Help! 44 Mag case Splitting..

[wallacem]

A close friend shot his S&W 629 Classic today with some reloads that are midrange, 1000 FPS cast loads. He had a thousand of them loaded about 10 years ago by a friend and he has shot at lease half of them already thru the years with no issues and great grouping. Today he sent me this picture of the brass on several that split severely. Cant imagine what the problem could be but asking for suggestions. He said these felt the same as the others and accuracy was the same. No sense to me. Also, the gun is the same gun he has shot for years too. Wallacem in Ga

 

[AlphaMike11]

It looks like weak brass/overworked to me.
How many times have these been reloaded?
Or perhaps the brass has been overworked in the reloading process somehow.
What do the primers look like?

If you have a batch of 100 there may be some that were the first 50 (used over and over again) to be reloaded.
When I started reloading i used the same 50 store bought cartridges over until I gradually acquired more.

Just my 2 cents....

 

[madcow]

+2 on AlphaMike's comments looks like overworked brass that has been reloaded once too many.

 

[41mag]

Looks like weak brass or improperly sized. I lean more toward weak brass.

 

[D_Max]

Worn out brass reloaded to many times

 

[gh1950]

It looks like weak brass/overworked to me.
How many times have these been reloaded?
Or perhaps the brass has been overworked in the reloading process somehow.
What do the primers look like?

If you have a batch of 100 there may be some that were the first 50 (used over and over again) to be reloaded.
When I started reloading i used the same 50 store bought cartridges over until I gradually acquired more.

Just my 2 cents....

This.

The only time I've seen splits like that were with hulls that had been reloaded several times.

If he didn't have problems 10 years ago, there may have been environmental factors the weakened already stressed brass.

 

[BIKER13]

HAd some PMC brass that split

 

[1006]

As brass ages, it can become weaker by becoming brittle; it does not pay to let it sit around.

I have had the brass split like that on 45Colt when using a Lee Factory Crimp die. The die tended to over work the middle of the brass, such that it looked skinny 1/2 of the way between each end.

 

[wallacem]

I haven't got my hands on the brass to look at but notice the bulging on the cases. I swear they look like 41 mag ammo shot in a 44 mag gun. Wallacem

 

[EMC45]

I haven't got my hands on the brass to look at but notice the bulging on the cases. I swear they look like 41 mag ammo shot in a 44 mag gun. Wallacem

I was thinking the same thing.....Or 44s shot in a .45 Colt