split .45 brass

[kwilliams1876]

hello
been shooting a lot lately now that the weather has improved in montana. i dug out a 100 or so of new remington 45 long colt brass from my stash purchased 40 yrs back.  seeing a lot of split cases coming out of my henry, the new vaquero, and now my bisley. only shooting swiss 3f and 250 gr. lead bullets. what gives? is it the age the brass, or are remington cases thinner than say winchester.

regards
kw

[Dick Dastardly]

Try annealing some of the brass and see if it still splits.  It may have hardened over time.

DD-MDA

[hp246]

I have the same problem with Remington brass.  Don't know why, but the only cases I've ever had split are Remington.

[Bunk Stagnerg]

I really can't add anything here because I cannot remember splitting a .45 Colt case. Occasionally a .45 CAS case and a lot of plated .38 Special cases. Seems like the plating makes things brittle but in yur case it might be age hardening. Annealing may help and is worth a try.
Bunk 

[Baltimore Ed]

I usually split 1-2 pieces of nickle .45 lc every match but ive been shooting the same 300 plus pieces of brass forever. Seldom split brass brass though. I use nickle for my revolvers and brass for my rifles. Some of the nickle brass is so old the only part that's nickle plated is the head. I use the same amount of clay dot or clays for either but run 200 gr in handguns and 225-250 gr in my rifles.

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

Howdy Brass Splitters,

I'm familiar with brass splitting simply from aging. You some time see vintage brass items that have been formed or rolled into a shape that develop splits over time. I even had the brass case head on a shotshell split without ever being shot.

Reverend Chase

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

Howdy Brass Splitters,

I'm familiar with brass splitting simply from aging. You some time see vintage brass items that have been formed or rolled into a shape that develop splits over time. I even had the brass case head on a shotshell split without ever being shot.

Reverend Chase

[kwilliams1876]

yes, now that you mention it, i have seen brass items split or crack if they are under tension over time. just seems that 40 yr old new brass hidden deep in a drawer shouldn't "decompose". oh well, when i restock i will try winchester brass.

regards
kw

[Niederlander]

I've seen arsenal produced, unfired .30 Army (Krag) rounds dated 1917 with split case necks.

[Dick Dastardly]

Brass has a "memory".  When shaped, sized or worked it wants to relax.  When it relaxes it also can split.  I have some .25 Gibbs ammo that was made from 30-06 military brass and all have split necks.  I know that this is not about bp stuff, but it is about split necks.  Don't shoot brass with split necks.

DD-MDA

[Coffinmaker]

Well heck.  There is an aspect on this subject we haven't hit on yet.  Don't know why not.  Monsieur Dastardly actually touched on it by accident ....... but.  It's about "working the brass" and that brass "work" hardens and becomes brittle.  Common knowledge (I Hope).

Think about this however.  We be primarily talking about 45 Colt brass.  It is a given, 45 Colt cases don't obturate (expand) to seal the chamber against gas leakage (Blow-By).  BUT it TRIES!!  Every time it is fired, it tries.  Now consider modern chamber dimensions.  Our esteemed manufacturers seem to think bigger is better.  Uberti chambers 45 Colt rifles with a chamber so large some of us could walk thru hand-in-hand.  Think ENORMOUS!!  Same Same for some handgun chambers.  Huge.  Chambers cut around the max SAAMI specs and even some larger.  Sewer pipes.

With the consideration of over sized chambers, thinner brass is working harder than heavier brass and will, therefore, split sooner than heavier brass.  Annealing may help.  Annealing is a large time investment for very little gain.  If you factor in the value of your time, the cost of the fixture, the cost of the gas and such, a few split cases are ........ meaningless.  An additional cost thought ........ I lose more cases per match to the Grass Trolls than to splits.  I just toss split cases into my recycle bucket.  I also DO NOT load nickel cases for ANY of my rifles, should a split case get by me and play turtle.

Coffinmaker 

[kwilliams1876]

coffin maker,
your mention of very oversize chambers is on the mark. my current henry is a fine case in point (and not my only one), obscene is whats comes to mind. wonder where they get their chamber reamers! makes one feel like doing a chamber cast before laying down the green. i said this once before, and its still true, that we playing this game have sure become a tolerant bunch of customers.  i will defend ruger as the bisley cylinder chambers are cut tight, no bulged brass here...just split. i shot this same brass lot in my colt  by the hundreds yrs back and really cant recall losing cases. so between ageing brass and ageing me...who knows!
kw

[hp246]

Back to the original post.  Why Remington?  I have Starline, Winchester, Magtech, and a couple of other makes mixed in.  Every time I get a split case, it is a Remington case.

[Dick Dastardly]

The venerable 45 Colt brass has been around for a long time.  Guns have been chambered for it ever since it was introduced.  Some chambers are smaller, some a lot bigger.  There seems to be no common factor.  So, ammo manufactures have to manufacture ammo for worse case small chambers.  This brass has to expand to fill the chambers of worse case over size chambers.  That's a lot of working.

This is one reason that 44 ELR (Extra Long Russian) more commonly known as 44 magnum makes such a great bp cartridge.  SAAMI specifications are very specific and fire arm manufacturers chamber their guns accordingly.  This is one reason 44 Mag cases seldom split.  Simply put, they don't expand as much and are not reduced as much when resized.  The venerable 45 Colt is a completely opposite situation.

I recommend chamber casting your 45 Colt guns and sending the chamber casting along to Huntington Die Specialists and have a custom resize die made.  Yes, it'll cost some, but it may end your case splitting questions.

DD-MDA