.38 special case cracked on factory ammo?

[slips73]

Hey everyone, I was out shooting today, and had a case split on me from new factory ammo, i was shooting 158gr fmj std pressure .38 special rounds from Geco (german company) in my 70's era model 15-3 revolver. I never have seen this before in hundreds of rounds through my revolver. what happened to it? and should i be concerned about my revolver? I didnt notice any swelling or bulges on the cylinder and when firing it, no excess recoil was noted, the case extracted fine, though felt a little stiff. How should inspect the gun for any damage?

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5811/20121255683_b1e5082f7e_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/775/20715950946_e4de96f59b_k.jpg

thanks,

Adam

[Beef15]

Bad brass most likely. I've seen it in factory new 9mm and .223 Rem.

Check cylinder for flame cutting/pitting, none or minor, carry on. Manufacturers generally like to know when this sort of thing happens.

[bedbugbilly]

That's some split! I was expecting to see a case mouth split . . .

I'm guessing it's a bad piece of brass as well but as already mentioned, check your chambers in your revolver. If it happens again, I'd try to mark the chamber in some manner and then get it checked out just to be on the safe side. It's probably just a "one time thing" but I'd still keep an eye on the 15 and see. I don't remember the brand I was shooting as it was quite a while ago but I had several casings that the factory ammo ended up with a split by the mouth. I never had it happen again and it was just on two rounds out of a box of 50. I figured it was just bad brass - possibly not annealed properly?

You might also try and contact the ammo mfg. and at the very least, take the lot number off the box and send them the pictures you've posted here - they'd probably want to know about it.

[ReloaderFred]

Just a flaw in the brass. It won't cause any problems, since it's the same as any case crack when shooting handgun rounds. When brass wears out from fatigue, it does the same thing, and I've never had any damage to any of my revolvers from it. I toss old cracked brass after almost every match.

Cartridge cases are made by the millions and it's amazing that there aren't more failures. You can contact Geco with the lot number, but it's nothing to worry about. I've also seen it in other brands of new brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[slips73]

Thanks guys, lessens my worries, I didnt notice anything and checked the timing and lockup briefly, I also don't know what chamber it was as I didnt notice it till after, but I have never had this happen and ive put a couple hundred rounds through it, mostly winchester and federal ammo, so I am thinking it was a bad piece of brass as well

[Outpost75]

Draw scratch.

[Mytmousemalibu]

Seem to recall another recent post about problems with brass (I think) and it happened to be Geco also. I agree, just bad brass. could have had a scratch/stress riser in the matarial or just not soft enough. Wouldn't hurt the heed the advise already given. I personally wouldn't be too worried.

[rintinglen]

Improper annealing between drawing stages--happens to just about everybody sometime or other. I bought 500 New Speer cases from Midway 20 odd years ago that had a 30 % loss rate due to case splits. Got a box of Starline 9 MM largo that did worse than that--IIRC I had 130 odd cases fail on first firing out of 200. If this was a rare, hard to come by, case, I'd pull the boolits, dump the powder, and anneal the cases to prevent them from being ruined. As is, just shoot 'em and toss 'em. 38's aren't as common as they once were, but they are still easily obtainable.

[azrednek]

You might also try and contact the ammo mfg. and at the very least, take the lot number off the box and send them the pictures you've posted here - they'd probably want to know about it.

I did that with some Remington brand 338 Win Mag. About 50% cracked the necks on the initial firing. I mentioned in my letter that I bought the ammo with salvaging the brass in mind. I included photos and ends from two 20 rd boxes so they could get all the codes. Got a nice letter of apology, some coupons and 120 pieces of new brass.

The letter claimed the particular batch was out sourced and there were other complaints.

[roberts1]

Had the same happen with some old cci aluminum cased ammo somebody gave me. I just figured it was cheap ammo and no damage to the gun.

[Petrol & Powder]

As others have already stated, bad brass and likely wasn't annealed correctly during the drawing (forming) process. I seriously doubt it did any damage to your gun. Toss the cracked brass and carry on.

[TCFAN]

About 30 years ago I bought a new box of 50 Remington brand 44 mag unprimed cases.Loaded them up with 21 grs. of 2400 and a Lyman 429421 boolit.Every single case split on the first firing from the mouth to the rim.Sent all the cases back to Remington and they replaced them and sent a nice letter thanking me for sending them back.The letter said they found a burr in one of their form dies that caused the case to split. No harm done to the Super BlackHawk.............Terry

[LouisianaMan]

Six or seven years ago, I had the exact same thing happen. Of all things, this was a doggoned .32 S&W Long!!! A low pressure cartridge, but it split massively. Made by Federal, and nickel plated. I knew the gun was reliable, so that made the ammo the variable in the equation.

I should have thought to notify Federal. As an Ammunition Materiel Management officer in the Army, I was certainly aware of lot management, lot suspensions, etc. In my defense, however, I'll note that my field time was spent managing *nuclear* ammunition, and we didn't get a bunch of reports about ammo failure upon firing. Matter of fact, I don't recollect any reports of any firing at all... :-)

[Char-Gar]

1. Bad brass, it happens.
2. Eject case.
3. Continue shooting, no damage done.