Hornady brass splitting

[GMC403]

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.

I'm having case head splitting occur in my Hornady Whelen brass. It was factory loaded brass, that was then reloaded twice. Both times it was passed through a FL die, but only enough to not push back the shoulder.

The loads weren't heavy, 54gr IMR 4064 under a 200gr RN bullet.

The odd thing is I have Remington and Federal (nickel) brass that is on its 6th load (same load) with next to no signs of thinning in the case.

 

[Hotwheels81]

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.

....ya? My thought after seeing that and after reloading some 30-06 cases last night for the 2nd time is that it's just crappy brass... I'm planning on tossing it or leaving it on the ground my next trip out to the beaver run.

 

[Pr589]

I don't think that Hornady makes its own brass so they get some that is good and some that is not. I've had 10+ reloads on 200 cases in a semi auto, while a buddy got case head separations as above after the first firing.

 

[bigedp51]

You have unequal case stretching which means the case was thinner on the left side of the case in all your photos.

I will also assume you have a .35 Whelen and the case stretched excessively when fireformed.

Your Hornady brass was thinner and softer than the other brass you have used and why it failed sooner.

I suggest either creating a false shoulder on your cases or jam the bullets into the rifling to hold the case against the bolt face when fireforming your cases.

Bottom line these Hornady cases had excessive head clearance when fired the first time and possibly the subsequent firings.

Your case stretched and thinned because you had too much head clearance when it fired and the case stretched to meet the bolt face.

 

[GMC403]

Thanks for the info bigedp51,

I'll look into getting a headspace gauge, I've been meaning to anyways.

 

[LUTNIT]

As Pr589 said, Hornady brass runs the gambit from amazing to garbage depending on which subcontractor they had make it for them. I don't know who their contractors are but all the .30-30 brass I've gotten has been junk (primer pockets only deep enough for pistol primers) but their 308 Win Match brass (different headstamp from the normal 308 Win brass) has been excellent. I've never reloaded their non-match 308 Win brass. I have no complaints about their 44 mag brass but I only have a couple dozen pieces with only a couple reloads on them.

 

[GMC403]

They were from a Superformance product too. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but a 200gr SP leaving @ a chrony'd 2930fps is a pretty hot first shot for a Whelen.

 

[B]

I find Hornady cracks at a much higher rate than any other. I buy bags of 1f pistol brass and there are always some split cases, I don't get that with any other brand.