Sedalia Dave Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I purchased a large lot of commercially loaded BP ammo from a fellow club member that time caught up with. All of the ammo was at least 10 years old. Most of the ammo was Black Dawg Cartridge Company but a few boxes were Ten-X brand. Been shooting the ammo at bigger matches and have had zero issues with the Black Dawg ammo. However the vast majority of the Ten-X ammo cracked the case when fired. The cracks are all in the center of the brass and run the lengthwise. None extend to the case mouth. All of the brass has a StarLine headstamp. No extraction issues and all were fired in a Rossi 92 that I have been shooting for years. I suspect the powder attacked the brass some way but no idea what powder these were loaded with. I checked the box and there are no date codes anywhere that I can find. Anyone else experienced something similar? Kinda bummed that I can't recycle the brass Pics of the brass and box below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendo Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 What does a loaded cartridge and also the fired primer look like? Oh, and may I be the first to say, "Nice manicure". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene, SASS # 27489 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I think most of Ten-X BP-sub ammo was using Cleanshot (APP). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 14 minutes ago, Hendo said: What does a loaded cartridge and also the fired primer look like? Oh, and may I be the first to say, "Nice manicure". Not sure I have any unfired cartridges. Here is the headstamp of a fired case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendo Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said: Not sure I have any unfired cartridges. Here is the headstamp of a fired case. Nice, I was wondering if the cartridge may have been bulged when it was loaded or if the primer might indicate a pressure spike. Thus ends the extent of my complete lack of knowledge. Just to lessen what I don't know, does black powder substitute affect brass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I've had this happen to many Starline cases on their first loading. They had been loaded with Triple Seven and stored in dry conditions. Since they were bought with a door prize coupon I did not inform Starline. The cases that survived their first loading were good for many reloadings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Hanger #3720LR Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 You might check the diameter of the bullet used. If the bullet was under sized, say .356" or .357" that would require sizing the case down to get hold of the bullet. During firing, the case would expand faster than the mouth where the bullet base is crimped. This quick expansion could crack the case below the bullet and above the case solid base. If you have fired all that ammunition, there is nothing to fix but toss the cracked brass in the scrap bucket. Unfired ammunition coulpd have the bullet pulled and then resize the case and put an appropriate bullet diameter in the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
German Jim Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said: I purchased a large lot of commercially loaded BP ammo from a fellow club member that time caught up with. All of the ammo was at least 10 years old. Most of the ammo was Black Dawg Cartridge Company but a few boxes were Ten-X brand. TEN-X will reload brass that a user will send to them. Maybe all those pieces of brass were sent in for reloading by the original owner and who knows how many times they had been reloaded. I get those exact splits on some of my .45 Colt brass (all of different headstamps) that I have been reloaded many times. When I resize and deprime my .45 Colt brass, I take a quick look at the "good" ones. If I see what looks like cellulite on the side wall of the brass, I don't reload it because I think that is a sign that it will fail soon. Near the split in your picture, it looks like the "cellulite" issue that I am talking about. That is just my theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Wasn't just a few, more like 90 plus out of 100. Didn't notice till after wet tumbled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 2 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said: Wasn't just a few, more like 90 plus out of 100. Wonder what the before and after firing case dimensions are? Did this happen in just one gun or? OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Had the same exact problem with a batch of Starline Brass. Splits on the side of the case that did not extend to the case mouth. I never believed you could get a batch of "bad brass" but now know you can. I called Starline and they said the brass had not been properly annealed when it was formed. They sent me some new brass based on what I noticed was the failure rate. I should have sent the whole batch back as the cracking was less frequent but still occurs with that batch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakebite Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I had a lot of split cases in ammo that I had loaded years ago with Clean Shot. I had no problem when the ammo was fresh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 2 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: Wonder what the before and after firing case dimensions are? Did this happen in just one gun or? OLG I'll get the before / after case dimensions when I go back out the my loading shed. All rounds were fired from the same gun. Up until now this has never happened in this gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom, SASS #54973 Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 That's real old...I redesigned that logo some 14+ years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.