Reloading Oopsie...

[ZeviB]

Would you say that is a result of overcharging, or a fatigued case? a damaged case?
(I did not reload it myself.)
Other than that, the damage is minimal: some burnt powder residue on the glove and a small singe mark...

Cheers, Zevi

 

[AJC1]

That appears to be a failure due to 1. Being fired out of battery, or 2 fatigue due to partial unsupported chamber.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I had a 45 acp case do that in one of my 1911's. It blew the mag guts out. I have a piece of brass in my eye too. They eye doc said it's not in a good spot to remove it. It does not bother me at least.

 

[mdi]

I agree with AJC1. Gun? Looking at the pic of the cartridge head, it looks like an out of battery failure, you can see the groove where the chamber ends...

 

[ericuda]

What gun shot this.

 

[ZeviB]

I had a 45 acp case do that in one of my 1911's. It blew the mag guts out. I have a piece of brass in my eye too. They eye doc said it's not in a good spot to remove it. It does not bother me at least.

Ouch.... Sorry about your injury

 

[Rule3]

We will never know. It is one of the 4 things mentioned

Just like diagnosing car problems in line,
It's either:
Electrical
Fuel or
Mechanical.

 

[ZeviB]

For those who asked - it was a Glock 19. Sorry, I should have mentioned it in the original post.
Fun fact: I had to Google the term "fired out of battery", even though I have a history of serving in field artillery and that's where the term originated from.
Once again - you guys have proven to be an amazing source of knowledge !
Thanks, Zevi.

 

[ZeviB]

We will never know. It is one of the 4 things mentioned

Just like diagnosing car problems in line,
It's either:
Electrical
Fuel or
Mechanical.

Actually there's a (very common) 4th cause here as well: the driver....

 

[The Glockodile]

That appears to be a failure due to 1. Being fired out of battery, or 2 fatigue due to partial unsupported chamber.

Let's add - remanufactured, already bulged / weakened ammunition rollersized to spec, but a disaster waiting to happen...

@ZeviB: Can you fully account for the brass' history?

 

[Rule3]

But what gun/barrel? had it been a 40 sw in a older Glock then there ya go
My 9mm Shield as a slight unsupported barrel and max 9mm loads it will guppy budge the brass,

 

[The Glockodile]

But what gun/barrel? had it been a 40 sw in a older Glock then there ya go
My 9mm Shield as a slight unsupported barrel and max 9mm loads it will guppy budge the brass,

For those who asked - it was a Glock 19.

Didn't say if it was an aftermarket barrel, though.

 

[ZeviB]

Let's add - remanufactured, already bulged / weakened ammunition rollersized to spec, but a disaster waiting to happen...

@ZeviB: Can you fully account for the brass' history?

Like others indicated - there's more than one possible cause. My intent in asking it here was not to get a forensic answer - more like tapping into the (vast) collective knowledge to have a probable reason, definitely more probable than what I would have guessed myself.
Also, no - I have no idea about the brass' history.

Thanks, Zevi.

 

[ZeviB]

Didn't say if it was an aftermarket barrel, though.

Fully stock gun. No mods/replacement parts at all.

 

[herrwalther]

Looks like it was weakened around the case head. Most pistol brass can only be reloaded a handful of times before the brass becomes too weak around the head to use again.

 

[ericuda]

Maybe just dumb luck. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[LiveLife]

Would you say that is a result of overcharging, or a fatigued case? a damaged case?

already bulged / weakened ... but a disaster waiting to happen ... Can you fully account for the brass' history?

I have no idea about the brass' history.

Fully stock gun. No mods/replacement parts at all.

We have entertained quite many "Funny thing happened at the range" threads over the years with exhaustive root cause analysis.

Case wall failure/rupture with subsequent KaBoom could be the result of overly expanded/thinned/weakened brass fired in less case base supported barrels with below max powder charge or over max powder charge.

And with USPSA 9mm Major brass left on ground after match being picked up and added to mixed range brass circulation, yes "disaster waiting to happen".

So now whenever I encounter 9mm brass that takes significant more resizing effort, I check it in my tightest barrel and if it fails, I attempt to resize a second time but if it fails the barrel again, it gets tossed for recycling as I deem the brass overly expanded/thinned/weakened.

Most pistol brass can only be reloaded a handful of times before the brass becomes too weak around the head to use again.

Not necessarily.

Some years back, I did a test of repeatedly reloading same 50 cases of 9mm brass and shot them in Glock 17 and Glock 22 with KKM 40-9mm conversion barrel. After 20-25 reloadings, not one brass experienced case base rupture rather primer pockets started to get loose. Testing was stopped when primer pockets were too loose to seat primers.

 

[Bill M.]

I see no way that could happen or the case was within a chamber. I am going to call bad gun.

 

[AJC1]

We have entertained quite many "Funny thing happened at the range" threads over the years with exhaustive root cause analysis.

Case wall failure/rupture with subsequent KaBoom could be the result of overly expanded/thinned/weakened brass fired in less case base supported barrels with below max powder charge or over max powder charge.

And with USPSA 9mm Major brass left on ground after match being picked up and added to mixed range brass circulation, yes "disaster waiting to happen".

So now whenever I encounter 9mm brass that takes significant more resizing effort, I check it in my tightest barrel and if it fails, I attempt to resize a second time but if it fails the barrel again, it gets tossed for recycling as I deem the brass overly expanded/thinned/weakened.


Not necessarily.

Some years back, I did a test of repeatedly reloading same 50 cases of 9mm brass and shot them in Glock 17 and Glock 22 with KKM 40-9mm conversion barrel. After 20-25 reloadings, not one brass experienced case base rupture rather primer pockets started to get loose. Testing was stopped when primer pockets were too loose to seat primers.

Your case test has results similar to my experience in pistol with necks cracking or primer pockets failing before any catastrophic failure as pictured above. That case has been overstressed by someone in hits history. Even major cases dont do that first time out. I would never collect race gun brass knowingly.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I had a 45 acp case do that in one of my 1911's. It blew the mag guts out. I have a piece of brass in my eye too. They eye doc said it's not in a good spot to remove it. It does not bother me at least.

Sorry about your injury, but please tell me more…I only shoot 1911s and want to allay my fears.

The cartridge was out of battery, yes?

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Actually there's a (very common) 4th cause here as well: the driver....

I was going to say, "Loose nut on the steering wheel..." but the evidence didn't point to that in this case.

Glock belly?

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I think i had a over charge of powder. The dispenser i was using. I found to drop erratic charges after i started to dig into why it happened. That dispenser i destroyed. And replaced with a better one.

 

[LiveLife]

Glock belly?

While primer indent appears to be indicative of rectangle slot imprint, doesn't mean the barrel was factory Glock.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

While primer indent appears to be indicative of rectangle slot imprint, doesn't mean the barrel was factory Glock.

For those who asked - it was a Glock 19. Sorry, I should have mentioned it in the original post.

Fully stock gun. No mods/replacement parts at all.

But I guess you never know. It could have been swapped by a previous owner, too.

 

[243winxb]

it was a Glock 19

Which generation Glock 19? Unsupported, with bullet set back. Plated bullet?