Is R-P brass junk?

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Shoot&Ski

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Today at the range I split 4 cases! They were all R-P and for three of the cases it was the fourth time they had been shot. They did not split at the case mouth, just vertical cracks in the middle of the case.

Here is what I don't understand: these were .38 special +p stamped cases, but were loaded with below maximum .38 special loads, and these were just low velocity lead bullet loads too.

Why are so many of these cases splitting on me on the first, second, or third reload? Is R-P brass just junk?
 
Its possible to get a bad lot. Overal, rem brass is ok. If its brittle, its going to crack. Over working the brass may make it brittle in 4 loading if dies over work the brass and the firearm has large chambers.
 
Every manufacturer will make a defective lot or two now and then.
 
Like above, most likely a bad lot.

I've recently purchased some Starline in .357 and .44 on recommendation and haven't had any trouble with it either.

Order some new from another manufacturer and see what happens.
 
I've found that my remington brass doesn't have the life expectancy of winchester or star line. It usually sells for a little less than winchester and most of the time the winchester will all be gone with only the less expensive remington left.
 
Mine split all the time. No idea how many reloads since I dump them all back in the same bag after polishing. Half split in the middle, half split at the case mouth. My rem brass is nickel plated which probably makes them a bit more brittle than others. It's all old police range pick-up brass from back before anybody knew what a glock was.

Shoot them until they split and toss them out.

It's not a pressure issue at all. I don't think any of mine have had more than 3gr of bullseye in them since after the cops shot them the first time. Also, I think the +P is only a label and not a different spec brass. Just there to keep you from shooting the original loads in an older revolver.

-J.
 
Major manufacturers don't make brass for reloading. All they're concerned about is the case holding up for the first shot. They don't worry about how many reloads you get out of their cases, since they don't make any money on the reloads.

Only Starline, Quality Cartridge, Jamison International, Scharch, and a very few other companies make brass specifically for reloading. Their brass will generally hold up quite well.

Nickel plated .38 cases will split before plain brass cases will. It's due to the metallurgy involved in the plating process. Brass also work hardens as it's worked. That includes the firing of the round, when the brass expands, and again when it's sized and the case mouth belled. As it work hardens, it gets brittle and will split.

I'm with jr roosa, I don't count how many times I load .38 brass, since my wife and I go through roughly 10,000 rounds of it per year. Counting reloads would take way too much time and energy that can be spent reloading and shooting.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
No idea....I have about 4k pieces of mixed .38 brass I range picked up 20+ years ago. Some of it has been loaded at least a dozen times. Sure, I might throw out 1 in 100 for a split, but they aren't from just one particular brand.
 
I've used a LOT of R-P brass over the years without issue. In general, I have found that case life problems are usually caused by factors other than the brass - an oversize chamber, for example, that causes excessive work hardening during the resizing process...
 
RP brass is a little thinner then say Winchester or Federal.
although I have never had problem with RP brass unless it had 8-10 reloads on them.

One question do you clean your brass in a liquid cleaner or add additional polish to your medium if so check to see if it contains ammonia as it will ruin the bass and make it Brittle

De inimico non loquaris male, sed cogites
Click to expand...
 
If chamber is large and a carbide sizer is smallish and the user sizes cases as far down as possible the brass will work harden quickly and that means body splits occur quickly no matter who made the cases.

Not only is R-P brass okay, it likely the most commonly used brand.
 
I handload and shoot .45 auto only, and I have used R-P nickel plated brass exclusively for the last 15 years or so. I have shot it generally with 3 different guns: (1) Les Baer Premier II, (2) Springfield Trophy match, & (3) a Jim Hoag longslide set up on a very early '70 series Colt .45 lower and upper. I so load and shoot a very light target load of 3.3 gr to 3.5 gr of Alliant Bullseye behind a 180, 185, or 200 LSWC. I have never had any problems with the brass other than occasional split ends from belling and crimping and the brass growing too short from reloading and shooting enough to make the bullet seating operation difficult to keep lube from getting on the exterior of the case / bullet. The last batch I got about 20 firings from and was down to about 250 cases left out of about 400 starting with.
 
A while back I bought a .338 win mag and a box of R-P ammo to try it out. Cracking at the neck shoulder area was noticed after a few rounds. I brought the ammo back to the dealer that sold me the rifle and ammo. He didn't want to take the ammo back at first until I asked him, what is bad, the ammo or the rifle you sold me, you are getting one of them back.

Subsequent ammo worked just fine but that rifle sure lets you know you shot it.:eek:


Clutch
 
I bought 2000 unfired, virgin .38 Super nickel plated RP brass from the CMP a few years ago. Why it was gov't surplus, I have no idea. I had over 250 of the 2000 split BEFORE it was fired. I had loaded the batch with REMINGTON bullets, and most of it sat on a shelf, when I noticed that some of it had splits before shooting one day. Then I checked the rest, and sorted out over 250 rounds with splits at the neck. I contacted Remington, and sent samples of the brass, ammo, etc (at my expense). They sent it back, basically saying that since it was "surplus", they were not going to replace it. Bear in mind, this was unfired, virgin brass when I got it. I was so disgusted, I just pulled bullets, and shot the unsplit cases/loaded rounds. Of the fired cases, better than half split and all were thrown out atfter shooting. I will not be buying new RP brass again.
 
One question do you clean your brass in a liquid cleaner or add additional polish to your medium if so check to see if it contains ammonia as it will ruin the bass and make it Brittle
Click to expand...

No, in fact I haven't cleaned the brass at all.

And I suppose it could be an oversized chamber, but I haven't had any other brands of brass split on me yet. Maybe just a bad lot of brass. Bummer
 
Shoot&Ski:
I'm thinking that either you have a bad batch of brass, or you somehow inherited some scratches in the cases, weakening them early in the game.
 
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