Split a case right in half

D

DirtyHarold

New member
Went shooting recently and toward the end of my session spent cases started to get harder to eject from the cylinder. Eventually I couldn’t even get the ejector rod to budge, so that concluded my shooting.

Forced the cases out with a rod and one of them was split in two, and a second one from a neighboring chamber was showing signs of splitting in about the same spot.

Brand new factory Hornady ammo. I will likely try shooting with a different lot of ammo to see if it’s an ammo issue or a cylinder issue. Has this happened to anyone before?

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Were these factory loads or your own reloads? If factory, what brand, bullet, etc? They look like they might be reloads with brass that had reached end of life from sizing so many times.
 
AgedWarrior said:
Were these factory loads or your own reloads? If factory, what brand, bullet, etc? They look like they might be reloads with brass that had reached end of life from sizing so many times.
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Brand new factory loads.

Hornady 200 gr FTX 460 Mag


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I have done it in the past, but not with factory ammo or the first reload. It usually takes me 8-10 reloads.

Most of the time the mouth splits before the case separates, at least in my experience.

This has mostly been with 44 Mag for me since I shoot it more than the others.

It can be hard on the cylinders with gas cutting.
 
Brand new factory ammo ... that's an ammo issue , keep ammo , fired and split cases and call Hornady ...they should want to look into the issue .
Hard extraction and head seperations usually indicate high pressure or a bad lot of brass ... they will want to know and probably refund you .
Gary
 
Ive never seen a separation like that on a straight-walled pistol (or rifle) case. Those are usually the result of worn-out bottleneck brass or a headspace issue.

Unless youve had similar issues with other brands of ammo in the same gun, Id be calling Hornady and asking what was up.
 
Contacted Hornady. This lot is from 2016 and they have no known issues with it. The guy has never even heard of this happening, where it splits circumferentially. I sent him the photo and going to see what they come back with.

The weird thing is it when I was shooting it seemed like it was getting worse the more I shot, it wasn’t all of a sudden bad, which has me just a tiny bit concerned, as I’ve already had a 44 mag blow up in my hands once, I’m not trying to have a 460 blow up on me.


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BOOM!

I had a 10mm round blow up in a Colt 1911 stainless.
The Colt functioned as designed and lock up preventing brass shards from escaping. I did get some powder burns. The ammo was PMC that was later found to be triple charged and was to be removed from the market but some how ended up at a LGS.

Anyway, as others have said s/w Hornady and/or take one round and dismantle it, carefully, and weigh the power charge.
 
I would be interested in hearing about the reply from Hornady. That is really an odd occurrence. I would bet on bad brass, because it doesn't seem like an overcharge would produce such a straight separation. Do you have any of the other brass from that batch? If you run a probe down the inside of the spent cases, do you feel a defect?
 
DirtyHarold....I have seen that before, I got a case just like it sitting on my reloading bench , Hornady 460 mag 200 FTX ......toss us a lot # when you get a chance , I'll try to locate mine , it's kind of crazy how it shears off so perfect....
 
DirtyHarold said:
Contacted Hornady. This lot is from 2016 and they have no known issues with it. The guy has never even heard of this happening, where it splits circumferentially. I sent him the photo and going to see what they come back with.

The weird thing is it when I was shooting it seemed like it was getting worse the more I shot, it wasn’t all of a sudden bad, which has me just a tiny bit concerned, as I’ve already had a 44 mag blow up in my hands once, I’m not trying to have a 460 blow up on me.
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Suggest that you contact S&W also, to see if they have any ideas as to what caused this.
 
Rock Hammer said:
DirtyHarold....I have seen that before, I got a case just like it sitting on my reloading bench , Hornady 460 mag 200 FTX ......toss us a lot # when you get a chance , I'll try to locate mine , it's kind of crazy how it shears off so perfect....
Click to expand...



Lot #3161209


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I have several like that in my scrap bucket. Called case head separation. Always been Hornady brass, but never happened to me when shooting factory for the first time. Always has been once reloaded. Because of this, I don't use Hornady brass for anything but reduced loads anymore. Have been told that Case head separation is caused by the firing and resizing process which requires the case to stretch and then be re-compressed. But in your case, it's never been resized. Even with me reloading, since it only has happened to me with Hornady brass, I guessing they have an issue with the thickness of their brass above the case web(where this separation always occurs).

Check your chamber for any signs of scorching or flame cutting, as you may need to polish it out. I contacted Hornady about it too, and like you, they acted dumb and blamed it on my reloading techniques and the tight chambers/throats many P.C. .460 revolvers are known for.
 
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