Have you ever kb'd with a published load?

[ranger335v]

"I was wondering if anyone has had a case head separation while following a reputable recipe,.."

No. Head seperations are not KABOOMS, that's a wholly different thing.

As RC accurately explains, head seperations result from poor FL resizing for rifle cartridges. They rarely - if ever - happen with hand guns and only has a casual relationship to really high pressures anyway.

 

[cfullgraf]

Cfullgraf, removing cases that have had head separations from the barrel are no problem assuming you can clean from the breech. Simply insert an oversize bore brush far enough to get to the neck of the case and pull it out. For example in my .243 I would use a .270 bronze bore brush. When you push it in the bristles bend one way. When you pull it out they grip the case and out the case comes.

Thanks for the tip and i can get to the breech, it is a Contender. I have not tried a brush before.

What makes it a pain is I don't plan for the head separation and the tools are always someplace else. I have to stop shooting and go to the tools to clear the jam. My home made extractor works pretty well, but the brush might be more convenient.

Fortunately, I shoot in the "south forty" (actually "five") at my farm so its just a walk inside.

 

[788Ham]

It sounds, and definitely appears, your reloading techniques leave a whole lot to be desired! Many folks on here have given you sound advice, adherence to these warnings is again, your choice and your life. We've all, at one time or other, have tried to boost the performance of our firearm, just hedging our bets if you will. When you jump from starting point A with max loads, all bets are off, you're in a playing field that's going to get you nothing but grief. If buying a different powder measure, powder{s}, scales, or getting a whole new set of dippers isn't in your future, nor wanting to listen to sound advice, your wakeup call is just waiting to ring partner!! Good luck, you're due.

 

[GLOOB]

Thanks for all the info so far. I guess I was using the wrong term, where I really meant case failure-slash-kaboom in a straight walled pistol cartridge. I thought case head separation was a general term for when a cartridge ruptures at the back, such as happens in a kB. So now I'm learned.

So far in my googling, I've only found one pistol kB that included load data. It was a .40 reload using once-fired brass and he was well within max manufacturer recommended charge weight and OAL. But he was using recalled FC headstamp brass, which was the main culprit. His event was relatively mild. He only noticed the mag shooting out and a stinging in his trigger finger, and he ended up replacing some cheap parts. In contrast, it was easy to find stories where a double charge or even triple charge was suspected, where load info was considered irrelevant.

The other thing I was wondering is this: I've seen pictures of blown up Glock barrels, with suggestive commentary deriding the lack of case support. Just to clarify, I imagine that any cartridge that will blow up a barrel must be severely overcharged or barrel obstructed. Am I correct? A fatigue case failure of a normal pressure round cannot make a barrel blow up, can it? I'd imagine the case failure would put pressure in OTHER parts of the gun, and the pressure on the barrel would be LESS than normal, if anything. So blown up Glock barrels should be suggestive of bore obstruction or overcharge, neither of which have anything to do with case support. Correct or no? FTR, my gen 3 Glock has plenty of case support. Some of my scrounged brass starts out bulged, but by the time it ejects from my Glock, it looks perfect.

Peter_S, thanks for the tip for my thrower. After tightening the screw, it only leaks 5-6 flakes per throw with the W AutoComp, and the movement no longer gets so crunchy. I think I will give it a second chance and might even try giving it a full cleaning.

 

[243winxb]

any cartridge that will blow up a barrel must be severely overcharged or barrel obstructed. Am I correct?

Yes, is my guess.

A case failure of a normal pressure round cannot make a barrel blow up, can it?

No, another guess. An m16 might be a whole lot different than a bolt action from what i have seen on line. The AR receiver comes apart with a case head rupture, i guess?? Clark would know, he likes to blow stuff up, so i hear.

 

[James2]

Kaboom? What is a kaboom? I think of a kaboom as a catastrophic explosion of the whole action. Not only does it ruin the gun it may do bad things to the shooter. A head separation or split casing is not a Kaboom in my book.

Most of us have never had a kaboom and certainly do not want one. That is why we follow the time honored advice to start low and work up watching for signs of overpressure. Be safe.

 

[918v]

KB is misused as often as GB.

 

[mbopp]

I tried 6.2gr of 231 (published starting load) in a 357 with 158gr plated bullets. Of 5 round one had a pierced primer. I carefully loaded another 5 rounds and triple-checked the scale and weight. Again, 1 out of 5 had a pierced primer. I quit and went back to Unique. I still use 231 for 45 ACP and reduced 44 Mag loads without any issues.

 

[Funshooter45]

I tried 6.2gr of 231 (published starting load) in a 357 with 158gr plated bullets. Of 5 round one had a pierced primer. I carefully loaded another 5 rounds and triple-checked the scale and weight. Again, 1 out of 5 had a pierced primer. I quit and went back to Unique. I still use 231 for 45 ACP and reduced 44 Mag loads without any issues

Good point mbopp. I know your quandry. Hodgdon has a start load of 6.2 gr and max of 6.9 gr for JACKETED bullets with 231 powder, but the load range is 3.4-5.0 gr for CAST bullets of the same weight. Normally, most people advise to use the cast recipes for PLATED bullets. But not all plated bullets are the same. Some people use plated bullets with the same recipe as jacketed bullets. But in a case like this, where do you start? Clearly the 6.2 was too hot for your plated bullets, but can you imagine the consequences if you had just started with the max of 6.9?

I'll bet the 231 would work well for the .357 if you dropped down to below 5.0 gr of 231. I don't shoot plated bullets, but my hardcast bullets perform extremely well with about 4.6 gr of 231.

 

[mbopp]

Yes, but look at the pressures of the lead and jacketed loads. 23,900 for a MAX lead load and 33,700 for a START jacketed load.

 

[GLOOB]

mbopp, thanks for sharing.

I use Berry's plated, and I have always used regular jacketed data for them, for anything up to 1200 fps. They recommend light to mid jacketed loading data, NOT lead data. I understand the reason they don't recommend full power loads is because of possible plating separation, bullet deformation, leading, and accuracy issues at higher velocities. But unless there was leading, I would never have imagined a jacketed starting load would have had overpressure signs using a Berry's plated bullet. I'm using them with max jacketed data in 9mm and near-max in .45.

Now, I understand that Rainier's are a little different, and they recommend using lead data. But even there, I would have imagined leading and accuracy issues, rather than overpressure.

My guess is HP-38 is probably a bit touchy in this loading, being on the fast side for a magnum load with a heavy projectile, regardless of the bullet type. And perhaps the manufacturer data is a bit off or maybe just difficult to replicate, exactly. I'm glad to see your results, seeing as I reload .357, I have 158 grain plated bullets, and I have a couple cans of HP-38. I just haven't fooled around with that particular combo, yet, thank goodness! (I'm using 6.8 grains Unique in this load, and it's pretty stout! But my primers look fine.)