Case Separation -- Straightwall/PC'd

M

mehavey

New member
Anyone else experience this?

38-55-Case-Sep.jpg
ACC38-320-E-Pure-Lead.jpg

Bullets are actually high-gloss/beautiful finish)

38-55 Uberti HiWall
Three cases separated.

First one left the separated piece in the barrel/near muzzle (fully rifled BTW)
Bullet printed normally in 1.5" group at 100.

Second and third had the case piece exit the muzzle along w/bullet/not found
Both bullets printed normally in 1.5" group at 100.

- Bullet is Accurate 38-320E pure lead (330gr actual) Sized 0.380.
- PC is Eastwood 5:1 Appliance White/Mirror Blue (450 Flow+30min at 400)
-- (Never any issue with any Eastwood/Coating -- perfect bullets.)

Obviously, bullet & case have decided to act as one....

Starline case -- (deliberate High[er] Pressure for Pure lead/Plain Base trials)
AA2495/28.2gr (Full case under bullet)
102% fill/96% burn
Burn_Ba = 0.403 adjusted
QuickLoad32” = 21,451psi/1,623fps(1,624±03 actual)
Redding Profile/taper crimp case mouth to 0.392"/ OAL: 2.56"

Barrel spotless on dry patch.



Thoughts ?
 
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mehavey said:
Obviously, bullet & case have decided to act as one....
Click to expand...

Yep. Hatcher reported the same thing happening with the 1921 (was it '22?) tin-plated-bullet NM ammo that cold-bonded to the casenecks. Several bullets were recovered from the berm at Camp Perry that still had the necks attached and engraved by the rifling. A significant pressure increase over the average.

So, I would say your coating has to go. I don't know why it is bonding to the necks, but it clearly is. Perhaps you could overcoat the bullets with liquid alox or apply some alcohol and graphite mix to the insides of the cases to the depth of the seated bullet bae to act as a release coating.
 
QQ - were those rounds run back through a sizing die after powder-coating? Might be the lighting, but those rounds look to have a thicker than usual and bumpy powder coat on them which you might not see if the round were re-sized after coating. Starline makes darn good brass generally. So the brass quality isn't my first suspect. Doubt this'd make this big a difference, but did you recently change the primer for this load?
 
Like UN says, but I’d bet the coating isn’t completely cured before seating the bullets and as it finishes curing is bonding to the case. I can’t speak to your process or that particular product but I know sometimes multi part paints/coatings can take a long time to fully cure. For the last couple years one of my jobs was paint maintenance on Pat Sajak’s Gulfstream and the paint was a three part system and if mixed right would cure to the touch in 24 hours but would take days to completely cure. But if you didn’t get the mix ratios quite right it could take days to cure to the touch and sometimes weeks to completely cure.
 
Coated bullets may not be the cure all everyone wants you to believe ... I've even heard reports of coated bullets healing the sick and raising the dead ... but I don't think so .
Bonding ... looks like it's doing a number on the brass ... it probably has something to do with the curing of the coating ...reacting with the brass .
Try a different coating ...one with a different application or curing process .
Would be a shame not to have them "pretty " colored bullets to shoot !
They look so nice .
Gary
 
I'd Alox-coated/dried them to shoot yesterday,
but my High-Wall got sick. (It's at the doctor's)

`Will get back to the Gentle Readers later.



* The fact that I'm shooting plain-base/pure lead at 21,000psi -- 1.5"/100yd groups/no leading -- says PC is somewhat magical.
But ya gotta be home by midnight.
 
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