Ruptured Ammo Problem

[mesinge2]

I had a case rupture in the chamber of my S&W model 638-3.

These were not reloads but factory Remington Express 38 Spl 110 gr. SJHP ammo.

Even though the gun is +P rated I have been using light loads because of the recoil in this airweight.
This is standard pressure ammo and only 110 grain. I can't understand why it failed. The gun seems fine.
I had the gunsmith at the range look at the weapon and it looked fine. I fired another 30 rounds
of Magtech 125gr FMJ after scraping out the chamber and it worked well.

A few Questions:
Should I contact S&W or Remington?
Are the chambers overly wide?
Was this the result of a overcharged load or a weak case?
Could the weapon have damage that I did not notice?

This is the ammo and the ruptured brass with a bore light in the case:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=349556
View attachment 125919
Click Image to Enlarge

 

[hardluk1]

Seen it and had it happen with old 44 mag brass,to many reloads but not new. You have contacted remington right?

 

[The Bushmaster]

Not all that abnormal. I have seen a lot of factory cases that have split. Not to worry. Nor is it necessary to worry Remington either. It is normal to see an ocasional factory round that has split.

 

[Sport45]

It happens. I wouldn't worry about it unless you see one chamber is always splitting brass or something. It was probably just a piece of weak brass. No harm, no foul....

 

[Slamfire]

I am surprised that happened in factory new ammunition.

Brass flaws in new ammunition show poor quality control and lack of attention to the manufacturing process at the manufacturer and poor metal quality control at the brass supplier. Somewhere, either in the process or the sheet, a brass flaw occurred.

Shake it off. But if you get more of those out of that box, send the stuff back to Remington, and post the pictures so we can all tell Remington that this is unacceptable.

 

[mesinge2]

That was the only split casing, but many from that box were bulging.
I did not even look at the other brass until I saw the split one.

During cleaning at home, I noticed a burn or cut that I could not get to come off from the inside of the chamber (I marked the chamber at the range when the case failed). This was not there before, I throughly cleaned the gun upon purchase and I would have noticed this.

BTW, this gun was purchased NIB and has only been to the range twice.

 

[Steve C]

When brass gets exposed to ammonia it will weaken and often crack even though its unfired. Often the source of the ammonia isn't obvious but storing rounds near household cleaners or the cat box can provide a source.

 

[mesinge2]

When brass gets exposed to ammonia it will weaken and often crack even though its unfired. Often the source of the ammonia isn't obvious but storing rounds near household cleaners or the cat box can provide a source.

I store mine in a safe.
Do desiccants contain ammonia?
I have a few of them in my safe.

 

[moxie]

I must be lucky, but in over 50 years of shooting, including 23 in the military as a shooter and as a munitions officer, I've never seen a new case split like that. That ammo is unsafe.

Mesinge2 mentions that "many from that box were bulging." This and the split case indicate a serious problem with that box of ammo. It may have been exposed to excess heat at some time. Mesinge2, suggest you call Remington, tell them what happened, and I'm sure they will want you to send the rest to them. This is not an ammonia exposure problem and dessicant does not contain ammonia.

 

[mesinge2]

I contacted Remington, I'll report back with what they say.

 

[Sport45]

That was the only split casing, but many from that box were bulging.

This doesn't sound like an ammunition problem to me. Sounds more like your chambers were cut a bit "generous". Does the brass drop out freely, or do you have to push it out with the ejector? If it drops freely, the chambers may be bigger than you'd like (but may still be in spec), if you have to push the brass out you can suspect ammo that's too hot.

 

[ljnowell]

It could be alot of things. Unless you feel like measuring a your cylinder you wont really know for sure. You can measure the brass and see how far its expanding. I reload a lot of 357 and 38 and I have low reload failures with Remington brass more than any other brand.

Sometimes new brass will fail. Many handloaders prefer to buy once fired brass over new for this reason. They have all been "proof tested" and generally, if they make it through the first one they will reload several times without failure.

My guess is its not anything to worry about, especially when you didnt have problems with the other ammo you shot.

 

[evan price]

I personally see Remington "R-P" or "REM-UMC" headstamped nickel-plated .38/.357 brass fail by splitting like that more often than any other brand. What you have there is a common Remington problem IMHO. I personally load and shoot thousands of .38 spl and handle thousands more. I wind up 100% inspecting every Remington nickle case because of that tendancy and I won't use it for anything more than target ammo. Nickel cases by their nature tend to split more often than unplated cases- the nickel coating process and the nickel itself causes that. But to me, Remington nickel cases fail a lot more often than any other case.

 

[mesinge2]

Remington contacted me back. They are sending an address label and want me to send the remaining brass and empty cases along with the box. They said if they will refund the money and if the weapon is damaged they will conver the repair costs from Smith.

 

[TonyT]

I encounter more split Remington nickel 38 Special and 357 Magnum casae when reloading that all other brands combined.

 

[gggman]

Ditto the nickel cases, they seem to be very thin walled. I have had many .38 spl cases with splits in the side, and almost always a nickel case. I inspect my cases very carefully before I reload them, and rarely have any trouble with other calibers, but I throw out a lot of 38 cases.

 

[Clifford]

Hum.... I've noticed lots of split cases with my reloaded .38's and .357's. Don't seem to matter what the headstamp says. That said I had a funny issue with some Remington nickeled .38SUPER cases. After firing (some only once) the nickel plating was peeling off of many cases. At first I ignored it, then I had a failure to go into battery issue. A rather large piece of nickel plating had wedged itself into the barrel, it was just large enough to not allow any following round to fully chamber and thankfully kept the disconnector engaged!

That day I went thru all my super brass and threw out all the nickel Remington brass, 300 pieces!

 

[Route666]

I bought a box of 50 Winchester Super X .38 Special, Nickel plated and five out of the 50 (10%) had splits down the side from 1/3 case length to the whole length of the case. I didn't notice it when firing them.

All the other stuff (no Nickel plating either) I've been using hasn't had one crack!

I just looked at one of them (the leftover good Nickel ones that is) at it too has a tiny crack at the mouth lol.

 

[mesinge2]

Looks like I stumbled into a problem that I never considered, hmmm....