What load are you using for this round?
Also do the primers show any signs of over pressure?

With brand new cases I wouldn't think it would be metal fatigue, how heavy of a crimp do you use?

Suz
What are you loading first of all ? Have you reloaded this gun before ?
Can you measure some of the other case's that did not split and compaired them to new and also some that were resized in your die .

Then could the brass you have be brittle . Then you could try a pair of pliers and see if that split brass bends or breaks .

I have seen this in my 38Spl and the brass was just brittle and old in years . You could always buy a box of ammo that is fresh, and work from there

Pumpkin I love the red dot scope, never had one on a pistola before, just point-n-shoot!

These are not reloads that split, my reloads did fine. These are new just outa the box. I wanted to use the brass. They are, however, over 20yrs old if that makes a diff. The primers look pristine.

I've looked at my gun and no signs of anything in there, I'm gonna try out the lead bullets I've got and see what happens too (also new but over 20yrs old)

Suz

Suz, some things improve with age, some just don't. I have the same problem with (very) old factory rounds for my .22 Hornet, the cases just split at the neck (and only a few till a lot, never all and from different manufacturors) Maybe it's age, maybe it's temperature, maybe both. And it's certainly not the rifle because new Winchester rounds never split and most old Winchester rounds cannot be reloaded anymore (and I still don't know the trick to anneal a live round )

I suppose it could be age, I dunno but it was also around 30^F out there. My gun was tucked under my coat and the bullets were sittin on the tail gate of my truck. Warm gun cold bullets...I dunno....Oh well I loaded some more to shoot and I'm takin my new lead bullets out the next time I go, maybe next weekend.

Suz

Brass doesn't get brittle from sitting around......I suspect there was an issue from the factory where the brass was made.

After a case is formed it has to go through a annealing process, after that the brass will work harden from firing and re-sizing it.

chambered221 wrote:

Brass doesn't get brittle from sitting around......I suspect there was an issue from the factory where the brass was made. After a case is formed it has to go through a annealing process, after that the brass will work harden from firing and re-sizing it.

I agree... if that was the case I would have some brass that would shatter when touched.

I purchased that ammo when I lived in Az. many moons ago and so I wonder if the dramatic temp. changes over the many years would pose a potential pressure anomaly. (note the cleaver use of edumacated words) I've shot some 12ga rnds that were left overs from my Grandpa's day tho and nuthin special happened. They had to be over 50yrs old.

No big deal tho. was just thinkin it was strange to split new ammo.

Suz

Even if you moved from Death Valley to the South Pole temp from sitting wouldn't split them. It looks to me like the brass was not annealed properly when made - assuming you are sure the cases were new and unfired.

Suz-question;did this happen in every chamber of the cylinder or just one or two chambers every time you loaded and fired-you see where I'm going with this?I have a blackhawk .357 that had a similar problem with w-w nickle plated brass cases and it turned out that the cylinder was cut very rough and the chambers were not matched in diameter.I had to polish them and match them by hand,and change brands of cases,after that -no problems!

1895ss wrote:

chambered221 wrote: Brass doesn't get brittle from sitting around......I suspect there was an issue from the factory where the brass was made. After a case is formed it has to go through a annealing process, after that the brass will work harden from firing and re-sizing it. I agree... if that was the case I would have some brass that would shatter when touched.

Now if you care to read Shooting Times in the Ask the Experts page 12 in the March issue -it will explain how it could be that cases split over time . It has to do with the annealing process and the tendency to slowlymigrate to a harder state with age. So read on it's in black and white !Maqwa knows his stuff .
So Suz it's is the brass , not your gun.

I have to agree with Magwa on this one, I had some old /06 and 340wby mag cases laying around from the middle 70's and reloaded them and sure enough the cases just below the neck split and the 340 separated from the belt. These loads were very mild and still the cases split. I pulled the bullets on all the shells and recovered the powder and dry fired each case till I was done to expend the primer in all the pulled shells. I have learned over the years that I do not reload brass thats over 10 years old, I haven't had factory loads in 32 years and I still believe that brass sitting around for years will get brittle.

First off 1895 and I both agreed it's the brass !!!

Second........If you want me to read something post it or provide a link.
I quit reading that mag a long time ago because of it's bias opinions.

And lastly I definitely don't believe everything I read, hear or even see. I'll make my own conclusions with the facts that are presented.

Now I did note in the new Lyman cast bullet manual that was a mention of "age hardening", refering to lead bullets, but I haven't read that section.

Lead casted bullets do both harden and soften due to age.

Right after casting, they are "soft", it would take about 2 - 3 weeks to get to the "designed hardness.
Then, if left standing alone, they would gradually soften in 2 to 5 years.