This 50 Beowulf case has been loaded and fired twice. The damage occurred on the second firing. Cases from this same lot have as many as 15 reloads on them and are fine. I am at a loss to why.



Pic of the case head, there is no over-pressure signs, believe me when I say the 50 Beowulf let you know the instant you overload it! It has an incredibly WEAK web.



Thanks,
ASS_CLOWN

Weak sidewalls to go along with the weak web. Could be just a fluke bad piece of brass.

cut it in half, THROUGH the case, not along it, and measure both sides... might do the same with a known good...

and then call the maker with the case wall thicknesses, asking them what in the HELL they intend to do about it.

jeffe

Thanks for the comments. I will cut the case. should I cross cut it or rip it lengthwise?

ASS_CLOWN

Thin brass...

Well I disected the case. The brass was a very uniform 0.0135" to 0.014" in diameter. It was actually thickest at the crack!

Here is a picture of the split 1/2 away along it's length. I later sliced it again and then split the case in two. It is now in 5 pieces.



I cut up an old case, 16 loads fired through it, and it is dimensionally identical, for all practical purposes. Meaning they are the same as closely as I can measure them.

So any other ideas?

ASS_CLOWN

Length wise cracks are normaly the result of a defect in the brass, not a loading or firearm problem.

Obviously a defect in the brass.It happens sometimes !

mete & tailgunner,

I figured that it was most likely a brass issue, but looking at the crack under 10X magnification (the highest I have at my disposal) exposes no obvious defects. Any suggestions as to the most probable defect(s) and what I should / could look for?

Thanks,
ASS_CLOWN

Ken,



The web is approximately 0.085" thick. It can handle a maximum pressure of ~ 44,000 psi before it yields and deflects back against the bolt face thus closing the extractor groove. The tell tale sign is a "ring" around the web slightly larger in diameter than the rim.



If you do not mind destroying your brass you can load the 50 Beowulf up to the advertised velocities, but I highly recommend against this, and you WILL destroy the brass. I did get 1780 fps with a 400 gr Speer once (advertised is 1800 fps) but the entire case head pulled off during extraction.



Other than that it is a great cartridge. Did I mention just how stunningly accurate it is? The 50 Beowulf is a "fun gun" at 50 yards. It almost equals a 12 gauge slug gun, almost. By the way, where abouts in Michigan are you?



ASS_CLOWN

Splits like that usually indicate, at least in my mind, either "tired cases" or brittle/old brass.

I've run across batches of brass that seemed prone to split exactly like this. In fact, it was why I stopped using Norma cases years ago. I got terrible case life from their .357 brass.