Case head separated - damaged rifle!

[Lancevance]

This .

[ojisan]

How many rounds have you shot through the rifle?
If it's a lot, and there were no problems, then we can safely say that your headspace is OK.
Headspace on a .357 Mag cartridge is actually just the area of the rim, not the body of the case and since there is no shoulder to the case it is not like a bottle necked rifle cartridge.
Presuming that you rifle has successfully shot a bunch of rounds before this one, I am going with a bad case.

Case may be bad in that it had a weakness in the metal, or possibly the case was too long and overlapped the bullet when the bullet was in the throat.
When this happens, the bullet can't release from the case and rips the case in half trying to drag the front half into the bore.
IIRC there is recent info on this regarding 454 Casull bullets jumping the crimp and leading to this problem.

General rifle case separation info here:

http://blog.westernpowders.com/2015/07/case-head-separation-causes-and-cures/

[Lancevance]

How many rounds have you shot through the rifle?
If it's a lot, and there were no problems, then we can safely say that your headspace is OK.
Headspace on a .357 Mag cartridge is actually just the area of the rim, not the body of the case and since there is no shoulder to the case it is not like a bottle necked rifle cartridge.
Presuming that you rifle has successfully shot a bunch of rounds before this one, I am going with a bad case.

Case may be bad in that it had a weakness in the metal, or possibly the case was too long and overlapped the bullet when the bullet was in the throat.
When this happens, the bullet can't release from the case and rips the case in half trying to drag the front half into the bore.
IIRC there is recent info on this regarding 454 Casull bullets jumping the crimp and leading to this problem.

General rifle case separation info here:
http://blog.westernpowders.com/2015/...ses-and-cures/

[Dano3467]

Rifle manufacture & model ?

[ojisan]

I’ve shot about 500 rounds of 357 mag and 38 special, no issues. The ammo guy kept talking about how it happens all the time in ARs, but it’s a different action and different round. He said if I can somehow get the case out of the barrel it shouldn’t be damaged as brass can’t damage steel. Is this true?

Brass can't damage the steel but over-pressure sure can.

It’s a reputable ammo brand and the gun store recommend it, but I don’t like how they’re skirting around the issue. The casing they use had a HRTRs stamp on it. He also said that because the primer was pushed out it means the action was open when I fired it.

Underlined and:

Herter's is the ammo brand.
Usually good stuff but who knows what happened when it was reloaded?
The primer came out because the over-pressure gas had to go somewhere, so it split the case and leaked out around the primer, both compressing the primer skirt and usually stretching the primer pocket in the case.
The primer fell out when the action was opened enough for room for it to fall out.
As you said, and it is true, the firing pin can't reach the primer unless the action is closed on a lever gun.
(The only possible variation on this is if there was a foreign object in the breech face area when the bole was being closed, but the gun would have fired upon closing the action without pulling the trigger if this happened).

Since you have successfully fired many rounds before, I'd be calling the ammo vendor back and asking for a new barrel, or if the receiver is damaged, a new gun.

[Lancevance]

Rifle manufacture & model ?

Marlin 1894CSBL

[sofbak]

[Brad H]

If you have a brass cleaning brush that is oversize, like for a 410 or 45 ACP you may be able to use that to get the rest of the case out. Put it on your cleaning rod and push it into the chamber area where the case is. Then slowly pull back. When the brush enters the case it is compressed and grabs onto the side of the case.

I have used this on several rifle case separations when I used to wildcat cartridges.

If it comes out easy you may not have any damage to the chamber.

All that being said, I think that you should find a more experienced gunsmith to remove it and check it over. If you gunsmith did not get the rest of the cartridge out. He/she is a little suspect.

[G38xOC]

That sucks , glad u weren't hurt by this op . Hope they square you out on matter .

[Fjold]

The .357 Magnum is a rimmed cartridge that headspaces on the rim thickness. SAAMI spec is .060" and is measured from the breech face of the bolt, to the rim cut in the barrel (or cylinder in a revolver). That case separation had nothing to do with headspace.

[LynnJr]

A 357 case is a touch longer than an inch and a quarter and most of it is in your picture so there is very little of it inside the barrel.
To remove the piece that is left bend a coat hangar with a pair of pliers so it has a L shape and see if you can snag the piece.
If it is further down the barrel don't use the coat hanger use a wooden dowel inserted from the muzzle.
In looking at the brass I doubt the rifle is seriously hurt.

[Lancevance]

Thank you for the help. I have communicated this to the ammo company, and they’ll refund the ammo cost ($600) and cost of fixing the rifle. I’m glad they’re taking responsibility, even though it didn’t come easily.

[ojisan]

Thanx for the update.
Good to hear that they will take care of it.

[unclerandy]

cool

[ar15barrels]

I’ve shot about 500 rounds of 357 mag and 38 special, no issues. The ammo guy kept talking about how it happens all the time in ARs, but it’s a different action and different round. He said if I can somehow get the case out of the barrel it shouldn’t be damaged as brass can’t damage steel. Is this true?

It’s a reputable ammo brand and the gun store recommend it, but I don’t like how they’re skirting around the issue. The casing they use had a HRTRs stamp on it. He also said that because the primer was pushed out it means the action was open when I fired it.

Brass won't damage steel.
High pressure contained WITHIN brass can though.
High pressure is an ammo problem when 500 other rounds have had no such problems.

There is NO evidence shown on the back half of your case of the gun having fired out of battery.
There IS evidence on that primer of extremely high pressure.

Since it's a reload, my bet is on too much powder.
If the gun has no obvious damage and still passes a headspace check, it's most likely completely safe to continue firing once the remaining piece of the case is removed from the chamber.