Blazer-6 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 (edited) Was in a match yesterday with an HK USP tactical 40, and in the 5th shot of the a 16 round course, i suddenly felt hot gas hit my face, sort of like firing a wet suppressor. the sound was a bit strange, a little sharper than normal. i got a bit nervous, but it sent a 12 yard round plate down. i continued to finish the course in 14+ sec. after which i went looking for my brass and found a fiocchi brass with the base wall in one part blown off. i went to the safe area to inspect the weapon and found nothing amiss except the worried look in my face. there seems to be nothing wrong with the weapon. the casing fragment was jammed in the recoil spring but it did not affect its function for the rest of the course. a small part of the mag was chipped off, otherwise it was fine. here are pics of the shell and the mags. i'm sorry for not being able to come up with better pics: does the primer look like it's over pressured? i'm loading 180 grain molly-coated LTC over 4.8gr N320, OAL of 1.150. this is definitely range pick up since i dont have any fiocchi brass and only have a mix of armscor, hornady and starline. i've had a hornady case w/ 3 short vertical cracks in the base wall touching the rim. definitely, ill no longer trust range pick ups from now on. can i ask for new inspection standards for brass to reload from more experienced reloaders? and which brands should i stay away from? and also, what might have prevented my frame from blowing up ti bits like in other stories? Edited May 3, 2012 by Blazer-6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyroWebs Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 It's hard to tell, but the primer looks fine to me. Your load data sounds reasonable too. Looks like it might have just been a weak case. It's a good idea to inspect all your brass (not just range pick-ups) before loading. Look for cracks/stress marks anywhere on the case....especially the base where your case ruptured. Brass is relatively cheap, so if you have anything that looks questionable toss it! You were lucky there was minimal damage. I throw all FC, Fed NT, and A-Merc regardless of what they look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gng4life Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Mangandang Umaga Pare! The primer looks fine to me also. I would agree with Kyro that it appears like it was just weak brass. I did some searches from that load data you posted and it is right inline with other comparable loads. I'm sure it wasn't a double since a drop of almost 10gr of N320 would have been to the top or over. How many rounds have you put through that pistol? Did you inspect the chamber area to ensure it didn't do any damage or scratching to that area? Let us now and glad you are okay! Ingat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazer-6 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 thank you for the inputs KyroWebs. I got really scared. It's difficult to buy another HK with the salary of a 1st lieutenent here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyroWebs Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 (edited) No problem. I'm just glad you weren't hurt. I have never had a KB, but a couple years ago I was loading up a mag when I found a pretty severe stress mark on the web of the case. It kind of shook me up as I wondered how I missed it during sorting, reloading, and last inspection Needless to say I'm quite a bit more thorough on my inspection now! Do a quick Google image search for "split case reloading" and "case head separation" and you'll get a good idea of what to look for. Edited May 3, 2012 by KyroWebs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidnal Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Looks like bad brass. I've had 2 case head separations w/ .40. Both were with nickel plated FC headstamps (not FEDERAL). For .40 I inspect each case and I'm pretty pickey about what I will load now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazer-6 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 hey there kabayan. i just looked at the chamber and it looks fine. clean as a whistle. i couldn't tell on which side the explosion was on. the pistol has some 2400 rounds through it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too_Slow Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 By the looks of the brass I would say an out of battery firing. I have seen several of the over the years and that is what the brass looks like. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 By the looks of the brass I would say an out of battery firing. I have seen several of the over the years and that is what the brass looks like. Brian +1. Maybe not completely out of battery, but somewhat. Where the case blew out was on the bottom by the feed ramp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazer-6 Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 (edited) i don't think it's possible to fire this pistol if even slightly out of battery, but i tried to put the case in again. it's strange, the slide actualy slams home fully with it, but part of the casing base is still exposed, up to that line above the hole. i looked at the blown case against other fired brass, but it's even a bit shorter. strange indeed. here are pics, the last one is a normal round in the chamber: Barrel drop as a preventative measure? Edited May 4, 2012 by Blazer-6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Bad brass. That one would have blown in any gun. Bet it was cracked at the extractor groove before you loaded it. See it occasionally in brass that has been abused and roll sized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blu46and2 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 What kind of powerfactor are you making with 4.8 N320 behind a moly coated bullet? I use 4.1 of N320 behind a 200 grain moly coated, bayou bullet, to make major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazer-6 Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 it makes 167 PF. i use a 180 grain to be in the safe side. i still think N320 is too fast for 200 grain even at 1.180". And yet this can still happen... but maybe it would have been worse if it had been a 200 grain loaded.. remember, pressure increases exponentially, not linearly with a reduced case volume - this, coupled with a heavier, slower to accelerate bullet makes for a much higher pressure even w/ only 4.1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsb1829 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I had that gas / spreckle of dust in my face last week. I also finished the COF,but in retrospect I should have stopped immediately and figured out what happened. It was a local unofficial match, so not worth risk to gun or self that could happen. I didn't find the offending case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I only pick up once fired brass and for the high pressure cartridges such as 9mm and 40 S&W I toss the brass into the scrap heap after 4 reloads. With low pressure cartridges such as 38 Special and 45 ACP I tend to use the brass until it strats to fray at the mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bshooter Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I pick up a lot of range brass. I have no idea how many times it has been reloaded or if it is once fired. I roll size all my 40 and 9mm on a Case Pro but have still had blow-outs like that. Just be glad you weren't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Smith Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Was in a match yesterday with an HK USP tactical 40, and in the 5th shot of the a 16 round course, i suddenly felt hot gas hit my face, sort of like firing a wet suppressor. the sound was a bit strange, a little sharper than normal. i got a bit nervous, but it sent a 12 yard round plate down. i continued to finish the course in 14+ sec. after which i went looking for my brass and found a fiocchi brass with the base wall in one part blown off. i went to the safe area to inspect the weapon and found nothing amiss except the worried look in my face. there seems to be nothing wrong with the weapon. the casing fragment was jammed in the recoil spring but it did not affect its function for the rest of the course. a small part of the mag was chipped off, otherwise it was fine. here are pics of the shell and the mags. i'm sorry for not being able to come up with better pics: does the primer look like it's over pressured? i'm loading 180 grain molly-coated LTC over 4.8gr N320, OAL of 1.150. this is definitely range pick up since i dont have any fiocchi brass and only have a mix of armscor, hornady and starline. i've had a hornady case w/ 3 short vertical cracks in the base wall touching the rim. definitely, ill no longer trust range pick ups from now on. can i ask for new inspection standards for brass to reload from more experienced reloaders? and which brands should i stay away from? and also, what might have prevented my frame from blowing up ti bits like in other stories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Smith Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I've had a couple of .40 caliber rounds that separated like that over the years. One in a 1911 with unsupported chamber and two in a Glock 22. In all of mine it involved either tired brass (Winchester range pickup with 6+ reloads after I got it) or questionable quality (1 Fiochii, 1 Federal). On one piece of brass, the head separated completely from the case walls, requiring me to dig the remainder of the case from the chamber. I look at the extractor groove and if it appears shorter/narrower, or if the angle at the front of the groove looks to be less than 45 degrees I throw it in the scrap pile. The base of he case takes a pounding in the .40, and actually sets the case back a little on higher pressure loads. If you question the wisdom of loading it again, don't. .40 caliber and .38 Super require careful attention when reloading. Hope the comments help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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