[RB98SS]

Well I knew I would eventually reach this point. I have about 350-400 .44 mag cases that have been reloaded 7-8 times and I'm getting a few split cases at the range lately. Is it safe to use them until they split or should I consider tossing the whole lot? None of my loads are at the high end.

Thanks, Gary

[rcmodel]

Shoot them until they split, or neck anneal them if you feel real Industrious & Frugal!

rc

[jr45]

From my experience, I feel it is safe to use until they split. I reload 357 mag quite a bit and only dispose of the brass when I see cracks/splits develop. The only issue I've had is when the case splits bad enough during firing, the extraction of the case a little harder than normal...no other side effects like gun or shooter damage when this occured to me. Others my feel different or may tell you to anneal the cases.

[ar10]

What is with split cases anyway. I just finished sorting and checking 31k of .224//224 and about a third had split necks sometimes 2 or 3 splits all on the neck. (sorry didn't mean to hi-jack your thread).

[rcmodel]

Split necks occur due to either improperly annealed brass on the factory load, or work-hardening from expanding/resizing several times.

Very old ammo may develop split necks just from being around so long the neck tension finally takes it's toll.

Another contributing cause is scratches in the case neck from a burr in the die, manufacturing defect, or dings in the end that become "stress risers" where a crack can develop.

rc

[SASS#23149]

I shoot pistol brass until it splits,has never been a problem. No idea if it affects accuracy or not as I shoot BIG targets so I miss less. lol
Prolly does tho.

[RB98SS]

As always, thanks for the feedback. I'm gonna shoot em til they spit.

[ar10]

Thanks rc:
I suspect, but not sure, the brass in question might have been coming from BHA. Nearly every case case is LC but when I was talking with some of the shooters using it at the range they said it came from BH. I also found a lot of boxes the bullets came in, (some of the shooters put cases in them after they were finished shooting, bless their hearts :D ), and they were also BH boxes with LC brass.

[ReloaderFred]

It's called metal fatigue. When it reaches the point where it can no longer take the load, it splits.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[rfwobbly]

It could be worse. Your brass could have split with the wife.

Then you'd be eating your own reloads.

:D

[Doug b]

Fred said"It's called metal fatigue. When it reaches the point where it can no longer take the load, it splits."

This can also be caused by over crimped brass or over expanded brass, as in over worked.