Case Failure .45 ACP

24 April 2004, 17:46

had a case split on me today at the range.
fireing once fired winchester brass with a med light load (5.0g bullseye 200g jacketed) and when picking up cases I noticed one of them sounded diffrent when I picked it up (it made a clank instead of a clink)

the case has a small chip missing at the mouth and a crack running down 3/4 of the way to the base. no damage to the gun (sig 220) or the shooter so everything is good there but it was only once fired brass so I dont know why it split..

probably a hairline crack I missed.. I definetly will be more carefull checking brass from now on

24 April 2004, 18:03

derf

We had a similar incedent several years ago at the range I belonged to. IPSC night,very nice race type 45 and an unusually loud bang. Everyone looked around to see the shooter backing up and shaking his head. Even in a slight case of distress he stll maintained a safe attitude,I was impressed at his cool. The conclusion that we came to was that his weight charge of Bullseye didn't come near to filling the case and the primer flame ran over the charge, igniteing it much faster than norm and creating an overpressure. Just a thought. derf

25 April 2004, 07:26

243winxb

Make sure the powder is not hanging up in the drop tube of your powder measure. Look in every case before seating a bullet to see it the powder level looks right. Even when i use my dillon, i peek in the case to see it it looks right. 5.0 gr of bullseye w/200gr jacketed is a max load for me.

25 April 2004, 20:37

Unstable

when shooting i didnt notice any change in recoil or report so I dont think it was a load cooking off extra strong. I looked over some of the other brass and didnt see any signs of cracking or stress so I think it was just a fluke. I will be double checking the brass again before loading it jsut to be safe.

some books list 5.7-5.8 as max with bullseye (I have loaded to 5.7 before with no pressure signs) most people at the range run 4.5g for target loads... I like the feel of a stronger load and my lee powder measure goes from 4.6 to 5.0 so I use the 5.0. its lighter then factory but stronger then most target loads. BTW I have fired at least 1300 loads without incident. in fact this is the first time I have had any case "break" on me so its a new expirience for me.

25 April 2004, 23:33

mete

Sounds like a defect in the brass.All the more reason to always carefully check your brass whether it's new or old.

26 April 2004, 02:08

Hot Core

Quote:

... the case has a small chip missing at the mouth and a crack running down 3/4 of the way to the base. ...it was only once fired brass so I dont know why it split..
probably a hairline crack I missed..

Hey Unstable, What kind of reloading set-up do you have? Single stage or progressive?

Nothing wrong with either style, but the progressives can "hide" a problem that might be noticed on a single stage. (NOTE: I have the ability to miss this on a single stage.)

Your mention of the chip missing at the case mouth reminds me of a couple of times where I've gone to Seat a bullet and for whatever reason, the bullet base hangs on the case mouth, tears a small piece and folds it inside the case. Then as the cartridge continues into the Seating Die, that small spot gets swaged into the side of the bullet. That allows it to chamber just fine, but can result in what you have described.

I'm not saying for sure this happened to you, but I've had it happen to me even on a single stage press. Still don't understand how the bullet base caught on the case mouth unless the case somehow "snuck around" the Expanding operation or got a ding during some of my normal klutzing around.

Sounds like the Sig handled it right well. Glad to hear you didn't get blown up. I wonder if the results would have been as good with a Glock?

26 April 2004, 04:04

<eldeguello>

I use 3.5 grains of Bullseye with 230 grain bullets for target ammo, and it seems to me that 5 grains of this stuff is a little beyond mild!

26 April 2004, 08:25

Unstable

Quote:

Hey Unstable, What kind of reloading set-up do you have? Single stage or progressive?
<snip>

Sounds like the Sig handled it right well. Glad to hear you didn't get blown up. I wonder if the results would have been as good with a Glock?

I load on a Lee Turret press.. it could have been possible that a bullet jacket got caught as I had that happen once before... but I could feel it during the seating operation and dont remember feeling it when loading this batch.

as for the sig, I pulled it apart to clean it and cant see anything out of the ordinary in teh chamber (no blackened area or dings or nicks) so yes.. it handled it quite well.

eldeguello,
5.0 is a decent load with a 200 grain bullet...5.7 is the max load (feels just a little hotter then factory, the 5.0 feels slightly less then factory) i *think* the max on a 230 is about 4.7 or so but the max I have loaded with a 230 is 4.5.

26 April 2004, 15:28

TBF

5.0 gr. of Bullseye is good under any 200 gr. bullet, lead, plated , or jacketed.
I have fired a metric boatload of these. I stole the load data from Bill Wilson.
It is not nearly max.

Cases will occasionally split in 45acp, usually not on the second firing, but it is not a sign of a pressure problem.

If the case had split the other way, with the cae head separating, it would be cause for alarm. Splits are not harmful in a 45, thats how you know when it's time for the case to hit the trash, when it splits. It seems to cause no harm to the chamber and does not even seem to affect accuracy.

I know this sounds like a cavalier disregard to safe loading practices. But it's not.

Travis F.

29 April 2004, 04:42

bradhe

At the last SHOT show, I was embarressed to calculate at the USPSA booth that I had been shooting IPSC (Practical Pistol) for 25 years. Most of that time included 10-15,000 rounds of practice a year with a .45. Case splits are common (at least in that volume) and in a cheap year a split more than 1/8 of an inch was the throw away sign for brass. This is not a big deal, don't worry about it. A head seperation is a different animal. But I have never seen one that couldn't be traced to an overload problem. The case is very strong for the pressures involved.

29 April 2004, 14:17

mstarling

5.0 gr of Bullseye is not a terribly heavy load with a 200 gr jacketed bullet ... respectable and probably close to major (power facter = 175), but PMC brown box 230s used to run 195 pf. Pretty nasty stuff.

Bradhe is absolutely right. Just a bad case ... usually happens to all cases after being shot enough. probably has more to do with work hardening of the brass during sizing than anything else. Age of the case could contribute.

30 April 2004, 12:22

Lar45

Maybe it was a case of bad Winchester brass? I bought some 454 win factory ammo and had a few cases split on the virgin fireing. then much more after 1 or 2 reloads. I sent it back to Win and they sent me some Win bucks. I've always used Win brass in everything if it was availible, but this 454 thing has me wondering. Maybe bad QC for awhile or something?

01 May 2004, 13:17

Unstable

here is the case in question... just so you can see its not a little split.

01 May 2004, 16:27

Hobie

It happens. Put it in the recycle bucket and get some more.