Reloading - Safety Minute

[Mark 1911]

I was reloading some 38 special brass today, about 250 rounds. About 50 rounds included some old Western Cartridge Company (WCC) brass with a 1989 headstamp. I have reloaded this brass 3 times, maybe 4 at the most.

I've never had this happen to me before, but I noticed one round had a slight split in it. I don't know what would happen if I fired this cartridge, but luckily (I think) I will never find out.

I found this defect because I inspect every round. It's a flaw that would be easy to miss at first glance, but might not be pleasant if fired at the range. I thought this might be a good point to share with the forum, because I know a lot of guys have some very nice presses that can kick out a lot of reloads, and am not sure if folks are inspecting every round under those circumstances.

Judge for yourself, but this might be a good reason to check every reloaded round for defects.

What looks normal at first glance:

Might not be:

 

[Drail]

A lot of .38 Spl. brass is made of thinner brass and splits are fairly common but pressures are not very high (compared to magnum rounds). I always find my split cases just by the sound they make rattling together on a rag on the bench. The split ones produce a ringing sound of a different pitch than unsplit brass. It's just one of the curses of having perfect pitch I suppose. Having a .38 Spl. case split is not exactly "dangerous" - most people are not even aware when they fire a round and the case splits. It just makes a big mess of fouling in that chamber. Now if a case head separates or blows over a feed ramp when firing in a semi auto pistol really bad things can happen as the hot burning gases are directed down into the magazine. If those rounds start to blow the grips will let go and you may get to have the pieces picked out of your hands by an ER doctor. I have seen that happen with the guys who try to push .38 Super loads to dangerous level. Fully supported chambers can save your hands (and your face).

 

[straight-shooter]

Wow, I appreciate you taking the time to give us a reminder. Complacency can be a common place until were reminded and I'd rather be reminded here than on the range.

 

[perminator]

i just found a piece of split 45acp the other day as i was reloading. the split just barely caught my finger as i was putting it into the press.

 

[Seancass]

I read this in a reloading manual from 1929 and its still true: toss/roll the brass around in your hand, split cases have a very distinct sound, you almost have to hear it to believe how different that little tiny piece of metal can sound.

Glad you were observant and didn't have any further trouble! Good work!

 

[Mark 1911]

I read this in a reloading manual from 1929 and its still true: toss/roll the brass around in your hand, split cases have a very distinct sound, you almost have to hear it to believe how different that little tiny piece of metal can sound.

Glad you were observant and didn't have any further trouble! Good work!

Wow. I just tried this and there really is a distinct difference. I never knew that before! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Tactically Fat]

I read this in a reloading manual from 1929 and its still true: toss/roll the brass around in your hand, split cases have a very distinct sound, you almost have to hear it to believe how different that little tiny piece of metal can sound.

Glad you were observant and didn't have any further trouble! Good work!

Same thing with ping pong balls. Roll them around on the table under the paddle. They'll just sound "different".

 

[mssmith44]

That head stamp is actually a military case as I understand.
The brass is a lot thicker than other cases.
Enough that the lee factory crimp die will size the bullet down.
The brass sound clunking will find a split case before reloading.
That one looks like it split when you seated the bullet.

 

[shibumiseeker]

As said above, nothing bad would have happened had you fired it other than extra fouling of your cylinder. It needs to be tossed regardless, but I would have fired it that one last time. That's about the point I toss semiauto brass when I am doing my brass life tests after watching a smaller split grow.

 

[Mark 1911]

That head stamp is actually a military case as I understand.
The brass is a lot thicker than other cases.
Enough that the lee factory crimp die will size the bullet down.
The brass sound clunking will find a split case before reloading.
That one looks like it split when you seated the bullet.

Yes, I believe it happened when I seated the bullet, I had not noticed it before that.

About the case thickness, these brass have more resistance when running through the sizing die, which made me think the brass is thicker than other brass. Your post confirms what I had suspected.

 

[Drail]

Thick brass is good brass.