Three 45acp Cases Split On Me Yesterday

[max]

It is not uncommon to have a case split every outing. I normally shoot 150 to 200 rounds on range trips. Monday, 3 cases made the odd sounding "ting" when thrown into the range box. One was a Federal commercial and I have had a lot of splits with these. Many years ago, I seem to remember buying a thousand once fired Federals from a range of some sort. They have been reloaded many times. A WCC case from 50 years ago also split. Again, no telling how many times it has been fired. The last was a WW commercial with a head so banged up, you could only see 1 W.

I have no problems with how long these cases have lasted.

 

[BE Mike]

I've seen Remington new factory .45 ACP brass split lengthwise in the middle. It isn't uncommon for Precision (Bullseye) pistol competitors to reload .45 ACP brass so many times that the case head markings disappear. Chuck the split cases and carry on. I do like that the .45 ACP cases "call out" with a tink. For those of us who can still hear, it's a message.

 

[mmande]

Years and years ago, I had RA 65 match .45 brass that I loaded so many times that eventually primers would not stay seated in the pockets. I finally replaced them with WCC 96 match brass. Those were the days!
I don't shoot that much anymore but do hang on to the memories.

 

[Sevens]

Just tonight I found that one of my pieces of Hornady .460 S&W Magnum split from the mouth halfway down.

That's literally the first piece of .460 brass I have lost and this revolver has seen about 800 rounds.

I have not kept count of how many times I have loaded these, but that's 65,000 psi max fury happening inside that brass, and I have been impressed at its longevity.

 

[M1A4ME]

I used to have a Springfield Armory 1911 that would split a couple cases from each magazine fired through it. I couldn't see a swelled spot in the chamber area but I bought a new/replacement barrel anyway. Installed that and no more split cases.

I no longer have that pistol as it still never really shot as well as my Colt 1911s.

 

[Lance Boyle]

I was shooting some Federal .300 Win mag factory ammo that I've had since the mid 90's. Brass cased Federal Classic 180 grain loads. They were a "bonus box" iirc they had 30 or 24 rounds instead of twenty. Well i had a heck of a longitudinal body split. I was shooting the old loads off as i wanted to reload them with some all copper bullets. Well after that I decided those cases aren't the ones I wanted. I had a box of Remington nickeled cases I bought from Wideners years ago and I much more expected nickeled cases to split from the preplating pickling acid bath they get not the brass brass.

 

[Lt.Donn]

It is not uncommon to have a case split every outing. I normally shoot 150 to 200 rounds on range trips. Monday, 3 cases made the odd sounding "ting" when thrown into the range box. One was a Federal commercial and I have had a lot of splits with these. Many years ago, I seem to remember buying a thousand once fired Federals from a range of some sort. They have been reloaded many times. A WCC case from 50 years ago also split. Again, no telling how many times it has been fired. The last was a WW commercial with a head so banged up, you could only see 1 W.

I have no problems with how long these cases have lasted.

I've also seen them last for a long time .. especially the ubiquitous 38 wadcutters with only 2.8 or 3.0 of bullseye

 

[gwpercle]

Reload 45 acp cases enough times and

Splits Happen !

45 acp lead a hard life ... I'm surprised they last as long as they do ... I'm glad they are easy to come by , one of my most favorite rounds to reload and shoot !
Gary

 

[WR Moore]

You guys are bringing back memories of WW GI ball for $3/50. Yes, I've got examples where the headstamp has vanished. IIRC, only had one die on me. During an IPSC match one ejected empty left a vapor trail. When the line was clear there was a stampede to find that case. Cracked with tiny hole just ahead of the extractor groove. One guy quipped that if I used a large grain powder, I could get one more reload.

Still got some French surplus (corrosive) that was a penny a round in little 25 round boxes. Prettiest ammo I've ever seen. Besides being well polished, they apparently used some sort of protective coating.

 

[Dave Haynes]

Reloaded 45s for 50 years and have never had a split or ever trimmed a case. I never pushed the load either, just factory ball velocities in Colt guns. I'd bet the Chow had 100K through it or more.

 

[bedwards]

The only splits I'm getting are from 45 Colt and 38 Special, both with unknown source used brass.

 

[H Richard]

Quite a few years ago, several of us put in a bulk order for once used G.I. 45 ACP brass, I think it was 10,000 rounds. Most of the brass was TZZ head stamp. I would get about 5% split cases every time out shooting. I guess it was brittle. A longitudinal split every time.

 

[bigggbbruce]

I've had 38, 357, 10mm, 45acp, 44mag make a funny sound when mixed with other like kind. So I throw them away. Sleep well at night.

If I find my rifle brass with a split. That batch gets pulled inspected and probably scraped.