My first big screw up!

[B]

So I was loading mags at the bench, doing a final quick look over my work before banging off some target loads. I was about to pop the 10th round in when I felt something was wrong with the cartridge. I examined it visually and saw that there was a split in the brass. The weird thing is is that the split is connected at the mouth and extends about a 1\3 the length of the case before stopping at about the halfway mark or the cartridge. It also looks a bit odd.

What would have caused that? Brass is Winchester 10mm, been fired 4X (2xmax\2x min load). All the other brass from the same batch is in great shape. It inspired me to buy a tumbler, though I don't see how that would have helped. I have made it a point to thoroughly inspect my casings both before and after loading now. Sorry but I can't get a decent photo of it from either my fancy cell phone or my POS Digi.

 

[Jarlath]

Just worn out from hot loads and the expansion in the chamber.
You can hear a cracked case tinkle differently if you shake a bunch of brass together.
That being said. It may have done nada to the gun, but better safe than sorry.

 

[B]

Good to know, it had crossed my mind. Maybe I will pull my targets loads back even more. I am trying to get good lifespan out of my brass. I have a couple loads with AA9 that give me great case life. Trying to do the same with Blue Dot and 800X as I have LOTS. I found it weird because my brass always splits starting at the mouth and never that length.

 

[Jarlath]

Of course there is a reason I case gage every round that comes outta my press. It ensures the following.
1. It will fit in the chamber and be within SAMMI specs.
2. That I get to do a final inspection on brass/primers etc. (even a cursory feel can usually tell if something is odd like a crack, or high primers.)

 

[TwoTone]

I wouldn't call it big...

I wouldn't call that a big screw up.

This happens sometimes. I wouldn't worry about your load, it's most likely a defective case.

If you did accidently fire it there likely wouldn't be any problem but of course it would not be wise to do so intentionally.

If you see several more like that after firing this batch then you may have to dig deeper and look for a cause.

I doubt you'll see many more.

Good luck.

 

[B]

The "big screw up" was not inspecting the cases properly. What if that split had been bottom up? It was enough to shake my confidence in the methods I was using. It was the only one of 150 round batch like that. The empties have already been tumbled and look fine.