Jackalope Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Here is a case failure I have not seen before. It was the only damaged case of the 60 revolver cartridges I used during a recent match. It's a Remington .45 Colt case that has been fired 3 or 4 times. The perforation is located very close to where the base of the seated bullet would have been. The load was one I've been using for years, a Lyman 454190 bullet (253 grains), lubed with 50/50 beeswax/crisco, 33 grains of Goex FFFg and a Federal LP primer fired from a Uberti-made revolver. I'm sure we've all seen many split cases before, but have you seen a circular perforation such as this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Do you use SS pins for cleaning brass? I wonder if one was in case and did the damage. Hole looks to be the right size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Odd for sure, never saw one like it in many decades of reloading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogmeat Dad, SASS #48563L Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 I suspect you had a weak spot in the case, maybe corrosion, maybe a spot of excess copper in the brass, but a weak spot nonetheless. It just happened to coincide with the location of the base of the bullet. When fired, the gas pressure popped the piece loose before it moved the bullet and it fell out when you removed the case from the cylinder. Not too different from a split case. I wouldn't worry about it. Just my $0.02, your mileage may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Dead Ed Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Chewed on by brass rats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 In my 55 years of reloading, I have never seen that type of case failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Gun Cole Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 I have seen that in a 38 special case It tipped over when loading and the decaping pin punched a hole in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Maybe a shotgun bb coming back? I have seen brass come back at a shooter from splatter and such. Just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Duncan Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Three Gun Cole said: I have seen that in a 38 special case It tipped over when loading and the decaping pin punched a hole in it. Wouldn’t the power dribble out and cause a squib before the OP fired it during the match? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creeker, SASS #43022 Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I am not a metals expert in any way; but if you blow up the picture - It appears to me at the hole, you can see two differing metals - almost like a delamination occurred. It is obviously a cone shaped exit - so I think a combustion expansion escape is more likely than a foreign object blowing out. I would assume just a case with a weak spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Did it make a whistling sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Creek Jack Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 33 minutes ago, Creeker, SASS #43022 said: I am not a metals expert in any way; but if you blow up the picture - It appears to me at the hole, you can see two differing metals - almost like a delamination occurred. It is obviously a cone shaped exit - so I think a combustion expansion escape is more likely than a foreign object blowing out. I would assume just a case with a weak spot. This ^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Sheridan Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Seen it once before, but the cause was certainly different. In the case that I saw someone thought they were a gunsmith, and drilled all the way through to the chamber when they decided they wanted to drill and tap to install a set of scope mounts. He couldn’t understand why he suddenly started having extraction problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Meadows,SASS#28485L Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 9 hours ago, Buckshot Sheridan said: Seen it once before, but the cause was certainly different. In the case that I saw someone thought they were a gunsmith, and drilled all the way through to the chamber when they decided they wanted to drill and tap to install a set of scope mounts. He couldn’t understand why he suddenly started having extraction problems. I've seen this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackalope Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 As Creeker and Silver Creek Jack suggested, I suspect a weak spot in the brass to be much a more likely cause than a foreign object blowing through the case wall. I'm positive there were no SS pins remaining inside the brass and would certainly have noticed if the hole had been there prior to shooting the round. The cats I live with usually keep the brass rats to a minimum...but I won't rule that possibility out. I did not notice a whistling sound. It may have been obscured by the 33 grains of Goex going off. Thanks, everyone! Jackalope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Big Tree Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I found one the other day and threw it out already. It was a 44-40 case. I assumed it was one of the black powder range brass the was badly corroded that I threw in to clean. First time I'd ever seen it. I chalked it up old corroded black powder range brass. EDIT: I went and found mine and it was a split in the neck. More like it was a 44-40 shot out of a 45 colt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largo casey #19191 Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I had a 22 case blowout. It was caused by the extractor groove breaking out. Largo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 1 hour ago, Ya Big Tree said: More like it was a 44-40 shot out of a 45 colt. No, the mouth would be more expanded if it had been shot in .45 Colt with even a small powder charge. That's just a normal many-times-fired fatigue crack. .44s and .45s crack from middle of case instead of mouth-down like .38s do. good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustang Gregg Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I had it happen once too. It was in a .44 S&W case (R-P, I recollect).. I'll see if I still have it. It looked like a CUP pressure test case, but it wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Big Tree Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 On 1/23/2023 at 9:54 AM, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said: No, the mouth would be more expanded if it had been shot in .45 Colt with even a small powder charge. That's just a normal many-times-fired fatigue crack. .44s and .45s crack from middle of case instead of mouth-down like .38s do. good luck, GJ I was thinking more like it had been shot through a 45 colt resized and loaded and shot in a 44-40. As far as split cases, here is what I found when I sorted my scrap 44-40 brass today. 162 cases split on the case mouth. 6 cases split in the middle of the case. 4 cases crushed during the reloading process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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