Gross overload found at the range

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MichaelK

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Was out shooting at the local range this last weekend and picked up this .44 brass I found on the ground. This is NOT one of my reloads, but an anonomous piece of brass I just picked up. In this first pic you can see how flat the primer became and how the manufacturer's name is ironed out. Compare with one of my regular reloaded cases on the left.
44magnumcasehead.jpg
Look at the rim of the case in this second pic.
44magnumrim.jpg
See how thin the rim is? I measured both my own case and the over load case with a caliper. My rim measures 55 thousand's thick. The rim of the overloaded case is only 25 thousand's thick! I've seen flattened primers before, but this is the very, very first time I've seen an overload so hot it crushed a rim! I am really worried about whoever loaded and fired this cartridge!
Michael
 
Not necessarily a gross overload. Certain brand primers, i.e. FC, are soft and look like that at maximum 44 Mag pressures. The rim is too thin. Must be a defective lot.
 
Thank ypu for sharing that. I see people talking on here about seeing over loaded reloads all the time. Now that I have seen it, I can see how it is so easy to tell.
I love this place I have learned so much. Thank You.
 
Don't know why someone would, but it almost looks like someone "stoned" or sanded some off the head rather than overloaded. I don't see any other case damage like bulging or anything and the "swirl" marks on the head look sanded in. I don't know how thin that would make the primer though. If that's from overloading or headspace issues, someone needs to let that guy know something isn't right before he finds out the hard way.
 
The thin rim caused excess headspace.
That allowed the primer to back out, and then get flattened when the case slammed back against the recoil shield and re-seated it.

Why it is that thin is beyond me.
But I seriously doubt it is due to excess pressure.
Too thin it that much would require the excess swaged brass to go somewhere.
And it would end up being about 1/8" bigger around if pressure had somehow flattened it that much.

rc
 
A "gross" overload would expand the primer pocket enough for the primer to just fall out. :D

That said, if my reloads looked like that, I would be double checking things.
 
The Rim is not flattened if it is thinner than yours, but also the same diameter as yours. The metal has to go somewhere. If it flattens out it should get larger in diameter. Probably just crappy brass with soft primers.
 
I've seen brass with the head stamp hammered out like that from using the Lee Classic loader...hammering the casings down into the sizing die...etc. After several reloads with that kit the head stamp gets "hammered"!
 
Thats Winchester brass compared to Remington, does anybody have some 44 Mag Winchester to compare to that one in the photo? I don't think it's been shaved down because the headstamp is still legible. Mayby a fluke from the factory? My Winchester brass frequently has a less-bold headstamp as compared to the Remington ammo.
 
When I bought my first Model 29 about a year ago, I bought some winchester white box at walmart. That's exactly how they came out. I was really freaking out at first, but didn't notice any other signs of case distress. I think it may have something to do with the brass, because when I reload with a light 18 gr of 2400, they still look like that. None of my other brass looks like it, just the Winchesters.
 
This might be a first, but I disagree with rcmodel, so don't award that "Best Answer of the Day" trophy just yet. :)

I'm not convinced that grossly excessive pressure didn't do that. I can almost see that the head diameter at the web is expanded without using a micrometer. Every primer in an excessive pressure case I've seen in the past looks like that, and it wasn't caused by a headspace issue. I can't explain the thin rim part being caused by pressure, but I've seen stranger things happen when a metal object is subjected to intense pressure. I would love to eyeball the case myself.
 
Interesting post.

I have a piece of found brass that has quite a story to tell. I found it on the ground at my range. It was a .25-06 round that was shot through the wrong gun.

1001219.th.jpg


I have no idea what chamber it was fired in, other then "the wrong one".
 
I am tying to get more pictures but my cheap camera doesn't want to focus correctly. It is pretty maddening as it will hit perfect focus and then go past it to blurry.

At anyrate, here is what I could get.

1001242x.th.jpg
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1001243z.th.jpg
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1001244.th.jpg
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If you all want any more pics or measurements let me know. I would love to be able to figure out what this thing was shot in.
 
Here we go mixing up threads again ... now somebody will comment on one case and someone will mistake what's being said thinking of the other!!

I'm going to go with RC on the first case, I've shot a lot of Win 44 mag ammo that looks very close to that case, except for the thin rim. I think that the thin rim is a factory mistake because the head stamp writing is about normal for WW 44 mag ammo. Matter of fact, I sized some factory WW 44 mag cases(normal thickness rims) yesterday that the primer looked almost as flat! The thin rim would allow the primer to back out and then get slammed against the frame and flattened out.

The second case had to be fired in a magnum chamber that had the shoulder very close to the 25/06 length dimensions, close enough that the primer was struck and that the shoulder held the case from going forward or the extractor held the case well enough that it was struck.

Jimmy K
 
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