Old brass/ cracks

[wvbuckbuster]

Friend gave me some .243 Win shells his dad had loaded a few years ago that wouldn't fit his chamber. Figured the dad used brass for his gun instead of the sons. Anyway was going to pull bullets dump the powder and noticed some of the brass had very fine cracks from the shoulder toward the base maybe 5/8 to 3/4 in long. Never seen this before always on the neck or around the base not vertical on the body. They didn't look like they had been loaded maybe one-two times , good shape otherwise. Anyone see this before? Dan.

 

[1Shot]

Not on the side but usually at the neck. I have seen the neck splits on OLD factory loaded ammo. With age the brass can become brittle probably from powder chemicals is my thought.

 

[lhsako]

I had new federal brass I year old separate completely at the neck/shoulder with a 250 grand slam seated in it !!! other cases showed cracks in the same area...terrible

 

[preacher]

I had some once fired Federal 7mm Mag loads all ready for the range. Two weeks later I still didn't have time to go and when I checked them, they were split lengthwise from shoulder to base! Pure POC.

 

[diverdown]

Talked to a gentleman from Federal a number of years back and found that Brass does get brittle over a period of time. (Molecular structure changes). Also, it's based on the different materials used to make the brass. Manufacturers get their brass from different sources and quality is the name of the game.

 

[BretN]

I've had split necks in my 243, even after one loading. They would either split when you shot them, or as you were seating the bullets. It was Federal brass that was not that old. Some older Remington brass for my 280 also split necks, but that was after probably 5+ reloads. Got some old military brass (late 50's early 60's) from my uncle that cleaned up fine and have had no issues with. So it does vary some for sure. Inspect it closely and cull the bad.

 

[lhsako]

Talked to a gentleman from Federal a number of years back and found that Brass does get brittle over a period of time. (Molecular structure changes). Also, it's based on the different materials used to make the brass. Manufacturers get their brass from different sources and quality is the name of the game.

From a metallurgical point of view this seems logical. from our point of view as reloaders /consumers federal brass is garbage. I never bought that brand again.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Sorted through them. Cleaned, annealed then fl sized. Inspected again found couple more. Loaded the rest. Will see how they hold up. Dan.

 

[PJGunner]

Many years back I bought 100 rounds of new Remington brass and loaded them up with my pet load at the time. Later, maybe a moth or so I took a box to the range and the first group literally wasn't. Holes all over the place.
Went to try another group and noticed the bullet was almost loose enough to fall out. Over half the box was like that. I went home and checked the rest and there were a few more. I pulled all the bullets from the uncracked brass, dumped the powder and primer. Then I annealed the brass. I resized the necks and reloaded the ammo and it not only shot well but the brass lasted for quite a few reloadings. I've often wondered how long those two bags of brass sat around in storage or whatever. The necks definitely had a problem with "season cracking".
Paul B.