My 1st KaBoom (case head separation)

[shoebox56]

Mostly importantly, someone may be able to learn something from this. So, here's where you can educate a guy that doesn't own a glock. I know you can tell a glock fired brass from the primer strike. But why are "glocked" brass potentially bad?

Early Glocks had out of spec chambers that caused bulging near the head... that's the best I will explain it..

Here's from Lee Precision site for their Bulge Buster die set:

Glock Cases: We do not recommend "fixing" cases fired in pistols with unsupported chambers, because there is no way to make them safe once they have bulged. The case wall is thinned where it bulges, and resizing the outside of the case back down to the correct diameter does not restore the case back to its original thickness. If this case is fired in a pistol with an unsupported chamber again, and this thinned section of brass happens to line up with the unsupported part of the chamber, there is a high probability that the case will rupture.

[hermosabeach]

I thought KB was Ka-Boom

Gun blows up...

Interesting video... What was the symptom when you shot it... How did you know something was wrong vs clearing a type 2?

[slamfire1]

I remember looking at posts, and early Glocks had too much cartridge case protrusion. There are lots of pictures out there showing the breech end of the barrels allowed too much of the case head to stick out. Cases ruptured easily.

However, it is my recollection, cases looked like this



or this:





Which did this:



The most common themes to these blowups are Glocks and titegroup. Titegroup is such a fast burning powder, pressures spike quickly with little changes in components or seating depth.

[RookieShooter]

If you need a gauge for that then you should not be reloading.

I use it all the time to double check on the brass.

[J-cat]

And how exactly does a case gauge show you case defects? For your information, case defects are detected by looking at the case with your eye in a well lit room. The case will show differences in shine, lines, ripples, cracks, holes, etc. you miss all that by plunking rounds into a case gauge and calling it good. Then you have a KB and go on a symathy tour.

[cindynles]

I thought KB was Ka-Boom

Gun blows up...

Interesting video... What was the symptom when you shot it... How did you know something was wrong vs clearing a type 2?

I felt some of the gas on my hands and the slide locked back (the slide doesn't lock back on the last shot with this gun). I looked down and saw the ruptured case in the breach.

[liber]

Thanks for the advice, but considering I've successfully re-loaded and fired 75,000+ pistol rounds (10,000 in this STI alone) without an issue until this one, I believe I know what I'm doing (or maybe I'm just incredibly lucky and I should go buy a lottery ticket).

Not to worry, you had the gonads to post this thread to begin with, and some others might learn from what comes out of it, I know I've gleaned a couple things from it already.

There is some irony to J-Cat, he recently purported that he spends 99% of his time on calguns correcting people that don't know what they're talking about in regard to reloading. The reality is that the 99% is mostly rhetoric questions that often don't do much more than poke fun at people. Sometimes people should take a step back and look at their posts before hitting the send button. Rhetoric does little to help the forum, IMO.

You've done little if anything wrong, and I'd say that 1:75k for having a case separation is not bad.

As someone fairly new to reloading, I learn from others experiences like these and try to use them to my advantage so I don't make similar mistakes.

Again, thanks for sharing this. It takes more gonads to post a mistake like this than it does to poke rhetoric at that person and pick his post apart.

[CSACANNONEER]

Sometimes scat just happens. I've had top shelf factory ammo rupture more often than reloads.

[J-cat]

Not to worry, you had the gonads to post this thread to begin with, and some others might learn from what comes out of it, I know I've gleaned a couple things from it already.

There is some irony to J-Cat, he recently purported that he spends 99% of his time on calguns correcting people that don't know what they're talking about in regard to reloading. The reality is that the 99% is mostly rhetoric questions that often don't do much more than poke fun at people. Sometimes people should take a step back and look at their posts before hitting the send button. Rhetoric does little to help the forum, IMO.

You've done little if anything wrong, and I'd say that 1:75k for having a case separation is not bad.

As someone fairly new to reloading, I learn from others experiences like these and try to use them to my advantage so I don't make similar mistakes.

Again, thanks for sharing this. It takes more gonads to post a mistake like this than it does to poke rhetoric at that person and pick his post apart.

More form over substance.

You are a noob yet you are comfortable saying that the OP did little to nothing wrong. Except that he assumed his cases were good and failed to check them for defects. And that error resulted in case failure.

What's troubling is that he will continue to load as usual, plunking his rounds through the case gauge, and hoping for the best. And you'll follow, plunking rounds through your case gauge, taking some sick pleasure in cursing my name.

My hope is you acquire some critical thinking skills and mechanical ability so you don't hurt yourself or others.

[hermosabeach]

For those who hunt, bringing the tool to remove a case where the head seperated is common.

I have a bunch of the tools for different rifle calibers...

Brass eventually fails. It hardens from resizing...

I am not sure you could spot a case that had been fired too many times....

The gun did not blow up
It fired and extracted just the case head

If you speak with a transparent commercial reloader, they all acknowledge that replacing guns due to KBs is part of the cost of doing business.

Once brass is tumbled and resized, it is difficult to gauge how many times this has happened...


My dad would track each box of rifle ammo and retire it after a certain number of reloads...

Shotgun hulls were marked with Roman numerals with a sharpie so he knew how many times they had been reloaded. Other reload shotgun hulls until the petals fail to hold a crimp.




OP- thanks for sharing the story and video

[liber]

You are a noob yet you are comfortable saying that the OP did little to nothing wrong. Except that he assumed his cases were good and failed to check them for defects. And that error resulted in case failure.

He didn't say that, you've assumed that because he didn't claim to visually inspect them, that he plunks them through his case gauge in the dark.

What's troubling is that he will continue to load as usual, plunking his rounds through the case gauge, and hoping for the best. And you'll follow, plunking rounds through your case gauge, taking some sick pleasure in cursing my name.

And you have nothing to show what I do even lines up with what he does. You're just blowing air at this point trying to make a point that he was actually doing something wrong.

I visually inspect each of my loads, and that goes for checking the primer as well as inspecting the cases before and after they are reloaded. Sure, there is still a possibility that a bad case can get through my process, but I'm learning as I go and learning more things to inspect each time I reload.

My hope is you acquire some critical thinking skills and mechanical ability so you don't hurt yourself or others.

My hope is that you will be less rhetoric and do less nit picking on what you believe someone did just because they didn't state things the way you wanted. I believe you have much to share, but the way you go about sharing is not a very friendly way that you do it.

Speaking for myself, if I make a mistake I'm the only one to blame. I come to this forum to learn, not to be put down by people like yourself. If you get pleasure in the rhetoric you often post, so be it. Have a nice afternoon!

[J-cat]

He did not say that. He said everything else he did but that. The fact you inspect your brass gives me hope. Good for you! Now, less form and more substance

[sofbak]

^^^^

Just doing what he does best with 99% of his time. ...

Reloading is an art form much like religion is a faith-based community of like opinions. And everyone has an opinion.

[area51]

I gave up loading 40....I'll load 10mm any day of the week over the 40. And it's a hell of lot more fund to shoot Give it a try with some #9 and some Longshot and you'll find out why...

[JDay]

Sometimes a bulge is an indicator of a weak spot and a potential failure (at least it is in rifle brass).

All Glock brass has a bulge due to the partially unsupported chamber. They won't reliably function with a fully supported chamber. That's perfection for you.

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