split case mouth

[lone wolf]

I have been working up a load for one of my rifles. Third shot into a string this morning I noticed that one of the spent brass had split perpendicular to the case mouth. None of the other shells in the batch showed any pressure signs, so I am wondering if the split is simply a case of age ? I inherited the brass (Norma) with the rifle, so I cannot verify how many times it has been recycled.

Time to throw out the old brass and get some new stuff ?

Thanks !!

[260 Rem]

Neck splits are a typical symptom of too many reloads. I would be tossing the lot. And with the replacement batch, keep track of the number of times fired.

[lone wolf]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Neck splits are a typical symptom of too many reloads. I would be tossing the lot. And with the replacement batch, keep track of the number of times fired.

Thanks - that's what I thought it may be.

I am very anal with tracking the firing history of new brass. However these ones are an "unknown" since they came with the rifle. They are now going to be trashed.

[catnthehat]

Check your caee length as well as this will also cause necks to split.
Brass that is ovrly hard will work harden quickly and i have seen splits for rifles with chamber near the margun of the SAAMI specs that split cases in three shots! This was due to a combination of things......
Cat

[lone wolf]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Check your caee length as well as this will also cause necks to split.
Brass that is ovrly hard will work harden quickly and i have seen splits for rifles with chamber near the margun of the SAAMI specs that split cases in three shots! This was due to a combination of things......
Cat

Thanks Cat - I check case length for every round. I think that they have simply been loaded once too often.

[KegRiver]

I would guess it's due to work hardening too. I see it a lot in my 303.
Less often with other calibres but not uncommon. Although it usually takes more then three loading's to show up.

As I understand it, the neck gets worked more then the rest of the case, both during firing and during re sizing. This causes it to become brittle enough to crack after several loading's. Annealing will solve the problem for the rest of the batch. They will work harden again, but most likely not become a problem before the walls stretch enough that case separation becomes an issue and the lot has to be discarded.

I do believe that neck splitting is not typically considered a sign of too much pressure although it can be. And I know that if the cracks are the result of work hardening, there is no safety issue here. The cases wouldn't be reusable because they wouldn't hold the bullet firmly enough.

[dogslayer403]

I had some factory ammo ( winchester supreme ) in the nickel brass do that right out of the box I had one in each box out of 3 boxes do it, never happened before or many rounds after those were used up. Maybe just a bad batch. Different than your situation with reloads but thought Id throw that in here.

[260 Rem]

Originally Posted by dogslayer403

I had some factory ammo ( winchester supreme ) in the nickel brass do that right out of the box I had one in each box out of 3 boxes do it, never happened before or many rounds after those were used up. Maybe just a bad batch. Different than your situation with reloads but thought Id throw that in here.

Something very wrong if they split out of the box! A few years back, I was reloading both Federal Gold Medal Match (yellow brass) and Federal Tactical (nickel plated) in 308 Winchester. With neck sizing only, the nickel started to split after about 13 reloads and the yellow brass held out about 6 more reloads. I cut back to 10 reloads for the nickel plated brass and 13 for the yellow brass...never had another split with moderate loads in factory chambers.

[Big Daddy Badger]

If the brass has work hardened... You could extend their life by annealing them. Hard to say but unless you are building hot loads...I'd guess it is work hardening.

I get about 5 loads in my belted magnums without annealing and double that when I do anneal.
I just threw that out cause you said Norma brass and I guessed you might be shooting a weatherby caliber.

[dogslayer403]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

Something very wrong if they split out of the box! A few years back, I was reloading both Federal Gold Medal Match (yellow brass) and Federal Tactical (nickel plated) in 308 Winchester. With neck sizing only, the nickel started to split after about 13 reloads and the yellow brass held out about 6 more reloads. I cut back to 10 reloads for the nickel plated brass and 13 for the yellow brass...never had another split with moderate loads in factory chambers.

Ya thats what I thought I used lots afterwards and had no problems but just in that one batch I bought.