Hot brass + cold snow = scrap

NdIndy

NdIndy

New member
Title sums it up nicely. I did some range time yesterday with my AR, shooting factory ammo. I set up a box next to me on the table to catch brass when I can't find my catcher, but the box doesn't catch it all.

Anyway after shooting for a bit I picked up all the stray brass from the snowbank surrounding the bench and threw it in with the rest. Looking at it later I found a bunch of split cases, most at the neck but some further down. Most that were split had water/snow still on them. I'm assuming the temp difference and the rapid contraction once it hit snow took care of the damage. Fun part is all the ground brass was put in with the box brass and no way to tell them apart. So I'm scrapping the lot and writing it off as a lesson learned. I figure 60 lost pieces is cheap compared to guessing and ending up with a few with invisible fractures blowing up next to my face.
 
i don't have an answer for you but something don't sound right with that. i've picked lots of brass from the snow and never had any problems
 
I've pulled tons of my brass from the snow with no issues at all.


Now I use one of those mesh bags on my AR to catch my brass and I rarely have any hit the ground.
 
I would have to Agree, I dont think it was caused from the Snow.. Hot to Cold, NO WAY...How hot are they Loaded! How many times have they been Loaded! Etc Etc..
 
It was all factory, so I'm guessing mild and once. Straight from the box to the mag. I've put a ton of rounds down that tube and never seen an issue. Reloads I shot after that I know are loaded hotter but didn't hit the snow showed no damage.

It was the only "new" element I could see, short of assuming I got a bad lot.
 
From memory, gray box. Federal soft points? I'll take a look when I get home from work. During fire I had no indications of anything going awry. I've probably got 50 rounds left, might have to find my catcher and run them through. I've been loading for years, 1st time I've had any brass issues short of using nickel plated cases.

Reloads were relatively hot with remy core-lokts. Found out that while the brass looked fine, they group just as poorly out of my AR as they do my single shot. Only another 100 pieces or so to dump to recover the brass for some better bullets.
 
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Lots of people use the pan of water annealing method. I realize that this isn't as cool as snow but the temp reached annealing is higher also. I would have to think something else is the culprit in this case also.
 
4 to 6 months a year shooting in snow and I haven't seen a single problem.
It's got to be the lot of brass, chucking it all may be a good idea. Is it possible
it wasn't your brass but a previous shooter left it?
 
I was going to say,,, when I'm annealing my brass the temperature change, while not in those exact ends of the extremes, are still going from pretty hot to cool water rapidly and I've never had a problem as a result and I know they get hotter than when fired..

I would be more suspicious of some cheap brass formula from the manufacturer..but then, I don't believe in coincidences either... and if they are the only ones hitting the snow...you may be right..
 
I had the same thing happen this weekend. I was doing some load testing with a .243 A-bolt. I accidently ejected four rounds into the snow and three of the four cases cracked a half inch above the rim. Temp was around -10 F and the cases had been reloaded multiple times.

oh well!
 
Originally Posted By: cetI had the same thing happen this weekend. I was doing some load testing with a .243 A-bolt. I accidently ejected four rounds into the snow and three of the four cases cracked a half inch above the rim. Temp was around -10 F and the cases had been reloaded multiple times.

oh well!
You have case head separation. It has nothing to do with temperature. It is caused by resizing the brass too far and multiple loadings.

Jack
 
Originally Posted By: Jack RobertsOriginally Posted By: cetI had the same thing happen this weekend. I was doing some load testing with a .243 A-bolt. I accidently ejected four rounds into the snow and three of the four cases cracked a half inch above the rim. Temp was around -10 F and the cases had been reloaded multiple times.

oh well!
You have case head separation. It has nothing to do with temperature. It is caused by resizing the brass too far and multiple loadings.

Jack

Hit the Nail right on the Head There !!!
 
iirc, there was a thread on annealing and the chemistry of brass and copper, rapid cooling had no negative affect on the strength of the metal.
 
I was going to say the same thing about the annealing thing.

I have recovered thousands of rounds from the snow in different cal.....I would think that there is something else going on there!
 
Originally Posted By: sweatybettyiirc, there was a thread on annealing and the chemistry of brass and copper, rapid cooling had no negative affect on the strength of the metal.

Annealing has a huge affect on the strength of brass. It makes it softer and
weaker. If you anneal the case head you'll blow it up.
 
Thanks for the info Jack! I'm a new reloader and was using a bunch of brass that was given to me.

Originally Posted By: Jack RobertsOriginally Posted By: cetI had the same thing happen this weekend. I was doing some load testing with a .243 A-bolt. I accidently ejected four rounds into the snow and three of the four cases cracked a half inch above the rim. Temp was around -10 F and the cases had been reloaded multiple times.

oh well!
You have case head separation. It has nothing to do with temperature. It is caused by resizing the brass too far and multiple loadings.

Jack
 
If you shot a couple of different loads, it may be that one load was "hotter" and was ejecting beyond the box, and therefore separated itself from most of the brass in the box. And the "hotter" (or load with more firings on the brass?) load may be the ones splitting? Maybe????
 
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