Bad ammo day at the range today.

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Two (physical/material) common denominators:

The shooter
The gun

Sure, a nexus in the shooting universe may have drawn these two problematic "ammo" scenarios into alignment but I'm questioning the firearm.

Comes across as a bad barrel to me - at both ends!
 
I have seen hundreds of splits exactly like you are showing in .38 special and .357 after dozens of times through the reloading process. Split cases on reloaded ammo is not uncommon. I cull them out as I polish my brass.

You are dealing with a different issue. My guess is your barrel will be off to Glock for a inspection.
 
Oh noes! I did drop exactly 3 rounds before I went to the range... I wonder.
 
Have fired over 6K of .45 Acp, 14K of .38 Spl, and 4K .357, and NEVER had a case split. Something is seriously wrong.
Think about it, if your case is splitting and sending super heated gas at 30k + psi it is chewing up your chamber, and venting gas back at you.
IMHO your chamber Is way out of spec. Mic your brass before and after shooting, and if you have reason to believe the chamber is suspect, have a cast made of it to confirm, or buy a new barrel and compare. A firearm that routinely splits cases is not suitable for SD/HD.
 
I've only seen a few splits like that from reloads. Figured it was just brass giving up the ghost after several reloadings. I've seen it more on nickel plated casings, but a few regular brass too. It's never caused any damage and I've never been able to tell the difference when firing - only find them when I'm processing the brass.
 
One other thought, ammonia can cause brass embritlement, has your brass been exposed to household cleaners containing ammonia?
 
There is nothing wrong with the gun, nor is the ammo unsafe, though hornady would probably replace it.

It was simply loaded with a run of brittle brass. It happens quite frequently and isn't something to get really upset about.

Reloaders will shrug their shoulders as we see this kind if thing all the time. That and case mouth splits are the two most common ways brass goes to ammo heaven.
 
Ljnowell, I hope your right.

I dug up some reloading gear and have sized and flared 500 new Starline brass. Tomorrow I will prime, Sunday I will load and then Monday I will shoot some. I also have 15 rounds of 2 year old 200gr Hornady XTP, some older Federal HiShock hollow points (tame load) and some warm 3D brand reloads that have guppied a few cases. I will work my way from my known good loadings up to the 3D and see how everything fares. If I have no issues other than some Glock smilies on the 3D, I will load up a few dozen rounds with Blue Dot and see how that fares.
 
RustyShackelford said:
Id suggest notifying Hornady, www.Hornady.com .
Let them know the lot # or item code(check the boxes).
Hornady had a big safety notice last summer for the Critical Duty +P 135gr 9mm.
Hornady & the other major firms: Corbon, Remington, Federal, Buffalo Bore, Black Hills, etc need to know about the poor quality or problems.
Click to expand...
I agree with calling Horndays. I had 5 boxes of 308 165gr SP that was well over loaded. Caused my bolt gun to lock up the bolt to the point I ad to beat it open, and it also messed up my extractor. They will send you a box to return the ammo in, and will cover any cost of repairs once they test and agree the ammo was bad. In a 20" barrel I was getting over 2800 fps with those rounds. Way too hot for a 165 308. Good luck.
 
I've never encountered "brittle brass." As far as I know, brass does not become embrittled. It can be subject to stress corrosion cracking, but only when subjected to an environment high in ammonia, such as a horse barn, for long periods. This problem was encountered by the British Army in India in the 19th century. During the rainy season they would store ammo stocks in horse barns. They had a problem with case cracks. Took a long time to figure that one out.

Brass does sometimes become "work hardened," becoming less ductile and prone to the odd case mouth split, which I do see. Some reloaders anneal their case mouths occasionally to restore ductility. But this is not embrittlement.
 
moxie said:
I've never encountered "brittle brass." As far as I know, brass does not become embrittled. It can be subject to stress corrosion cracking, but only when subjected to an environment high in ammonia, such as a horse barn, for long periods. This problem was encountered by the British Army in India in the 19th century. During the rainy season they would store ammo stocks in horse barns. They had a problem with case cracks. Took a long time to figure that one out.



Brass does sometimes become "work hardened," becoming less ductile and prone to the odd case mouth split, which I do see. Some reloaders anneal their case mouths occasionally to restore ductility. But this is not embrittlement.
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Brass can in fact be brittle. Typically that occurs in the manufacturing process. In the last four years it has become increasingly common as manufacturers are trying to crank out ammo as fast as they can. A search here on THR will bring up threads from the last year talking about this same subject.

There certainly isn't anything wrong with the gun, it's just a situation of poorly manufactured brass.
 
If the Glock in question doesn't have this problem with other ammunition, I'd bet it's the Hornady ammo. I've also never had a split case on good factory ammo, especially not premium defensive stuff. I'd call Hornady with a lot # and complain.
 
moxie said:
That brittle brass has been discussed on THR doesn't mean it's a fact. Research elsewhere.
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You are free to believe what you wish. I suggest further research on your part as well.

If you watch this video at the beginning after the first draw process comes annealing. After that there are multiply steps including carbide sizing.
http://youtu.be/74ssMmD_tXE


Brass that is not properly annealed, such as being produced at full speed and not reaching proper temp, then drawn and sized can be brittle and can crack upon first firing.

You act as though this is some new concept, it isn't, it's quite common.
 
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I don't see a video.

But, absolutely, brass that is not properly annealed can and will crack under stress. But it cracks because it's too hard, not because it's brittle. "Work hardened" case necks crack because the brass becomes too hard. Re-annealing restores the softness and the case can be reloaded many times again.

This is looking like a terminology issue.
 
moxie said:
I don't see a video.



But, absolutely, brass that is not properly annealed can and will crack under stress. But it cracks because it's too hard, not because it's brittle. "Work hardened" case necks crack because the brass becomes too hard. Re-annealing restores the softness and the case can be reloaded many times again.



This is looking like a terminology issue.
Click to expand...


It's commonly referred to as brittle also. More than likely we are disagreeing about what we are agreeing about, lol. I am adding the video back to the post, not sure how I forgot it.

I think a lot of people associate annealing with bottleneck rifle cases only. They don't realize that all brass is annealed during the manufacturing process.
 
Back to my post #4. Possible (likely) oversized chamber. The brass discussion sort of went over the river and through the woods.

Even if the brass in the Hornady cases were "brittle," it wouldn't have a thing to do with the Double Tap bullets keyholing.

The common denominator for both problems is, of course, the barrel.
 
moxie said:
Back to my post #4. Possible (likely) oversized chamber. The brass discussion sort of went over the river and through the woods.



Even if the brass in the Hornady cases were "brittle," it wouldn't have a thing to do with the Double Tap bullets keyholing.



The common denominator for both problems is, of course, the barrel.
Click to expand...


I still disagree. The double tap ammo has been known to keyhole before, see hickok45s video on it.

Those cases in no way show over expansion. If it were that the double tap cases and all the other types of ammo would do the same.
 
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