41 mag fail in Henry today!!

@buck460--I may be wrong--but the fracture doesn't really look like it's in the head/web area being just below the half-length point.
 
@buck460--I may be wrong--but the fracture doesn't really look like it's in the head/web area being just below the half-length point.
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From my experience, this is where straight-walled handgun ammo separates as compared to bottle necked rifle cartridges. Whether it has to do with the way the cases are made or how they stretch and are pushed back as they are resized, I dunno. But it seems the problem is much more common in lever action rifles than in revolvers in the same caliber. I believe this may be not only because of the movement of the bolt in lever actions, but because the increase in pressure resulting from no cylinder gap and the longer barrel.
 
I just checked the headspace in the Henry by the "scotch tape layer" method. It's a bit difficult to actually gauge the resistance at bolt close because the lever has a catch of some sort that "snaps" the lever close. The lever showed notable resistance at 3 layers--and would not close at all with 4 layers.
 
Was it scotch tape or masking tape? I didn't measure scotch tape, but I think it is 0.002" per layer. I think your rifle's head clearance is 2-1/2 layer, which is 0.005". I think it is perfect for a lever action. So you can rule out headspace.

Now if it was masking tape, it would be 0.01", which is getting close to the borderline. It may cause problems given the right (wrong) combination of things.

-TL
 
Was it scotch tape or masking tape? I didn't measure scotch tape, but I think it is 0.002" per layer. I think your rifle's head clearance is 2-1/2 layer, which is 0.005". I think it is perfect for a lever action. So you can rule out headspace.

Now if it was masking tape, it would be 0.01", which is getting close to the borderline. It may cause problems given the right (wrong) combination of things.

-TL
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Heavy duty clear tape which is approximately .003 thick. Like I said it is a bit harder to tell where the borderline is between "notable resistance" because the lever catch requires pressure to close the lever even if there is nothing in the chamber--but I did notice more resistance at 3 layers (approx. .009 thick)--but could still get the bolt to close. At 4 layers (.012 thick) the bolt could not be closed even with significant force. I'm going to purchase the same ammo this weekend and try to test it (we're due rain and snow all weekend) and see if I get similar banding from the Henry
 
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The contact happens between 2 and 3 layers, say 2.5. 0.008"-ish is not bad for a lever action. I don't think headspace is a significant factor here.

-TL
 
The contact happens between 2 and 3 layers, say 2.5. 0.008"-ish is not bad for a lever action. I don't think headspace is a significant factor here.

-TL
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I appreciate your advice and useful suggestions--I'll continue posting results of my "findings." : )
 
Well, I took 10 old winchester cases, 3 old starlines and 1 old remmie case all of which had been reloaded at least 3 times and duplicated the load that failed.

The good news is that none of them showed any abnormal signs of case weakening or bulging after firing.

The bad news, however, is that I measured each cartridge COAL after applying the Lee collet crimp--and much to my surprise there actually was a change in length between .001 to .003 in some of the cartridges after applying the crimp. I was careful to trim all cases to the same length before seating, so I figure I must be somehow forcing the bullets down--which might also contribute to wekening the questionable remmie by making them brittle at their "weak waist."
 
I expect that if you have the bullet seated to where the crimp groove is barely visible before crimping, the case mouth will give way to crimp without pressing heavily on the bullet seating, driving the bullet deeper.
 
I expect that if you have the bullet seated to where the crimp groove is barely visible before crimping, the case mouth will give way to crimp without pressing heavily on the bullet seating, driving the bullet deeper.
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That's not always possible given that most of my used cases are below the max 1.29--but they generally come out somewhere around the middle or past the middle but not quite to the top of the groove.
 
That's not always possible given that most of my used cases are below the max 1.29--but they generally come out somewhere around the middle or past the middle but not quite to the top of the groove.
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But with revolvers you should essentially be ignoring any book specs for COL. The crimp groove location rules. The remaining question is if the bullet design presents too long an ogive to fit the gun, a matter of Max COL rather than Min.
 
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That's not always possible given that most of my used cases are below the max 1.29--but they generally come out somewhere around the middle or past the middle but not quite to the top of the groove.
But with revolvers you should essentially be ignoring any book specs for COL. The crimp groove location rules. The remaining question is if the bullet design presents too long an ogive to fit the gun, a matter of Max COL rather than Min.
__________________
Not an expert, just a reporter.
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Well--for the time being these are being developed for my Henry--even so the crimp is quite strongly within the cannelure groove itself. My new shipment of starline brass should be in any day now.
 
My own loading has recently evolved into having the equipment and the resolve to keep my case lengths within spec and sorted if significantly below that, requiring a different crimp setting. I got particular about the quality of my crimps, my revolver reloading more about quality than volume.

315831.jpg
 
My own loading has recently evolved into having the equipment and the resolve to keep my case lengths within spec and sorted if significantly below that, requiring a different crimp setting. I got particular about the quality of my crimps, my revolver reloading more about quality than volume.

http://media.midwayusa.com/productim...315/315831.jpg
__________________
Not an expert, just a reporter.
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I hear you--I carefully measure and trim all cases for uniformity (and BTW, clean and uniform primer pockets and flash holes as well) and still balance-beam weigh each charge. It takes me hours to do 50 rounds start to finish. I too am quite fussy about crimps--that's why I use Lee factory crimps--collet ones preferrably.

Yesterday I fired a dozen reloads of the same formulation that produced this failure but used old starline and winchester brass that had been reloaded 3 or more times already. No evidence of any kind of the same flow or "banding" that the remmie cases have.
 
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