OOB discharge due to casehead separation

[arch stanton]

is that amerc ammo out of FL? Cannot quite make out the head stamp.

Sure looks like it from the picture

 

[amphibian]

is that amerc ammo out of FL? Cannot quite make out the head stamp.

Yes, but it is one of my reloads. Have no idea how many times it was reloaded and I do use range pick up brass.

 

[chili17]

Bought some Amerc 9, 45 and 32 around 20yrs ago and it was all garbage. 45 Was the worst. Bullets were around .449 and the case mouths were thicker to make up the difference.

 

[amphibian]

Bought some Amerc 9, 45 and 32 around 20yrs ago and it was all garbage. 45 Was the worst. Bullets were around .449 and the case mouths were thicker to make up the difference.

I never bought any loaded Amerc ammo....but obviously used the brass...at least once..lol

 

[Slowmo]

I had some A Merc brass where the primers would just fall out.

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

So coincidentally this happened to me this past Sunday:
I've had a few like this over the past 30+ years of reloading. Not enough to make me change my processes.

In engineering, factors of safety are calculated on the basis of a certain allowable number of failures per million events.
Like when they calculate the allowable load on a structural steel bolt, they allow for 1 bolted connection failure in 6 million bolted connections.

When I look at this picture of this case failure, the number of times that I am willing to have this happen when I am shooting is ZERO. No effing way. Screw that noise.

Your brass empties from your factory ammo are worth about $50 per thousand. That's what you can sell it for on gunbroker.

Let's say you went on the low side and shot it 5 times and then dumped it in the brass bucket.
Okay, that's 5,000 loads for $50 = 1 cent per load. That means that your brass cost per 100 rounds is $1.00.

Now let's say you go the opposite direction - you reload it until you lose it in the weeds or whatever, say 50 loads.
Your brass cost per 100 reloads is now 10 cents.

That's the spread in price we are talking about here - 90 cents per 100 rounds. Call it a dollar.
I'm willing to pay a dollar per 100 rounds to never have case failure happen.

But even at that, it's a moot point because I have a free lifetime supply. I have about 40,000 empties that I didn't pay a penny for. (You know I didn't pay a penny, because there is no such thing as a US penny.)

So that's my next question: do you guys find yourself running out of 9mm brass? I run low on 45acp from time to time, but I don't think I've ever purchased 9mm brass. There always seems to be some way for me to scrounge it, like other people throwing it out or me shooting factory ammo.

 

[Garrett]

When I look at this picture of this case failure, the number of times that I am willing to have this happen when I am shooting is ZERO. No effing way. Screw that noise.

Ok, you have a low tolerance for risk. I can understand that.

But in the same breath you say:

...but I don't think I've ever purchased 9mm brass. There always seems to be some way for me to scrounge it, like other people throwing it out or me shooting factory ammo.

You limit the number of rounds fired in your 9mm brass. But you start with scrounged brass of unknown and potentially dubious origin, whether purchased as "once fired" (as used in your cost comparison) or recovered from the range. There seems to be a fallacy to your logic.

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

Ok, you have a low tolerance for risk. I can understand that.

But in the same breath you say:


You limit the number of rounds fired in your 9mm brass. But you start with scrounged brass of unknown and potentially dubious origin, whether purchased as "once fired" (as used in your cost comparison) or recovered from the range. There seems to be a fallacy to your logic.

I have a low tolerance for pointless risk. Reloading brass 25 times so I can save one dollar seems pointless to me.

And I'm not even paying the $1, because I never pay for 9mm brass. The actual savings from reloading it 100 times is a grand total of $0.00. That is the very definition of "pointless."

I didn't really explain my reloading modus operandi in detail, because I didn't figure anyone would care.

I get a lot of 9mm and 45 brass for free. I cannot remember having ever purchased brass for those calibers.

I only use range brass for my UZI and Thompson. I reload the 9mm just one time. I will occasionally pick up the range brass 45s and reload them a couple times, but mostly I don't.

For 9mm handguns, I reload empties from my factory ammo 5 times. But I mostly shoot factory ammo from handguns, because you can buy really good quality bulk ammo like speer lawman for $23 per hundred. And my reloads cost around $17, so why even bother reloading 50 or 100 rounds?

I do reload for my wheel guns, because that ammo is expensive AF. And I reload revolver brass at least 10 times.

I mostly shoot my UZI and Thompson at a monthly match, so my brass gets mixed in with 5 or 10 other guys, and I don't ask for my share after the match, because it's mixed in with everyone else's skanky, ancient brass.

I don't own a 45 handgun. I prefer revolvers for heavy bullets.

Now you know the whole story. An epic tale to be passed down from generation to generation.

 

[amphibian]

I have a low tolerance for pointless risk. Reloading brass 25 times so I can save one dollar seems pointless to me.

I think for some of us it isn't pointless. I have been reloading since I was 14 and I'm a lot older now. The case head separation that happened to me last weekend was the most dramatic that has happened to me personally. I would say it has happened to me less than 5 times ever. I think for some of us we are aren't going to waste our time keeping track of how many times we reload brass for what seems to us a minimal risk at these pressures.

Now 556 or other rifle calibers, yeah I keep track of that but for pistol caliber, I don't bother.

As mentioned in the post, that was the most dramatic but there was zero damage, nothing broke and nobody got hurt and after prying the case out of the chamber went back to dumping mags.

All that said, like you I leave my brass at the SMG matches as it is too much of a hassle to use brass catcher for a match. So that brass is lost and I get some once fired from an LE range but if I have time, I won't hesitate to pick up good looking brass at my local range. Of course if it is gnarly looking I don't bother.

 

[chili17]

FWIW i have seen way more catastrophic failures with American factory ammo than reloads