Thread: Case faliure in 375 H&H Magnum

This isn't the best photo, cause my camera is crap.
But the case split from belt to belt and put holes through the rim where the extractor goes.

The photo doesn't show it but its fully split from one side to another.

Next time, never use old cases.

That looks nasty!! How is the bolt face?

Originally Posted by stug

That looks nasty!! How is the bolt face?

It ringed the bolt face around the primer and lifted chrome off the face at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. The bolt was a little hard to open.
The first round blew a hole in the side of a case, the second case got burrs on the belt and that was the 3rd round I fired. So that was the end of the day with those cases.
Brought some new cases and they work good as gold, and the norma cases found their way to the waste container.

When you say old cases... how old?

Originally Posted by bully

When you say old cases... how old?

From what people have said from the packet, i would say the 1950s-60s. Appeared to be factory ammo but unsure if they had been reloaded. But i dont think so.

Interesting.

Brass does tend to harden with age, which is why you often see old ammo with split necks. Having said that, I have never seen a similar failure quite like that (and I have seen quite a few in my career). My initial thought is that there was a cold seam in the brass right from the initial manufacture of the case. Stick with modern brass for high pressure loads (ie: all cartridges that develop more than 30,000 psi).

What can happen with old ammo is the bullet corrodes and wields is self to the case neck that pushes the pressure over the top, I had some old 8mm ammo that happen to never fired it
tried pulling it down with a inertia bullet puller I had to break the grip by pushing the bullet deeper in the case before I could pull them, if you had that happen with your ammo the pressure would be real high
just as well you have a good strong rifle.

Originally Posted by shooternz

What can happen with old ammo is the bullet corrodes and wields is self to the case neck that pushes the pressure over the top, I had some old 8mm ammo that happen to never fired it
tried pulling it down with a inertia bullet puller I had to break the grip by pushing the bullet deeper in the case before I could pull them, if you had that happen with your ammo the pressure would be real high
just as well you have a good strong rifle.

The rounds had been pulled as the primers and powder were dodgy. Cases were annealed and then reloaded with a mild load.
So the defect was the case. Old brass I think. That was the 3rd that failed, and was by far the worst.

Originally Posted by jim160

The rounds had been pulled as the primers and powder were dodgy. Cases were annealed and then reloaded with a mild load.
So the defect was the case. Old brass I think. That was the 3rd that failed, and was by far the worst.

Was this the stuff I sent you?

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Was this the stuff I sent you?

Yes it was. The projectiles was all that was saved and used out of them.

Originally Posted by jim160

Yes it was. The projectiles was all that was saved and used out of them.

Bugger. I would very much doubt the cases were reloaded.