38 Special and 357 nickel cases that have been used so much that the brass is showing thru the nickel. I also have nickel 500 S&W cases cut for my 500 JRH that are doing really well.
Just been my experience that thin walls and nickel don't work well

[tacklebury]

My .45 starline have been reloaded repeatedly and with heavier loads than yours. I'd contact customer service from where you got them.

[ClemY]

The problem with nickel plated cases is hydrogen enbrittlement as a result of the plating process. The cases can be heated to moderate temperature to expel the trapped hydrogen. You can probably read details of it somewhere on the 'net.

[.45Cole]

So this may be a little off topic, but I bought my first .45 BH in high school and that was 13+ years ago. I bought PMC ammo and kept the brass (about boxes). I have thrown away maybe 10 cases over the years. I usually load 230 RN over 8-9 grns Unique or 250-280 SWC over 9-10 grns Unique w/o any problems. The cases are probably fired 2-3 times a year. I have some starline, and it hasn't given me any trouble either.
Watch your crimp, that it isn't too much or goes too far down the side of the case.
I don't know if it's worth it to you to anneal them with a torch/benz-o-matic and water.

[Billairgun]

I see that Missouri bullet has Starline brass but don't know if it's a good price or not.
http://www.missouribullet.com/

[robertbank]

My experience differs from some here. From my experience nickel 38spl/357mag cases split far more often than plain brass. The nickel cases are brass of course with a coating of nickel/chrome. I found the same thing with nickel 45acp cases. Not sure about 9MM as I lose them before they split. I have had only brass 45 Colt cases so I cannot comment directly on that caliber.

Out of 100 cases of 38spl cases, over time I lose one a session. Brass cases would run half of that. Most of the splits come after several reloadings.

I think if you want long life stick to brass cases. If you live on or near the coast like I do I keep nickel cases on hand with SD in mind as they are less susceptible to tarnishing.

Take Care

Bob

[rockshooter]

I've found that split nickel cases are much more of a problem in .38/.357. I expect a 10% loss rate vs 1% for regular brass. In auto calibers, I've never noticed a difference- the rate is far lower than in revolvers. I once bought a new batch of Super-Vel nickel cases that were so bad I just scrapped the whole batch. I use any that I find, but I don't buy nickel.
Loren