Neck crack

[Zak406]

Hey guys. Does anyone know what would cause this? I loaded up some sst about four years ago. After I started shooting them I decided I didn’t like the results so I shelved them for a bit.

Today I went to shoot them so I can re use the brass.

4 out of 12 shots resulted in some sort of neck cracking.

The load I was shooting is a .308 with winchester primers and a 44 grains of imr 4064 with 150 grain hornady sst. The brass has never been fired.

The max load on this is 44.7 grains. I shoot the same load with a gmx bullet and have only had this happen one time in 4 years.

Does anyone know what would cause this?

 

[Varmintcong]

I’ve had some split on the first firing using Winchester brass in the blue bag.
Annealing them seems to have worked but I shouldn’t have had to flame new brass

 

[WeiserBucks]

I've had 10% of new Winchester brass come out of the bag with cracked necks. I'm done with them at this point.

 

[SDHNTR]

How many firings on them? You can easily work harden the brass with excessive resizing. Also, if the loaded rounds are that old you could have some cold weld issues sticking the bullets inside the brass.

 

[Zak406]

Let me clarify these are never fired nosler premium brass. Same ones as you see here.

308 Win Premium Brass (50ct)

308 Win Premium Brass (50ct)

www.nosler.com

 

[Zak406]

How many firings on them? You can easily work harden the brass with excessive resizing. Also, if the loaded rounds are that old you could have some cold weld issues sticking the bullets inside the brass.

This was the first time these were fired. Albeit they have been loaded up for 4 years.

 

[SDHNTR]

I'm betting cold weld. Put a loaded round in your seating press and seat it deeper by a few thou. If it makes an audible crack as it breaks free, that's your answer.

 

[BrBa]

I only have limited experience with Nosler brass. My batch was undersized (too short) and had the tightest primer pockets I've ever seen. This takes the cake though. Absolutely ridiculous for what they cost. I've heard Norma makes all their brass but don't know it for fact.

 

[Zak406]

I only have limited experience with Nosler brass. My batch was undersized (too short) and had the tightest primer pockets I've ever seen. This takes the cake though. Absolutely ridiculous for what they cost. I've heard Norma makes all their brass but don't know it for fact.

It’s strange I’ve had this happen on 1 or 2 in the past 4 years. I had assumed that it was from resizing one to many times. I know this is not the case on these because this was the first they’ve been fired.

Ultimately I have been happy with nosler brass but I just want to make sure I wasn’t going to blow my self up.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

I'm betting cold weld. Put a loaded round in your seating press and seat it deeper by a few thou. If it makes an audible crack as it breaks free, that's your answer.

This. I’ve pulled apart some old reloads and they were corroding from the inside.

 

[wapitibob]

This. I’ve pulled apart some old reloads and they were corroding from the inside.

same, very difficult to pull the bullets

 

[Vern400]

I seal my necks and primers. Mine crack at end of life. Sealer keeps humidity out. At firing 5 or so I start getting case mouths split on old RP brass. Humidity is high here so I just throw everything at corrosion.

 

[Zak406]

Thank you all for answering

I am leaning torward the explanation of cold weld. I had these rounds loaded up for 4 years or so and also kept them in my truck for the past few months. It would not surprise me that they were exposed to cold, some moisture, and staleness from sitting for four years. Component wise they are no different than what I shoot now other than a sst bullet vs a copper gmx. I found pin holes in few different rounds I also shot yesterday.

My new game plan will be to only load what I need for myself.

For my brother and buddy I load for I will have to load enough to keep them going to mitigate this from happening to them as well.

While I wouldn’t consider myself a reloading newb I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a vet either as a result it’s good to learn something new and I did that today.

 

[Vern400]

That's good information. I take extra steps because I often load large batches for a specific rifle. I seal the primers and bullets, stack them in a military ammo can, throw in a 100 g dessicant pack and store them until I need them.

I might take out a hundred at a time.

It's just a matter of personal preference I guess. I have not found any downside to doing this other than the time required. Since 50-year-old military surplus ammunition usually performs to specification I figure they're they know what they're doing. I don't have all their fancy stuff but I get as close as I can. It's not unusual for me to go hunting and come back wet up to the waist. I try to keep the rifle out of the swamp but sometimes it goes swimming too.

I may disassemble some rounds from 1990 and see if my method is really working, or if I have internal corrosion happening.

I can tell you for sure though... If you keep loaded rounds in your pickup truck, you need a periodically use those for fouler shots. Where I live it's easy for a truck to hit 140° in the summer. Powder can't take that for long.