Split cases on a 460 Rowland

wayupnorth

wayupnorth

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
Northern Alberta
Had my 460 Rowland conversion out at the range with some Buffalo Bore ammo and had 1 brass get ripped in half leaving half in the chamber, once I got it out I checked the round before and noticed it was cracked in half as well.
Anyone have any ideas as to why this would be happening?

This is a Norinco 1911 conversion with an authentic Rowland 460 kit (so barrel, comp and super heavy spring) shooting some spicy Buffalo Bore bear defence rounds.

I’ll upload a few pics
 
Pics
raWBr3J.jpg

5S4k5ZD.jpg

W4pIMNq.jpg
 
The one that was ripped right in half was ripped at the same spot, the half left in the chamber was not ‘stuck’ in, 1 pass with a bore snake took it right out.
 
Nice line up. I'm in lust with that 10mm Ruger in the middle, and considered a Rowland conversion for one of my Norc's back when but never made the jump. If I had to guess, I'd look at the chamber allowances first. As you're shooting BB (spicy), I'm assuming that the expansion of the brass is on the extreme end, and is perhaps sticking to a rough or tight chamber. The extractor and inertia imparted on the slide is doing the rest?
 
OP can you give us more context? Have you shot other ammo in this gun without issues? Did recoil seem "normal" if you have shot other loads?
 
Painkillers said:
... If I had to guess, I'd look at the chamber allowances first. As you're shooting BB (spicy), I'm assuming that the expansion of the brass is on the extreme end, and is perhaps sticking to a rough or tight chamber. The extractor and inertia imparted on the slide is doing the rest?
Click to expand...

My gut reaction as well.
 
Painkillers said:
Nice line up. I'm in lust with that 10mm Ruger in the middle, and considered a Rowland conversion for one of my Norc's back when but never made the jump. If I had to guess, I'd look at the chamber allowances first. As you're shooting BB (spicy), I'm assuming that the expansion of the brass is on the extreme end, and is perhaps sticking to a rough or tight chamber. The extractor and inertia imparted on the slide is doing the rest?
Click to expand...

An important clue - it looks like the separations are right where the bottom of the seated bullet would be.

I think that if the extractor was contributing to the separation you'd see evidence of that on the rims, but I agree that it could be a tight/"sticky" chamber, and the separation possibly occurs upon firing when the cartridge expands at the same time as the bullet begins its exit from the cartridge.
 
new brass and it split on first firing = bad brass

its too hard and brittle or you have a bad chamber ........ but if you have shot and reloaded other rounds, no problem = bad brass
 
the stuff about this gun and ammo.
put this gun together years ago but have not really shot it much.
the Norinco was brand new when I put the conversion on it.
the conversion kit is an authentic Rowland brand kit from the US.
until today I have only shot a handful of 45 through the gun to function test it.
the ammo used was or is brand new Buffalo Bore ammo and was the first 460 ammo to run through this gun.
actually, that might not be true now that I think about it.... i have some Rowland ammo that I got when I bought the conversion I think I've run a mag or 2 of that through the gun and never noticed any issues on the brass.

I'm assuming its a brass / ammo issue but I wasn't sure because both rounds failed at the same point which is where I am guessing the bullet is seated down too.

so are we thinking too tight of chamber? sticky chamber?
to fix???? a good cleaning?
 
wayupnorth said:
the stuff about this gun and ammo.
put this gun together years ago but have not really shot it much.
the Norinco was brand new when I put the conversion on it.
the conversion kit is an authentic Rowland brand kit from the US.
until today I have only shot a handful of 45 through the gun to function test it.
the ammo used was or is brand new Buffalo Bore ammo and was the first 460 ammo to run through this gun.
actually, that might not be true now that I think about it.... i have some Rowland ammo that I got when I bought the conversion I think I've run a mag or 2 of that through the gun and never noticed any issues on the brass.

I'm assuming its a brass / ammo issue but I wasn't sure because both rounds failed at the same point which is where I am guessing the bullet is seated down too.

so are we thinking too tight of chamber? sticky chamber?
to fix???? a good cleaning?
Click to expand...

If the chamber is tight, you will have to remove material. A cleaning won't do that. You'd probably even be wasting your time with a jewelers polishing rouge? I think the first step is to accurately measure the chamber to learn if it is tight.

If you have a rough chamber, the brass will show it, and you should be able to see machining marks or the like in the chamber itself. Think of a bolt and nut. If your chamber is scored it will act as threads in a nut. On firing, the pressure forces the soft brass into that threading (voila, instant bolt). The extractor and slide inertia attempts to pull the bolt out of the nut, and something has to give.

If it were mine, I'd contact the seller of the conversion kit, explain what's going on and ask them for some machining specs and how they would recommend measuring the chamber. They will invariably do 1 of 2 things. 1) they will exchange your barrel for a known good one, or 2) they will give you the specs and how they wish you to measure the chamber. (probably slug it?)
 
Last edited:
I too converted a Norc. It came with 300 pieces of Starline brass. No problems of any kind.

I would try some different ammo before getting too concerned. It might be bad ammo. If it is, Buffalo will already have heard about it from others. Phone them, with the lot number.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom