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Posted: 12/31/2011 7:17:45 PM EDT
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I have been reloading since 1982, and have never encountered this issue . I acquired a lot of 45 ACP brass in a estate sale around the year 2000. ( I got a boat load of other stuff, too). Never met the gentleman who was deceased, but have since developed relationships with some of his friends. The lot of 45 ACP brass was headstamped R-P 45 Auto and I am convinced was virgin brass ( 99 cases in the lot, not a stain or mark on it ). It was on my shelf for about 8 years. ( yeah, I got too much brass and too much ammo  ) I loaded it with a Saeco 68 bullet and 4.1 grs of Clays about 2 years ago. I recently got around to using this ammo and found a problem. About 1 in 5 cases are split. After firing, about 3 of 5 are split.Before firing -  After firing, about 3 in 5 are split.  I have dealt with split cases before. And throwing out this lot of 99 cases is not a big deal. But I am wanting to understand what caused these cases to split. We know that ammonia is supposed to cause brass to become brittle, but these cases were "new", never through the the cleaning cycle. So I am posting hoping someone has insight into why these cases might split - what condition may have caused it. Age would be a factor except these cases are R-P headstamped. Not old in the scheme of things regarding brass life. |
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My first thought was the previous owner had cleaned the brass with Brasso, which can cause brass to become brittle, or exposed to some other chemical which can cause brass to become brittle. If its virgin brass and it did that, it must have been a bad run of brass, the alloy was wrong. |
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Quoted: Sounds like a bad batch of brass. I use 45 ACP RP cases and don't have this problem. Yup, I have never had this problem either. I shoot thousands of rounds of 45 ACP. I shoot brass acquired from all over. I shoot brass older than this brass. Something has caused this brass to become brittle. I don't know what that condition may be. I'm thinking it happened before I acquired it. What would cause brass to become brittle and split like that? To say that is a "bad batch". I agree. But why? |
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I guess the good news is I cleaned the barrel and all is normal, the leaking gas from the split cases caused no damage. I venture the age of the cases is a non-factor. These cases are "guessing " 20 years old, not old in the scheme of things. But something has caused them to become brittle. Understanding what that is, was the purpose of this thread. Was it Brasso? Was it something else? The ammo runs through my 1911 like there is no problem. This ammo gives good accuracy and reliability. But I am left pondering why so many split cases? |
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Brass age hardens on its own without exposure to adverse environments, too, although I normally wouldn't be suspicious of old brass until it's maybe WWII vintage. But I think we've seen relatively young brass with no known adverse history fail this way here, too.
A metallurgist with a lab could sort out the cause quickly, but it's pretty much an academic question for pragmatics since it's only annoying but not particularly dangerous. |
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