Threaded brass, have you seen?

[dirty gary]

I've had some of these cases for years, wondering if anyone knows their story. The case head is a threaded removable section, magnetic (possibly SS). The threads are incredibly fine, easily cross-threaded. Foreground is a 30-06 unscrewed, rear is a 375 H&H on left and 308 Win on right, unknown center case - 2.700 inch OAL. .440 inside mouth diameter, unbelted base. They were in a little plastic case, clear cover with a picture of an elephant and tiger but all the writing had rubbed off. Looks like some sort of field-reloadable round - ???

 

[rmac]

Steelheads

They are known as Steelhead and were developed by Dennis Connor of Charlestown, SC in the early 80's. He used unheaded Federal brass and would stand up to 80,000 psi. Probably something on Google.

 

[Skeet 028]

Connor Cases

As stated the Connor cases. They will really stand the pressures. BUt the bad problem with them was the loss of room in the case for the threaded portion. Neat Idea that just wouldn't work so well. You could get normal velocities(approx.) but at the cost of higher pressures. I have 5 or 6 boxes of new ones. They usually came as basic straight unformed cases.

 

[Nemo288]

I remember the ads for those in the Handloader mag of the day.
I always wondered "why?" and moved on.
They weren't the only product that was kind of "out there".
Makes life interesting though what folks will come up with.
Nice to see some obscure history being saved and the knowledge distributed.

===
Nemo

 

[M E Morrison]

I vaguely recall seeing shotgun hulls made up like this.

 

[handejector]

An excellent solution to a non-existent problem!

 

[rwsmith]

There comes a point.....

There comes a point where adding more pressure doesn't increase the velocity all that much. Maybe if you needed the highest performance for your cartridge you could use this, which probably also means that you should be using a more powerful gun.

Here's an analogy. The more HP you put on a freighter will get you more knots, but there' a point where adding 20% more horsepower yields a 1 knot increase is speed.

 

[Skeet 028]

An excellent solution to a non-existent problem!

Actually they had a good idea trying to get more velocity with a much safer case..No blown primer pockets etc. But they never thought of the loss of powder space.. I read they even had an idea for a different kind of stronger primer cup..Just something I heard. I'll drag a box out and take a pic or two. Even have the instructions. BTW they thought they could use as much as 100,000 Lbs of pressure in the case..I think the brass part would flow at the pressure.

 

[dirty gary]

Thanks to all the info, everyone. As soon as I researched "steelheads" everything became clear. These were pretty neat, with a body like a "basic" round that you could form into many calibers. It was thought they would be capable of loading at pressures up to 80,000 lbs pressure, what a thought. Also had a 50 BMG version, not sure if any of these are around but I'd love one for my cartridge collection.

 

[shil]

Interesting idea, to say the least.

 

[chief38]

Like the Gorilla said, a solution to a problem that really does NOT exist! Someone is always trying to invent a better Mouse Trap!

 

[Nemo288]

Having tried several types of mousetrap so far this winter, I can tell you that:
a) Some work better than others
b) There may yet be room for an even better one
Wife won't let me use the one that uses a shotshell I got years ago as a curio.
I am on about mouse #20 at this time.

===
Nemo

 

[Skeet 028]

A pic or two

This is one of the boxes of the cases. As you can see they are unformed. I also have a picture of the instructions and their recommendation on which rifles were acceptable for use at the projected HIGH pressures Although I did not post it