Brass splitting...

N

Nathan

New member
So, I've just finished running about 1000 40 s&w through my lnl press. I had about 5 neck splits. 1 was so bad, the neck split down about 1/8" and then wen horizontal about 1/2 wat around the case. Seems to happen in the expander.

All brass are range pick up, but I wonder what was wrong with that one?

Is this a 40 s&w thing? My 45 auto brass are more beat up.

One observation was that there are a lot of 40's with a thin side to them!
 
The problem with picking brass up found lying on the range is you really don't know what you have. When brass is worked, as in when the cases are made and formed it hardens and becomes brittle. At this point the brass is annealed to make it softer and remove the brittle properties. Annealing changes the metal crystals in the brass. Following shooting and later expanding works the brass and after awhile it will become brittle again. When collecting brass on the range we haven't a clue where it came from or how worked it really is. Anyway, if your brass is splitting when you expand it I would guess the brass has become brittle and for a case like the .40 S&W has reached the end of its useful life. This is true of about any small straight wall handgun cartridge. That is my guess anyway.

Ron
 
What are the mfg head stamps? 40 cal S&W tells us not much.

The problem is that straight wall is pretty hard to wreck.

Add in there, anyone who leaves brass on the he ground is not likely a reloader.

Rifle yes, pistol no. Only brass I picked up that was bad was some Lapua strangely enough, whatever was shot in it was way over the line (308 I believe). Big and I mean big primer pockets.

It really sounds like poor brass or shot in a gun with a really bad chamber (and it does happen)
 
Out of one thousand range pick up .40 s&w cases, five split cases probably isn't that bad. I wouldn't think that the .40s are inherently prone to splitting, having scrounged 1500 or more also with no splitting problems. As a side note I'm not particularly pleased with the accuracy, which includes Winchester factory rounds, of my Springfield and S&W .40 semis. The saving grace is that they are fine when fired with moon clips out of a heavy 10mm S&W revolver, model 610. But right now I have over 500 .40 cases I'm inclined to throw away or give away, but not because they are defective.
 
Last edited:
Strange...

I load 40 s&w. I load range pickup brass also. Anything range pickup I run through a small base die but that's another subject.

I have never had neck splits with my 40 brass. The biggest issue tends to be bulges from unsupported chambers, a notorious unsupported chamber is/was Glocks. I run my loads fairly hot, usually around 1025 - 1050 fps with 180 gr bullets and still no neck splits in thousands of rounds from dozens of different brass types.

If I had to guess, perhaps it was fired in some pistol chambered carbean with a generous chamber.
Also, you didn't mention if they were the same headstamp. If so that may mean some issue with that brand of brass/ lot.

But you have to give more information to help narrow it down.
 
You have no idea how many times those cases have been reloaded. Another reloader may have left that particular brass behind for a reason.
 
Federal brass has always seemed softer to me. Any .40 brass I pickup gets inspected then run through a Redding GS push through die. But I usually buy once-fire Federal .40 brass instead of picking it up. I also run it through the push through die after inspecting it for bulges. Neck splits haven't been a probably either.
 
"...All brass are range pick up..." Like Ron says, it's totally unknown stuff. You have no idea what's been done to it or how many times. And it doesn't matter that Federal brass is known for being softer than other brands.
Repeated loading with a crimp work hardens case mouths. That's what causes case mouths to split.
 
I sweep up and reload thousands of spent range cases every year ...in a variety of calibers ( mostly 9mm, but .40 S&W, .45 acp, .380, .38spl, .357 mag and .44 mag )...and yes, I see a few cases split after the bullet is seated in the cases especially in .40 S&W.

I sort every case after its cleaned - and in higher pressure cartridges like the .40 S&W if a case looks at all "old or roughed up" I recycle it and don't reload it. I do see a few more cases in .40 S&W split than other calibers...( I get very few in 9mm or .45 acp as an example ...maybe 1 or 2 out of 15,000 ...) ....but it seems like I see 3 or 4 out of every 3,000 in .40 S&W -- to me, this shows up more in .40 S&W because its usually a higher pressure cartridge ...and its true you don't know what gun they were fired in, how many times they were fired, etc....so if they don't look real clean after I tumble them, I toss them.

Since I case gague 100% of my finished rounds after they are loaded....I don't lose a lot of sleep over it...if they split, they will always stick in a case gague causing them to be rejected.

There is also so much .40 S&W brass laying around the range...its easy to just toss it out if its burnt or looks like its been roughed up ....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top