Keep a eye on those bullets

Wow! A .357 mag at age 12! All I got was a lousy 12 gauge!

1KPerDay said:

Wow! A .357 mag at age 12! All I got was a lousy 12 gauge!

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I just got legos! I feel gipped!

I gave my brother in law a 20 gauge Mossberg for Christmas the past year. You must've been more mature than your peers at that age to warrant such a gift. I fully support teaching and gifting youth firearms and blades if they prove themselves worthy of doing so.

To the OP - that's kind of weird for factory ammo. Never heard of that before, particularly since it was just setting on a shelf. Curiouser and curiouser.

Dave

1KPerDay said:

Wow! A .357 mag at age 12! All I got was a lousy 12 gauge!

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All I got was a Crosman .177 CO2 pellet rifle. Dad put a bullet trap in the basement so we could have marksmanship sessions. I wish I still had that thing, it could really shoot.

KY DAN said:

Upon further inspection it was found the cases all had splits about 3/8 of a inch back from the mouth. No tension, how strange for factory ammo. I have pulled the bullets of the offending cases and perhaps I will re use them in the future as they sit now they only serve as a warning to be aware of the condition of your ammo.

PS the ammo was stored in 60-70 deg temps, dry, and with other factory loaded ammo that did not show any of these signs.

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Youre describing exactly what I encountered with a bunch of .223 and 30-06 rounds that had power degradation (gassing) going on, and caused the brass to fail, a lot of them exactly in that manner.

When you pulled the other bullets, what did the bottom of the bullets look like? Any blue-greenish corrosion?

The ammo in my case was not properly stored, provable in one case anyway, an assumption in the other. While it doesnt sound like it in your case, who knows how it was stored prior to you getting it.

I get a lot of splits in my 357 brass as it wears out. The nickel cases usually go a lot quicker than the brass, but they all start to go eventually. Those splits are usually about midway in the case though, not at the case mouth like my 9mm brass when its goes.

The fact that yours cracked at a point where the base of the bullet would be when seated, makes me think it might be the powder.

KY DAN said:

The bullets were a dulled copper color, no corrosion. Its a mystery as the rounds fired just fine but who knows?

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Yea, they likely would. I found out the problem with the 30-06 I was shooting when I was single loading them into my M1, and one round wouldnt go all the way into the chamber. When I pulled it out, the neck from the previous fired case was stuck on the bullet. When I looked at my brass on the ground, I found a couple that had no necks at all, and broke clean off at the shoulder. Who knows where the other necks went, as I never found them.

When I looked closer at the rest ot the rounds in the box, 75% of them had splits in their necks and the bullet could be pushed out with your thumb while holding them. That was the second eye opener after that neck came out of the gun.

Once I started seeing the brass failing on firing in a similar fashion on the surplus 223's I had ( the necks were splitting at the shoulder), I focused on shooting what was left of that stuff up and scrapping the brass. It too showed some corrosion, discoloring on the bottom of the bullets I pulled to check and see if was what was going on.

Hey, this stuff happens and can drive you nuts. I load most of the major handgun calibers, and for some reason, the one Ive had the most issues with loading, have been the 357's. And the majority of the problems involved nickel plated brass. Im thinking the plating makes the brass brittle. Ive actually been scrapping most of it out of late, and in all the calibers, not just the 357's.

Thanks for the head's up.

Geez, when I was twelve I think I was allowed only a Daisy 880. Before then, I was restricted to those plastic jobs that you had to push the soft rubber dart down the barrel. Actually, I think that Daisy Powerline was verboden the first couple years I had it as I bought it from a friend for a stack of roman candles.

Come to think it, that might explain my interest in firearms today.

I was so disappointed when I got my first gun at around 12. I wanted a double barrel shotgun and I got a 20 gauge bolt action shotgun from Sears. My father didn't know a lot about guns and the salesman at Sears talked him into the bolt action because it would hold more shells. It also had a screw variable choke. I didn't complain and when my parents saw I was a safe and serious hunter, the next Christmas I got an Ithaca Model 37 with 3 Barrels! I was off and running then. Wish I still had the 37 and every time I see one in a used rack I'm tempted to buy it just for the memories.

I got a Stevens 94 .410 for my tenth birthday, an Ithaca double 12 for my eleventh, and a Marlin 336 35 for my 12th. Then I started buying my own from then on.

Yep checking your ammo regularly is a good idea, especially if carried in a light weight gun.

I have no idea what I got for my 12th birthday. It sure wasn't as cool as what some of you have listed. If I'd been given a 357 I probably would've shot my eye out.

I'm sitting here, mouth somewhat agape, trying to think what I got for my 12th birthday. I think it was a Brownie camera...it for sure wasn't a .357 revolver.

Regarding old ammo...kind of like the food mantra... "If in doubt, throw it out"...unless you reload of course. I would never want to take the chance of shooting old ammo and chancing a squib.

I have some .32S&W that's at least 65yo if not more. It was my grandfather's that he used in his carry gun. Every couple of years I fire off 5 of those rounds. Other than the lead bullet oxidizing they've shot just fine. So Far !

For whatever its worth department: Years ago I bought a .32 H&R Magnum and two boxes of Federal .32 Magnum ammunition, the JHP, as I recall. This because I had no source for empty brass at the time. Upon firing, I experienced many split cases, deeper than just neck splits. I contacted Federal, who advised me to return the brass and any unfired cartridges. I did so, and after a length wait, Federal replied that during shipping these cartridges had been exposed to some caustic fumes which caused the brass failure. Federal did replace my ammunition, plus some extra for my troubles. The replaced cartridges fired normally with no further problems.

Bob Wright

Most of the boys in my part of the country received either a marlin model 60 or a Ruger 10/22 at age 10 usually for a bday or Christmas. My dad made up for missing mine by getting me a 6” Ruger Standard (which doubled as the house gun). It mostly sat loaded in dads sock drawer. Later we gathered a few more to use around the property (actually a dairy farm). We had an H&R revolver loaded with snake shot, a Remington 12g pump, and a Mosin Nagant from a barrel. Learning to shoot was a necessity growing up. After I finished my military service, dad surprised me by handing over my old .22.

I’m envious a .357 is no slouch.

2014 I bought 3 boxes of Win 38 Spl.
I shot 2 rounds & the rest jammed the cylinder.
Tried 5 different rounds (in a S&W Model 36) - same thing.
It was then I noticed the bullets were walking out.

Contacted Winchester & all 3 boxes were sent back on their dime.
Seems that Lot # was never sized/crimped correctly.

Went back to look if I had recorded any info.
Here's what I found

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As shots were fired the lead bullet was walking out of the unfired cartridges. The cartridges appear to have no crimp or neck tension. I can push the bullets back into the case. (with my thumb)

Also, these were tried in 3 guns. We also fired them from a S&W Model10, Model 36 & a Ruger LCR. We had the same results in all 3 guns. We were only able to fire 2 rounds before the guns jammed.