I recently had a custom rifle built up, a .338 Win Mag. A guy named Daryll Holland rebarreled it and bedded it. When I got it back, I test fired it with Winchester "Premium" 230 Gr. Failsafe, nickel plated ammo. The first one split from the shoulder to the neck. I cleaned it and really scrubbed the chamber. I chambered another and extracted it, but could not find any sign of contact with the riflings, so I fired another. This one too, split in a couple places from the shoulder to the neck. I didn't try another. I sent it back and he said that the nickel plated brass is just brittle, and that he had fired a couple of regular brass cases without a problem.

Has anybody heard of this before? I just figured that if the chamber was sufficently tight, the brass could not expand to the point that it would split. I'm about 1/2 scared to shoot it again. No other signs of over pressure. Couple of you guys help a brother out? Thanks

Yes I had a batch of rem 357 mag cases they almost all spilt of the first shot I see less of it with the brass ones.

I assume your rifle is a bolt action. Generally, a split case is a result of excessive pressure or excessive head space. Since the rifle is newly built and you're using factory ammo, I would suspect excessive head space (chamber cut too deep). A quick thing to try is to color the case shoulder with a sharpie or other marker and chamber a round. You can also color the bullet to see if it's touching the rifling. Remove the round and if the chamber is tight, you should see some marks on the sharpie. If not, I would recommend having the head space checked with a no-go gauge (the bolt should not close with a no-go gauge installed). I recently had a rifle built, and the smith told me he always sets up the head space so there is just a tiny bit of resistance on the last bit of travel when pushing the bolt handle down with the go gauge installed. This also helps with reloading since the brass doesn't stretch as much.

If you try the sharpie test and don't see marks on the case, remove the rifle from the stock and repeat the test. I've seen rifles that don't have the bolt handle inlet deep enough. This could also cause the problem you mention. If that doesn't work, take it back to the smith. Good luck.

Here is a very crude test which I have never done but sounds like it might help give you an idea-

I read somewhere that the difference between "go" and "no go" is basically the thickness of masking tape. By taking an unfired round and putting a piece of masking tape over the base is supposed to make a crude "no go" guage. I'd test this out for you but I'm in the process of moving and have all all of my bolt guns at my other house, so unfortunately can't help with that right now.

What I would also consider doing if there was a concern would be to buy a feeler gage at sears and snip little pieces off the leaves of that to see what the bolt would or would not close on.

Masking take is 6 thousands thick, so go from there....I'd take a chamber cast as I suspect you have a sloppy chamber and a too large neck release...

Headspace would normally cause incipient case separation at the head of the case....

I have not had trouble with nickle cases in any of my guns..I use them for solids so I know what I loading under stress...

Your gun should not do that, end of story.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

I agree with Ray on this one. I use-nickel plated brass all the time (new and used cases), and I have never had that problem. Get a chamber cast to see how it measures. Also, try the gages Big-R is recommending and go from there.

The neck-shoulder area of the chamber would have to be grossly oversized (which it could be) for brass of reasonable ductility to split as you describe.

It is possible that you have a brittle lot of nickel-plated ammunition (but not likely). To check this, buy another lot of (preferably) regular brass-cased ammunition and try it. There is no danger in firing the rifle as long as the belt is properly headspacing as it seems to be.

Measure with a micrometer or caliper the outside diameter of the fired case neck(preferably one that did not split). Compare this measurement with the SAAMI standards for the diameter of the neck area of the chamber on the .338. If it is several one-thousandths large, you have a poor chambering job which your smith needs to replace.

Forget the references to improper "headspace". No amount of excessive bolt face-to-shoulder distance could cause the neck splits you are experiencing with a belted case -- the normal ductility of brass would allow it to just expand to fit the longer-bodied chamber.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that you may very well have a brittle lot of brass, which (possibly combined with a loose chamber) could cause the splits.