what in the world happened here? Case seperation in 45-110 Sharps...

[Roy Cobb]

What do you suppose happened here?
I have never before had this kind of case seperation before.
I have experienced seperations wherein the neck of the case
was left in the chamber on a military rifle.
and I have seen case head seps but never anything where the
case appears to be eroded like this....
Your thoughts? The bullet is the one on the left
45-110, Lee 459-500-3R home brew lube on 85 grains of 777
the round had normal recoil, the shot was dead accurate
hitting exact point of aim, no crimp, .030" Veg Wad
the same case had been used for the previous shot with no harm done. :?

[Ray Newman]

Just a hunch: did the separation occur near or where the wad is/was located?

If so, how well do you clean your cases?  There was a thread on this topic a while back on Shooter’s & some reported that unless your cases are surgically clean, there is a chance of the wad griping on the BP fouling & the case then separates.

You said that “the same case had been used for the previous shot with no harm done.”

Does this mean that you were using the same case & reloading it @ the bench? IF that is the case, then I would definitely re-examine your case cleaning technique.

Others have also reported that a damp/wet chamber can lead to separations.

[Roy Cobb]

I cleaned it the same as usual, vinegar and water, then rinse and dry

the only thing I didn't do was tumble it over night that just serves to make em shiny but I did use a bore brush (Nylon one) to scrub it a bit in the juice....

inside the case was clean, and dry the chamber was dry too.

[John Traveler]

I hope I'm not adding to the confusion, Roy, but here goes:

I've experienced a couple case ruptures just like you described when firing M1 .30 Carbine and .223 Remington.

Both case mouths tore off, and in the .223 (Ruger Mini-14), shreds of brass went up the chamber next to the throat.

In the .30 M1 Carbine, the case mouth was visibly stretched, and the brass was paper thin and uneven, just like yours.

A gunsmith examined the cases and pronounced that the cartridge cases were too long.  Not long enough to prevent chambering and firing, but just long enough that the semi-auto actions slammed the bolt shut, and firing extruded the brass as shown.

[Sharpsman]

The case on the right looks like it is curved inward at the top. Jus maybe it be one o dem "optical conclusions" suggestin from da photo!

I'd bet a 2$ bill....that case was too long causing the bullet to bind and with a slightly weaked area......"THAR SHE BLOWS!"

[Lead pot]

Boy that picture took a long time to load :grin:
Roy that happened to me with my 120.I put a nice ring in the chamber.
I pulled the rest of the cases to see what might have caused it.I was using .250 compression with 1f GOEX,the load shot good and I dont know how many rounds I shot with that load,I stoped keeping track after 1200 or so rounds.After looking at the empty cases I found some hard carbon on the side walls on a few cases,so I pritty much decided that was the cause.I scratched my head and thinking what might have been the cause.
With this rifle I used Jacked bullets I swage with a 1/8"lube cooky under the bullet.This Pedersoli rifle had a long throat so the bullets worked good they did not have a step ogive so I was able to seat them out.This rifle just did'nt shoot the cast bullets.
In my case the case that seperated wdnt down the barrel with the gullet and I found it down range about 150 yds flat as a sheet of paper with the rifling ingraved on the case.
I think in my case it was a combination of a dirty case which seperated the case and the lube wad with the extra pressure that build up in the chamber that the lube wad acted like a hydrolic and run the chamber.I was using Bell cases and the pease I found down range was .005" thick so I cut two more cases open and found one that was only .004 thick about 1" back from the case mouth.I think when you draw a case out that long you will get some thin spot in them.
But with black powder you have to make sure the case is clean inside and out you dont want to leave any lube on the outside(bullet lube or sizing lube)or the case will stretch.I wash my cases in soapy water in a 1lb coffee can,it fits in my case cleaner and let vibrate for a few minutes and the cases are clean.Be sure you put the lid on HI-HI.
Lp.