Split Cases
I was at the range the other day running through some old (2005?) 454 Casull loads. I will post the load data when I remember to bring it upstairs.
Two concerns arose from using up the loads. First, I have shot these loads often in my Redhawk Alaskan without issue. These are both firsts.
#1 As it is a heavy recoiling round being fired out of a revolver, I put a heavy crimp on the rounds. On one cylinder when firing the third round the cylinder would not move. On further inspection, the round had come out so far that it was not clearing the forcing cone. I filed down the round until I was able to extract the remaining rounds to find that three out of the four unfired rounds had started to "slip" the bullets. When I get the load data up here, I will also post the new OAL of the bullets.
#2 While inspecting the rounds I also noticed that one of the cases was split wide open (again, I'll post the pics later). I have fired this load numerous times without incident and the pressures are not on the upper end of the food chain. All of the spent primers were still fully seated, which led me to believe that I was still within specified pressures. The cases in question have only been fired twice. They were winchester factory loaded 454 Casull that I cleaned and reloaded after their first use.
Anyhow, just wanted to get some of your thoughts.
Two concerns arose from using up the loads. First, I have shot these loads often in my Redhawk Alaskan without issue. These are both firsts.
#1 As it is a heavy recoiling round being fired out of a revolver, I put a heavy crimp on the rounds. On one cylinder when firing the third round the cylinder would not move. On further inspection, the round had come out so far that it was not clearing the forcing cone. I filed down the round until I was able to extract the remaining rounds to find that three out of the four unfired rounds had started to "slip" the bullets. When I get the load data up here, I will also post the new OAL of the bullets.
#2 While inspecting the rounds I also noticed that one of the cases was split wide open (again, I'll post the pics later). I have fired this load numerous times without incident and the pressures are not on the upper end of the food chain. All of the spent primers were still fully seated, which led me to believe that I was still within specified pressures. The cases in question have only been fired twice. They were winchester factory loaded 454 Casull that I cleaned and reloaded after their first use.
Anyhow, just wanted to get some of your thoughts.
0
-
Got me on that one. Only thing that I can think of is bullet Dia. If your putting a heavy crimp and it's still moving around (starting to slip) in the Case. Ie A mix of bullets? .44 (.430 dia) .454 (.452 Dia)[?] 0 -
instrumentofwar- I want to move this over in the reload forum. This has me a little intrigued. 0 -
Brass cases do work harden from reloading and also become age brittle. If the brass formula was a bit off during its making it could become age brittle. During the drawing process things can get out of tolerance and cause it to become brittle. I have seen many old, unfired rounds with cracked necks, some were crumbling from using the old mercury based priming compounds.
It might be time to retire that brass, saving the components to load into a fresh batch of brass.
I guess what I am trying to say is, bad brass does happen. Since the 454 Casull is a high pressure round, best to err on the side of caution on this one and dump the old cases.0 -
Seen this happen before with Casull loads , the fella was using new brass , and didn't resize the cases , figured it was new and didn't need to be resize before loading .
Only other thing I would guess at is that the canalure on the bullet itself is somewhat shallow , and not deep enough to get a good heavy roll crimp that the 454 needs .
as far as the split case , it happens
Just MHO0 -
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I was thinking the same thing about tossing those cases. As far as reusing components, how many do that.
I have just discarded everything, except the projo itself. I suppose, with correct note-taking, that it would not be a huge issue. Any thoughts?0 -
quote:Originally posted by instrumentofwar
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I was thinking the same thing about tossing those cases. As far as reusing components, how many do that.
I have just discarded everything, except the projo itself. I suppose, with correct note-taking, that it would not be a huge issue. Any thoughts?
The powder and bullets are no problem, just use the hammer style bullet puller from RCBS and separate the components. The primer is not worth the bother, decapping it may upset the anvil, making the primer a dud. Best to just carefully decap the live primer, wearing safety glasses, just in case or toss the brass primer and all.
I have decapped thousands of live primers and never had one go off.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments