Brass Failure

[Skinnedknuckles]

I discovered a type of brass failure I've never read about before. I was decapping and priming some .35 Remington brass I'm using for "gallery loads" (I purchased the brass used and had reloaded it once) when the press handle seated the primer, paused then moved further (with a lurch) than I had ever felt it before.

I stopped and looked at the brass and saw the primer was drastically overseated, as can be seen in the first picture. I pressed out the primer and looked at the primer pocket. There was no flash hole, just a through hole into the case (second picture). This later happened with a second case.

I ground the first case so I could look at the cross section, which confirmed that there was not a flash hole (third picture). I sectioned another case of the same head stamp which did have a flash hole. When I polished it, I could see a crack or seam that mirror the remaining metal in the case without the flash hole (you may be able to see it in the fourth picture).

I would have expected to find a ring of brass in the case that would be the missing material with flash hole, but I did not find it in either case so I don't know where the material went. There were no unusual indications on the exterior of the cases, either.

 

[Grumulkin]

Maybe the one you bought the brass from drilled out some flash holes to use with low pressure loads? I presume you checked the other cases before you attempted to seat a primer?

 

[Zendude]

Maybe the one you bought the brass from drilled out some flash holes to use with low pressure loads? I presume you checked the other cases before you attempted to seat a primer?

Is drilling out the flash hole done when the powder volume is very small with regard to case volume?

 

[edwardware]

Drilling the flash hole out will reduce the primer unseating upon ignition, and that's important when peak pressure isn't high enough to reseat the primer. It's common on low-pressure blank brass.

 

[Skinnedknuckles]

These were not drilled, as you can see from the thickness of the base in the case with the flash hole vs. the case without the flash hole. Part of the base has separated (and disappeared - notice the taper below the primer pocket). And no, I didn't visually check all the others because I was decapping and priming at the same time, but all the others felt normal as I seated the primers. I had loaded and shot this batch of cases once with light loads (11 gr Universal or 10 gr Unique under 158 gr coated lead bullets) and I had visually checked the primer pockets as I full length resized, trimmed, and cleaned the cases before I loaded them the first time. I discovered that all the brass would properly fit the cartridge gage after firing the gallery loads, so I was trying an experiment by just neck sizing and loading.

 

[FROGO207]

Looks like the missing brass was shot down the barrel with the hot gasses and bullet. I have never seen this type of failure before either. I wonder if the brass was wet cleaned and then dried in an oven and the temperature used was too hot. Might make the case heads soft. Might be bad brass from the factory, they do not plan on you reloading their factory ammo as a rule. Or did you anneal them yourself and possibly get things too hot?

Guys when you drill out a flash hole you leave a small bit of the bottom behind to support the anvil base or the round will not fire! They use shotgun primers with wax bullets for the added power and the support of the battery cup/anvil when loaded into a brass casing.

 

[Jim Watson]

It's dead, Skinnedknuckles, it's dead.

 

[Malamute]

I doubt that case failed from being to soft, the way it cracked looks like it was too brittle.

Keep in mind, those cases are at least 50 years old. Who knows what they've been through in that time. I don't recall when they stopped using that headstamp, but I believe its at least 50 years old.

 

[hdwhit]

Malamute wrote:
I don't recall when they stopped using that headstamp, but I believe its at least 50 years old.

You have a good memory. Remington discontinued the REM-UMC headstamp in 1970.

 

[Skinnedknuckles]

Ouch! May have to sideline this batch of brass. Fortunately I don't have that many of them.

 

[kingmt]

I have never seen a failure like that. Thanks for posting it.

 

[1stmarine]

These fractures are due to poor annealing during the draw process that relieves the stress when forming the brass. This leaves a web that is brittle and subject to cracks and failure. I would contact the manufacturer if you bought it brand new.

 

[Skinnedknuckles]

Well, today I shot the 20 rounds I had loaded without drama of any kind. Inspecting the primers, they all looked perfect (this was with a light load of Universal under an MBC coated 158 gr RNFP bullet). When I got home, I decided to "proof test" the primer pockets. With the spent primer still in place, I put each into the press and raised the handle as though I was seating the primer, but pushing a bit harder than I might if actually seating one. One case out of 20 failed the test, with the primer pushing into the case. I tapped the primer on through and looked closely into the case. Still no ring of missing material. What I did see was that the surface where the metal separated was soot covered, so the crack opened during combustion.

The remaining 19 cases will be cleaned, segregated, and retired to the "War Reserve" just in case they are ever desparately needed. I have more brass of other head stamps I bought used and had already segregated all of it to use only for gallery loads. I am only loading full pressure loads in Hornady brass from cartridges I bought and shot myself.

By the way, the gallery loads using Universal shoot much more accurately than the loads using Unique.