Thread: Split case

Hey everyone,

So I went and shot some rounds to compare the Accubonds to the VLDS and pick a powder weight. As Im using the 140gn AB's at present they were loaded in the 5x fired Nickel winchester cases. And the 150gn VLD's were in 1x fired Federal cases.

I fired the Ab's first to check their speed and group to use as a base to compare off that day.

Well bugger me the first case come out and had a split neck (only small, just where the neck comes off the shoulder). These are definitely only fired five times and were FL sized first time around before I got a Neck sizer.

So your all probably thinking that the load must be hot!! Well its only 61.4gn AR2213sc, 140gn AB, CCI LR Mag primer, OAL 2.786" with said Nickel cases. And speed is 2845fps, well below what is capable. But it shoots where it is
I know that these cases are hard as, but what I'm wondering if has anyone else had similar trouble with these after such few firings.

FYI, the rifle is a Tikka T3 Hunter in 270wsm.



puku

Nickel cases are very hard which can mean split cases much earlier than std brass. I would consider 5 firings a good life for nickel.

Yep x5 for nickle is about right.

yea i realise its a lot harder, but thought id get more than that.

But thanks for the info I may ChuCk them after this batCh is shot.

Only advantage I can see for nickel is corrosion resistance and if your ammo has enough time to go green than you arent shooting it fast enough.

These are from my 303.25, reloaded 20 years ago, no problems then but now they are splitting, a mix of resized 303 DC 41 VllZ and riverbrand 303.25, any ideas?

Have seen this a lot now, mostly its the galvanic corrosion between the dissimilar metals in the brass and projectile " welding " the projectile in tighter than it should be

Upon firing the brass releases the projectile with extra resistance and vibration which destroys the brass

Thanks for that, Ive measured neck thickness between these and other used rounds and (although new to reloading) had decided it wasnt undersized neck material and also the fact that 20 years ago they were fine led me to think it was corrosion of some sort. Again thanks for your response, at least I know how to proceed now

Hi,

I am firing various 330brit cases, Privy, DI Z 1942/1943, S&B and Winchester. The older 1942/3 brass is failing far more frequently (2 or 3 times) than anything else, so I'd think this is expected. A also shoot with "old timers" who are still shooting the military loaded ammo and this looks typical (and worse). You could try annealing the necks but Im not sure that would do anything.

I cant see your primers to see how flat they are but if the load was too hot I'd also expect to see the white ring of death 1/4inch up from the rim as the action stretches and hence the brass. If you have mild loads ( eg 38gr adi2208) 10 reloads on the brass seems Ok. Typically using the Lee quick trim I get <1thou or so stretch each firing (I size each time). 43gr 2208 and 2 or 3 reloads is more like it and noticeably far more stretch per firing.

PS the above is for a No4, on a Pattern14 I cant see any stretch to speak of as yet but Ive only just got it and done one firing.

the gunsmith that reloaded them (now retired) did a standard reload, the cases in the foto with the noticeable dark colour near the rim are the super 303.25 cases, they have a distinct shoulder where the darker colour is, they may be thicker there to compensate for stretch near the rim, just a guess. There are 2 303 cases in there and another 2 I didnt put in the foto. As stated measured all the necks and they are all fine, its the 20 years between firings that threw me, if the necks were too thin or hard they wouldve split back then but they didnt. I would say that 7mmsaum is bang on the money. I will have new simplex dies in the next week or so so I will strip/clean/check/reassemble and test fire the remaining 20 rounds of that lot, looking forward to doing that!

ritchie426

Good news on the dies.

If your going to strip down those loaded rounds I'd have a think about annealing your cases at the same time.

Could extend the case life a bit for you.

Cheers
Pete

thanks pete

just sussing out what i can make to revolve them in front of the flame!!

Originally Posted by ritchie426

thanks pete

just sussing out what i can make to revolve them in front of the flame!!

No worries.

I use the ammosmith method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgD5D0Wzu-c

Cheers
Pete

This is how I anneal my brass, however, I do NOT put them in water - just stand them on the bench to cool.