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7.62mm

7.62mm

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Last weekend, I brought a few of my Hunting Partners to the Range. It's good to get them out more than just during hunting season......:rolleyes:

Anyways, one of them shoots a 30-30, he doesn't reload, so I took his brass cases home, and just today I tumbled them, to clean them up.

Out of 12 cases, 5 are split from the shoulder up to the neck area, so a length ways split, say a millimeter or 2 in length, 3 of them have 2 splits. Is this normal, or does he potentially have a problem with the gun. He probably only has 100 rounds through it total, probably less. I don't have any experience with Lever Guns at all, so any insight here would be great.

The gun is a Marlin, the ammo is Winchester Head Stamped, and Factory Loaded
Maybe the Winchester brass is just crap??????

Edit to add....
Just playing around with them at the desk here, almost all of the primers are proud of the pocket.
 
If you are sure that it is a .30/30 rifle and not a .307 Win. and you are sure they are not reloads, your friend has a headspace problem. (not him, the gun!)
 
The newer Marlins have some pretty ####ty cut chambers and there has been a couple reports of some out of spec tolerances. Mine is cut so rough that you can see the heavy machining marks on the brass after firing.

Try some newer factory stuff before jumping to conclusions though.
 
Never had a problem with my Marlin 30/30, or Winchester brass both of which are used year-round in Silhouette matches.
I would speculate that the ammunition in question were reloads loaded "hot"?..
 
Well, I am going to give him a call tomorrow.

I am sure these came out of a Factory box, I remember us standing around joking with him, they had a Home Hardware Sale sticker on them, it was $11.99 or something, so they were bought a few years ago, LOL.

He is not the type to go to or buy from a gun show, I wouldn't think! But I will ask.

And yes, it is a 30-30...I think.....LOL!

Thanks for the responses thus far! I will update!
 
Just because they were in a factory box, does not mean they are factory. I used to be cheap, and not use MTM cases at all either. :D

Could it also be there is some corrosion on them? Any green monster on the brass? That could be enough to weaken it to the point of rupture.
 
The first thing I do when someone has a 30-30 problem is check the rifle. more than once it has been a 32 Spl.

Old, poorly annealed brass can split. Not a problem, except brass can't be re-used.
 
Here is a couple of pics:

The one on the right has some Walnut Media stuck in the split!

30301.jpg


30302.jpg
 
From the looks of the case surface, they were most likely a hot reloaded cart. I have reloaded Winchester brass many times over and they still show no damage. Not bad for 1906 rifles...But also it can be a very well worn rifle and the chamber oversized and bolt head space problem.
 
My 3030 has very slight extra headspace - I get a little of the primer lift - nothing serious as I don't load hot and the cases have been faring fine otherwise, but that's why I am leaning towards the excessive headspace on your buddy's gun.
 
7.62mm said:
Last weekend, I brought a few of my Hunting Partners to the Range. It's good to get them out more than just during hunting season......:rolleyes:

Anyways, one of them shoots a 30-30, he doesn't reload, so I took his brass cases home, and just today I tumbled them, to clean them up.

Out of 12 cases, 5 are split from the shoulder up to the neck area, so a length ways split, say a millimeter or 2 in length, 3 of them have 2 splits. Is this normal, or does he potentially have a problem with the gun. He probably only has 100 rounds through it total, probably less. I don't have any experience with Lever Guns at all, so any insight here would be great.

The gun is a Marlin, the ammo is Winchester Head Stamped, and Factory Loaded
Maybe the Winchester brass is just crap??????

Edit to add....
Just playing around with them at the desk here, almost all of the primers are proud of the pocket.
Click to expand...

Could you find out if his Marlin has the little bullseye in the butt stock?
 
Thats weird.
Even if it had headspace problem the shoulder should just fireform.
I mean I've fireformed 30-30 into 38-55 & never had splits like that.
Something else is going on & I think it's in the cases themselves. Bad brass, something.
 
It is most likely old cartridges. The OP did say the boxes had old stickers on them. I have had splits like this with brass that was either overworked or had some sort of corrosion due to storage and age. New brass (and winchester is good brass) would simply fireform into the shoulder.
If reloaded, they didn't have to be hot to split cases if the brass was old or of suspect origin.
 
So just got off the phone with buddy.

The gun IS a 30-30
The ammo was Factory Loaded, he has never bought reloads, and has never reloaded himself, quite likely the shells were up to 8 or 9 years old.
The firearm was bought 10 years ago, and it might have up to 200 rounds of Factory ammo through it.
It does not have a "Bullseye" in or on the stock anywhere.

He has never noticed split cases, but he also said he has never closely examined the spent shells either.

I advised he take it to a Gunsmith to have it looked at, check Headspace, etc., before he shoots it anymore!


Oh, and thanks for all of the input!:D
 
I don't think there is a safety issue, however it never hurts to get it checked.

The brass may have been exposed to the weather at some point.
The third case in the primer shot adds to the evidence here, as it shows a mildly flattened primer in a normal condition. That would mean that the loads are either inconsistent, or degrading from age, and exposure. The edges of the necks don't look chamfered, adding to the opinion that these are factory loads.

Firing a 30-30 in a larger chamber should fire form nicely, that would include 32 special, and 38-55. Headspace is on the rim with all these cartridges.

What I see in your pics, is typical of results I saw occasionally, when fire forming older brass, such as range discards.
I'd try a fresh box of Factory ammo.
Fresh Winchester brass by the way, is generally regarded as excellent brass to reload.

The primer standing proud does indicate a slight headspace concern. You as a reloader can deal with this, by allowing the shoulder to come forward so that it headspaces on the shoulder, not the rim, partial resizing, or neck sizing the case.
Continual reloading of a case that has headspace, and headspaces on the rim will eventually result in case head separations not a concern, if you watch for the evidence of incipient separation. (Look for little Gilles Duceppe pics just above the rim) :)

You can usually feel a ridge on the outside, or, with a paperclip bent for the purpose, on the inside of the case, if it's about to go. Check any you are suspicious of.
 
Something isn't quite right. A ten year old Marlin 30-30 will have the little bullseye in the butt stock. The reason I asked was because when Remington bught Marlin, or shortly after, they did away with teh bullseye. That is, a Marlin without the bullseye is Remington made and there has been a lot of controvesy over poorer quality showing up in some of these newer Marlins.
Also old, like thirty-forty years, loaded ammo may split the necks on firing. But I have never heard of the shoulders splitting and 7 years is not old enough for the brass to get brittle, in my opinion.
 
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