What could cause this case failure?

[Trey Veston]

Was working up some new reloads and found this casing that is the first I've seen like it in thousands of reloads.

It's a 9mm Federal casing and has been reloaded maybe 3 times, all with low power match loads.

Don't recall any shots that felt different and primer and pocket were fine.

 

[kmw1954]

One obvious thought would be that it was just one weak or defective case out of a whole bunch. Could be you'll load 10k more and never see another.
I'd just pitch it and not worry about it unless all of a sudden you start to find many more like it.

 

[Grumulkin]

I’ve rarely had similar splits with factory ammo.

 

[Walkalong]

It happens, toss it and move on, unless a bunch of it is having issues. One isolated split case? Just scrap it.

.32 Mag


.38 Spl


.45 Colt

 

[Toprudder]

I see them occasionally. I've seen a couple from factory ammo as well. If you aren't loading near max, toss it and don't worry about it.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

It happens to all 9mm and 38 spl brass sooner or later, 40SW sooner, 45 ACP rarely.

 

[ATLDave]

It's just a case split. For brass, this is the equivalent of dying of "natural causes/old age." Could have happened early due to something like a scratch in the case . Maybe on it's prior trip out of the gun it landed on some gravel with a sharp quartz edge and got a small etch line to start the crack... who knows? More importantly, who cares? It's not a dangerous failure, just attrition of your brass.

ETA: Those little cannelure rings/anti-setback-sub-bullet-crimps seem to be a common starting point for cracks as they can act like stress risers until they get ironed out by repeated reloadings. Some don't survive the process. Most do, but some don't.

 

[Charlie98]

Back in the '90's, I bought a 1K case of Norinco 5.56mm ammos for my AR. About 1 of every 7 or 8 cases neck-split on firing... this was new, factory ammos. I chalked that up to bad brass alloy, or brass that had somehow work hardened during manufacture.

As far as handgun cases... I've seen a bunch of those split cases, sometimes in newer brass, sometimes in older, tired brass. It happens. Chuck it and move along...

That case illustrates, however, the need to examine every piece of brass you are reloading, however... for case splits, neck splits, enlarged primer pockets, and in rifle brass... case head separations and the like.

 

[mdi]

I remember some folks in the '70s saying "S%!*happens". If you got one of those blown/split out of 100, same headstamp cases, then look for a reason. Any fewer than that and just toss 'em...

 

[Galil5.56]

Back in the '90's, I bought a 1K case of Norinco 5.56mm ammos for my AR. About 1 of every 7 or 8 cases neck-split on firing... this was new, factory ammos. I chalked that up to bad brass alloy, or brass that had somehow work hardened during manufacture.

Shot the same ammo during the same time period in my IMI Galil ARM 392, and don't remember any split necks at all - Guess my (CJ 92 headstamp) batch had appropriate annealing/alloyed brass. I reloaded a lot of it, and did notice however a lot of the extractor grooves were cut kinda wonky. Other than that I consider it very good ammo, full power, boxer primed, reliable, non corrosive and my God what was it, around $70-80 or so for a case? FWIW, here is some chronograph data of it, shot from my Galil's 16" barrel:

3006, 3038, 3073, 3015, 3027

Propellant was a gray ball weighing 27 grains, with the FMJ-BT bullet weighing 54.5 grains.

To the OP, I'll add to the heap - All is well, and you will see many more along the way. In a rifle, I sure don't like to see cracks that go around the case, or a crack like that near the web, but you will see these lengthwise cracks along the sides here as well - Brass is just tired, and needs a permanent rest. Good luck.

 

[JO JO]

Like said above it happens and you will see it again someday, it’s a good reminder why we need to inspect our brass and quality check our reloads ,
I had one that looked just like that last week 9mm blazer brass

 

[Blue68f100]

My neighbor shoots a lot of once fired commercial brass. He is seeing more and more brass split on the first firing (reload). I now anneal them for him which eliminated the problem. As for pistol brass I see the splits more and more often. I think mfg are saving money any way they can, reducing annealing cycles. The brass only has to last one firing, after that they don't care. Their in business to sell products, brass that last limits their sales.

 

[splattergun]

Splits happen. That's why we inspect the brass.