Cracked Cases

[ajtowe]

I got some hand loads from a gentleman on the GON classifieds for my 300WM. One round had a dead primer, the next 2 rounds experienced cracked cases.
Is this an overpressure issue?
Brittle brass?
I do not reload and will not be shooting the rest of the rounds. Just curious on what caused this.

 

[Dixie Shooter]

Example of why it's not safe to trust anything but license ammo manufacturer/remanufacturer products.

That's serious failure. I'm wondering what the brass may have been exposed to.

If you will, post some pictures of what you have left unfired. Also pictures of the primers of those that have been fired.

 

[Nimrod71]

Never use reloaded ammo from and unknown source. You do not know how the ammo was loaded or what components were used in the process or the reloaders performance standards.

And answer to your question about the reloads, I would say they are old and possibly not stored correctly. Wore out brass will split.

 

[ajtowe]

Example of why it's not safe to trust anything but license ammo manufacturer/remanufacturer products.

That's serious failure. I'm wondering what the brass may have been exposed to.

If you will, post some pictures of what you have left unfired. Also pictures of the primers of those that have been fired.

I don’t have any pics, but they looked completely fine and like factory loads. That’s the only reason I fired them.

Primers looked normal both fired and unfired. Only thing that was abnormal was the brass cracking.

 

[trial&error]

I'm thinking that the brass could have already been fired several times and towards the end of it's life. Most reloaders don't usually want to part with brass, especially in today's market.

 

[bullgator]

Probably brittle from being improperly stored in a hot environment over many years.

 

[Jester896]

is that a hole in the case wall on that first pic where it burnt through? yeah...don't shoot any more of those.

send them to me and I will pull those bullets and get them in something safe for you... if you like

 

[transfixer]

Looks like brass that has been reloaded multiple times, don't think that is over pressured , but we'd need to see the fired primers in order to get a better idea, as Jester said, I don't think I'd shoot any more of them.

 

[BriarPatch99]

Bad brass ...I wouldn't shoot any more of those ... you chance ruining a rifle and harming yourself ...

 

[frankwright]

Brass has a limited number of times it can be reloaded and then it is subject to splitting which is a normal occurrences.
It happens more with something like 223 that usually gets fired and reloaded a lot. With hunting ammo like 30-06 many are reloading once fired brass and it may only ever get reloaded once more ever.
I personally would not be afraid of it and do heed the warning about shooting reloads from an unknown source.
I have reloaded for family and friends hundreds of times and they always come back asking for more so your mileage may differ as they say.

 

[BriarPatch99]

Brass can age crack which is what theses brass look like ...

Annealing brings hard brass back to a softer stage ...but that softness immediately starts transition back to the harder stage ....

After cracking brass ... is worthless for reloaders ....it does recycle well though ...never throw brass away ...gather it and recycle .... I melt it down and use it for knife hilts....

 

[rmp]

About 15 years ago I was given some old Weatherby brass from my grandpa. Old as in the yellow cardboard boxes with a Tiger on the front. All looked ok after sizing so I loaded a few. After firing 2, I had similar results as to what you’re seeing except yours looks like some corrosion might be involved, particularly on one. On one of mine, the neck was completely cracked off. I annealed the remainder and it worked fine.
More of just a trial and learning because I wasn’t desperate for the brass.

All that said, I’d be trashing or recycling the stuff you have. Somethings just aren’t worth the effort.

 

[GregoryB.]

About 15 years ago I was given some old Weatherby brass from my grandpa. Old as in the yellow cardboard boxes with a Tiger on the front. All looked ok after sizing so I loaded a few. After firing 2, I had similar results as to what you’re seeing except yours looks like some corrosion might be involved, particularly on one. On one of mine, the neck was completely cracked off. I annealed the remainder and it worked fine.
More of just a trial and learning because I wasn’t desperate for the brass.

All that said, I’d be trashing or recycling the stuff you have. Somethings just aren’t worth the effort.

I have a box of that Weatherby Tiger brass for my 257. Thought about loading some for nostalgia.

 

[rmp]

 

[bullethead]