Case head failure twice in two months

R

RileyMartin

New member
Over the past two months I've had case head failure twice from the same commercial ammunition, Ultramax Rapid City SD 40 S&W 189 GR FMJ. I've already gone through around 500rnds and have 1,000rnds left that I'm afraid to shoot. I've been shooting it through my G27 and I know it has a partially unsupported barrel. I don't know if it would be safe through my Briley 2011 in 40 S&W or if I should get a Lone Wolf fully supported chamber barrel for my G27 if that would make it safe.
 
Contact Ultramax and ask them what they think.

That said, in my opinion, you shouldn't have to spend money on an unmodified pistol to make it safe to shoot with good quality ammunition made to the proper specifications unless the pistol has some sort of special requirement which the manufacturer has publicized.
 
By case head failure, do you mean the case head has blown off? That is, leaving the body of the case in the chamber?

Or has it blown out the side of the case at the head?

Bob Wright
 
Winchester brass. That means you're shooting reloaded ammunition, right?(Okay, call it commercially re-manufactured if it makes you feel better.;) )

Seriously, though, how many times has the brass been used? Do they advertise it as new/unfired brass? Once fired? Twice fired? Unknown?

The rounds in the pics show case web blowouts.

You're afraid to shoot the rest of it? Have you asked the company for a refund? Show them the case web blowouts and see what they say.
 
Just my opinion.
I think with virgin brass the cases would not fail.
When shooting factory reloads,you had no opportunity to inspect/reject brass.
You have no idea how bulged that brass may have been.
When an unsupported case bulges,some areas may be gently stretched,but some areas are abruptly offset.They are very nearly sheared.That material is compromised.
There are dies that can reform the brass back to looking OK ,but they cannot restore the material integrity.

I'd send pics to the manufacturer .I'd offer to sell the remaining ammo back to him.IMO,he would be crazy to not take you up on it. Once you have documented and informed him of the issue,the refund is cheap compared to his exposure.
If the manufacturer has integrity,he will want to contain and recover any quality issues.It gets studied,they learn and hopefully recall bad lots.
FWIW,IMO,its poor economy to continue to shoot failure prone ammo.A 40 is fairly high pressure and even a minor trip to the emergency room will cost more than 1000 rounds.Besides,stuff like that makes me jumpy and distracted. Its hard to shoot well.

There are a few brands,such as BlackHills,that I would trust for reman ammo,but no,not just anything on a gunshow table.

I don't have a 40,but WW white box walmart hardball is quite affordable compared to reman at least in 45 and 9mm.
That's how I see it,anyway.
 
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Most commercial reloaders use brass from police and military ranges, which is known to be once fired. Others use any old brass they can find. But there is another factor. That brass does not appear to have been loaded too many times. The brass has separated just forward of the head, a classic sign of excess headspace or a breech opening too soon. I would take a good look at the pistol chamber and lockup. Have you had any other problems with that pistol?

Jim
 
JohnSKa. metal is by definition, crystalline . What the photo does show is that there is little stretching .very brittle. I don't have it in front of me so I can't say more. Yes I'm a metallurgist :)
 
The brass has separated just forward of the head
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JamesK: I do agree with you,headspace or an early unlock is worthy of investigation.It could be the problem.

It has been my observation that when there is a goose egg bulge on the side of a semi-auto unsupported case,its just forward of the case head that the case wall is abruptly offset outward.

Its like putting a piece of sheet metal in a shear. If you up the clearance between the shear blades to > 50% of the sheet stock and only shear 50 % of the way through, nothing will drop. You can press it flat again,so it looks pretty good.
I'd rather you did not use that stock for a structural part on my airplane.

You might only have 5 bad pieces,or two or three,per hundred. I would not shoot bad ammo through any gun or barrel.
 
..metal is by definition, crystalline...
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Yup, I wasn't going for a metallurgically accurate comment. What I was trying to convey is that one expects metal to stretch and rupture more than crack and crumble. The metal in the pic looks cracked and crumbled, not stretched and ruptured. I can't recall seeing any other pictures of failed cartridge cases that look quite like that.
 
From their website:

Quality Assurance
Ultramax 10 Step Quality Assurance System

1. Ultramax machine inspects all previously fired cartridge cases for flaws. Case inspection machines are fully automatic and perform several critical functions. All cases are probed for any foreign objects and pressure tested for cracks or dents. Spent primers are removed, flash holes are cleared of any foreign material, primer pockets are probed for flaws, and finally, primer pockets are reamed to insure compatibility with any new commercial primer.

2. Ultramax liquid washes all previously fired cartridge cases after they have been processed through the case inspection machines to insure the cases, primer pockets and flash holes are clean and devoid of any foreign material. All cases are then tumble dried to a high-luster finish.

3. Ultramax roll sizes all previously fired cartridge cases to meet S.A.A.M.I. specification on new cartridge cases. Roll Sizing is the only method available to insure that the previously fired cartridge cases are sized down to the rim of the case. This results in flawless functioning in semiautomatics and perfect chambering in revolvers.
Click to expand...

Remanufactured ammo? 40 S&W with weak spot caused by Glock bulge from previous use?
 
I have long wondered that. Roll sizing or a push through "bulge buster" restores dimensions but there might be thinning and work hardening. The .40 is the bad boy of cartridges and it doesn't take much to let it misbehave.

You aren't shooting the advertising, I would complain and call for a refund.
 
I would think the company would want them back and give a full refund. They should be pulled down and inspected to figure out what's happening and if they have some problem with their production method. No matter what they say, definitely don't shoot any more. It's just not worth the risk.
 
JohnKSa, that would take a considerable amount of size reduction and there should be other indicators of problems.
 
The old "rule of thumb" comes into play....don't shoot reloads in any pistol that the case is not fully supported.
 
don't shoot reloads in any pistol that the case is not fully supported.
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Not necessarily so.Every non-ramped JMB 1911 is unsupported.But the 45 ACP generally is running well under 20,000 CUP.
With loads that do not bulge the case,the brass can be loaded many times,no problem.
When the gamers started pushing 38 Super to Major caliber,bulges and blowouts occurred till ramped fully supporting barrels were adopted.
The 40 S+W is a fairly high pressure round and it will bulge unsupported cases.

Myself,I consider a bulged case scrap,not salvageable.
 
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