CrashDodson Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 I havent been shooting or reloading long. Maybe 20k .40 rounds. Today i had the rim of a case blow off. It sounded like a squib. Almost a hissing sound. Hot powder hit me in the face. I was able to remove the remainder of the case with needle nose. These were practice rounds and not case gauged. It was all "once fired" brass purchased from dealers. Is this something i should have been able to catch or just one of those things that happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inline4 Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 what headstamp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckols Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Crash: Sounds like a failure due to case fatigue. I would opine that the range use source was not "once fired" but "X" times. With range brass there is no control on how many times a case has been fired unless everyone there is using factory rounds with new brass.. I hope you get the drift. Several months ago I had a 40 SW case(WIN) that failed where the case blew out just above the rim. The blowout covered 1/3 the circumference but the power of the blowout caused several reactions: The blast pulled the gun (Glock 23) from my hand. my hand was badly bruised and bloody-no pemanent damage the ejector broke off and went up and to the right and broke a bullet proof separator pane at the firing line. cost me $2500 for range repairs and $300 to repair the Glock 23 at the factory. Apparently the unsupported Glock barrel combined with the case fracture to produce the uncontained blast. I had a Bar Stor barrel installed to minimize future case failures for the GL 23. Despite being rigorous in my use of my recycle and new cases from by partners shooting A weak case got through. A similar 45 auto case(CBC) blew out several months later but the blast was contained and no damage to anyone. The gun was flipped from my hand, my hand was bruised and the trigger was broken and required repairs. A new Bar Sto replaced that Glock 41 barrel as well. Even more rigorous processing of my brass had me cull my inventory to remove brass that had apparently been thru the system more than just several times. I processed my reused mix using techniques that I devised. I have had these two harrowing incidents occurring almost back-to-back over a 6 month period and I hope that my share of that has been realized. I have been reloading and target shooting with my own reloads only for about three years and these two incidents cover almost 25K of reloads in that time. The Bar Sto (supported) barrels give me great confidence coupled with my brass management rules that apply to my range situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Which press were you using? Powder used? Charge? Bullet weight? Model of gun/barrel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashDodson Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 1050. Mixed headstamp brass. .40 180. .401 1.19 oal. bayou bullet. 4.6 grains ramshot competition. Infinity hybrid sight tracker barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Cool. I'd agree that it was probably just a bad case. Only feasible way that you can check that is mic the rounds and/or inspect the case. Or just buy new cases. If I was in your shoes... I'd steer away from Ramshot Competition for this application. Max load for .40 in their book is about 4 grains for plated 180. For LC laser cast 3.3/3.5 is the max. I know a lot of people use it at 4.6-4.7 grains. But now that powders are available... I personally wouldn't use it. Nowadays I don't see enough benefit vs. the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaep1911 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 (edited) i had very similar case rupture incidents last year while using N320 (4.0gr) with coated 200gr RN bullets at 1.350". One in Aug and another one in Sept. Freaked me out big time. It looked like those fired out of battery but the cause is inconclusive. Those rounds might have been tad longer, resulting in the bullets in contact with the rifling when fired. The RN does not have much room for error. Since then, I have switched the 200 RN to 180 FP, swapped the EGW U-die with the Redding Dual Ring Sizing die and started using only once fired brass from a local range where only factory ammo is allowed to fire. I do not even pick up unknown brass anymore at matches/ ranges. Yeah, they sounded and felt like squib. Luckily no one was hurt. The blast hit my face and stung my hands a bit (I use the Scale grips...). Not fun at all. Here is my thread: Edited March 5, 2017 by jaep1911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Did you inspect the charge height in EVERY case? If not, you may have had an over charge. Did you inspect every case before loading? If not, you many have missed a problem. Are you using a FAST powder in a cartridge KNOWN to be very temperamental and which does best with powder from AA5 to Herco?Using a fast powder (such as Competition), you may have had a pressure spike that blew out the case. Competition is NOT a recommended pistol powder and I have never seen approved loading data for it and .40 S&W. I have seen reports of non-approved testing of 180gn JHPs and 4.3-4.6gn of Competition, but I would expect lead bullets to use lighter charge weights. Competition is in the same burn rate area as Am. Select and Clays--quite a fast powder. As far as I can see, you are using an unapproved very fast powder in a temperamental cartridge into pressure regions it probably shouldn't be used at. I do have to say that I have never seen a blown case quite like what you have, just that you are outside my comfort zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdude Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 17 minutes ago, noylj said: Competition is NOT a recommended pistol powder and I have never seen approved loading data for it and .40 S&W. I have seen reports of non-approved testing of 180gn JHPs and 4.3-4.6gn of Competition, but I would expect lead bullets to use lighter charge weights. Competition is in the same burn rate area as Am. Select and Clays--quite a fast powder. As far as I can see, you are using an unapproved very fast powder in a temperamental cartridge into pressure regions it probably shouldn't be used at. Western Powders has load data for Competition in the .40 S&W with 18 bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Have not seen that data, so thanks--I'll have to look it up. Still, not a powder I would want to use for .40, except maybe for very light loads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhittin Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Looks like its overcharged to me. Not fun to experience. Happened to me when shooting someone else's gun. He didn't chronograph the load so he had no idea how hot he was. Do you use a powder cop? And did you chronograph your ammo as you worked up this load? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 On 3/3/2017 at 1:09 PM, CrashDodson said: 1050. Mixed headstamp brass. .40 180. .401 1.19 oal. bayou bullet. 4.6 grains ramshot competition. If you push the bullets hard into your work bench, and re-measure the OAL, do they get any shorter? That will cause very high pressures, esp with heavy bullets and fast powders in a .40 Major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashDodson Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 Ive been running this load for about 15k rounds. I load on a 1050, while i dont think it was a double charge it is not impossible. Setback is a possibility. I dropped a round off the bench the other day and it fell straight on the bullet and pushed in a little. I have adjusted my crimp since then but that is a possibility . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 2 hours ago, CrashDodson said: I dropped a round and it fell on the bullet and pushed in a little. I have adjusted my crimp . 1. THE big potential problem with .40 Major is fast powder, heavy bullets and bullet setback. Sounds like you have bullet setback. Very dangerous situation. 2. Unfortunately, "crimp" does NOT affect bullet setback. Bullet setback is solved by the sizing die - if you can push some of your bullets in, I'd invest in a tighter sizing die. Soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvc4you Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I agree with the bad case, a double charge would had blown the barrel and probably deform the slide...seen that before, infinity pistol shueman barrel, they can be broken... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1A4ME Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I had a similar event a few months back with my Pre B CZ 85 9MM. Federal case. Less than maximum charge of slow burning powder (compressed load though) under a 115 grain hollow point. Round fired, sounded/felt normal. I had no idea I had an issue until the next trigger pull, when nothing happened. Glanced at the pistol, thought I'd had my very first failure to feed/chamber. Racked the slide and the base/rim of the case fell out on the table. The walls of the case were still stuck in the chamber. Field stripped it, pulled the case walls out of the chamber with my fingers. No damage at all to the pistol, just extra dirty inside where the powder blew out into the magazine/frame of the CZ. No way it was double charged or overcharged. Can't double charge a compressed load. I look at every case with a small bright flashlight prior to placing a bullet in the case mouth to be seated. For this load (it is under max load but still a heft charge) I use the Hornady electronic powder measure/scale to weigh out every charge and I still randomly weigh 1 out of every ten on the scale just to make sure. There are "bad/weak" cases out there. Been reloading since about 1978, never had this happen before in any cartridge/gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashDodson Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 The case in my barrel looked almost identical to that. Same "tear". Mine sounded different then a normal round. Almost like a squib. It was more of a poof sound then a bang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaldor Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Had it happen once with 9mm using 3.1 gr of TG with 147gr HiTek coated. Federal case. I didnt lose the entire care head, just a small hole. Click for pic. https://goo.gl/photos/r3x3bTeik4BbzBW19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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