Hairline cracks in case necks - Question

[RAG]

My brother purchased 500 pieces of Lapua .223 brass about 8 years ago, only to find out it wasn't actually Lapua Brass. After one firing, the necks on about 40% of the pieces have a small hairline crack in the middle of the neck...to varying degrees; sometimes you can see light through the crack if you hold it up to the sky. The cracks never run to the end of the case...usually in the middle of the neck (runninig lenghwise) and usually about 1/4 - 1/3 the lenght of the neck. Can these cased be fired safely? My other concern is that the gasses and carbon leaking out through the crack will dirty the chamber. He was thinking he would sort through them and discard the cases with a clearly "open" crack.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

With a batch like that I would discard the entire set. 223 brass is easy to get just go to a large range and spend the day picking up 223 brass during cold ranges. I used to do that when I was in the states to pay for gas to the range and back.

 

[fdshuster]

Certainly NOT safe to fire, and an example of brass that is of no value. Someone used it, approx. 10 to 14 loadings, saw that it was useless & decided to sell it. Nice guy!

This is normal for brass fired in a factory chamber: approx. 10 to 14 loadings (with the 223) until splits in the case necks begin from the work hardening of the case necks.

An example of why it's not a good idea to buy used brass. Main reason? You have no idea what the history is of that brass.

We try to save pennies and end up spending dollars. High quality brass ( especially 223) is available, new at reasonable prices. Don't buy somebody else's junk.

 

[STS]

What was the headstamp on the brass? There should have been a clue that the brass was not Lapua. It is worthless at this point excluding scrap value.

 

[Webster]

I agree with everyone else. Get rid of the brass. 223 once fired is the easiest brass to pick up on the ground at a rifle range . Just get cases that look clean and new.

 

[RStewart]

I concur with everyone else. Brass with neck splits is not something you want to reload.

 

[SS427]

I've had new Winchester .22-250 brass split like that on the first firing. I'd say about 30% of them split. I discarded those but shot the other ones again. Didn't get any more splits, but only fired them one or two more times then sold the gun. It was as if they were not annealed at the factory.

 

[RAG]

Based on the responses, not sure how many people read my post - it's once-fired Lapua-stamped brass...he purchased when Lapua was outsourcing "their" brass.

I'm not a fan of random range brass due to the inconsistency...and I doubt my brother is (which is why he bought Lapua). Fortunately, the vender said they would replace it! Nevertheless, I'm with Otter in that we can probably shoot the the unsplit ones...I'll tell him to grab a few of the unpslit pieces and see how many fireings he gets before they split...maybe the other brass is fine.

Crazy thing is...they were clearly annealed at the factor and "look" just like Lapuas...except the give-away is that the brass isn't quite as thick as the lapua .223 or 222 brass.

Thanks!

 

[Minesweeper3433]

Does Lapua still outsource their 223 brass? I have a friend that told me they do and I always thought that was weird. I never found anything online about this but then again I didn't look very hard as I sold my only 100 pieces to a forum member here. I shoot only range pick up 223 now. I save the hornady range pick up for my good loads and use the PPU and PMC brass for bulk shooting. I dont have a primer pocket swage so I just sell all the crimped brass at gunshows for 2.50 a hundred and I can sell them to the first table I come across usually at that price. It pays for gas and entry fees.

 

[Forum Boss]

Does Lapua still outsource their 223 brass?

No. Lapua now produces its own .223 rem brass.

 

[RAG]

Oddly, the outsourced-Lapua brass still had very good tolerances and consistency...much better than Rem or Win brass for sure, so I wonder if they actually used Lapua's equipment to make the brass possibly. Only they probably lacked the testing controls or something. The other baffling part is that I bought a couple hundred pieces of out-sourced .223 Brass around the same time had have used in my .223 Ackley for quite a few firings (4 or 5 maybe) with no split necks, yet in my Brother's Rem 700 factory .223, he got a ton of split necks on the first firing. I checked the neck, and the brass movement is not excessinve for a factory chamber (only about .0045 on average) after firing.

 

[robbor]

I have seen guys reload military brass and had at least 1/4 of the cases it split on the first reloading. Im not sure about properly annealed brass but stress and time affect brass. I was playing and resized/reformed some 243 once fired range brass down to 22-250 alot of the cases were not perfect but after sitting in my garage every neck split open like a flower.

 

[lpreddick]

brass will "age" even if not fired. annealed brass after time hardens just like work hardened. split necks suggest work hardened or possibly a chamber neck that is too large in diameter, a bad combination if both exist...measure loaded neck and fired neck. what is acceptable? is .003-.005 in too much? my chambers are snug and when my necks split, it's time to anneal. one should consider annealing all range brass before reloading. totally agree on buying good quality brass, i spend a lot having quality rifles made and can't see putting questionable brass in them.

 

[RAG]

Ahhh,...maybe age could have something to do with it. Tolerances were not bad at all...I measured. I forget exact, but I recall the fired cases were only .003 wider at the neck than loaded...suggesting an approximate .004 difference. The brass was fired within 1 year of purchase, but have sat in MTM boxes for the last 6 or 7 years since. But I don't think they split over time, as you can see black burn marks/leakes on the outside of the cracks. Just a faulty lot I guess.

 

[robbor]

Lots n lots of variables. I have seen factory chambers where fired brass increases about .009 over a loaded round. then if you using a conventional die, my dies resize about .007 under a loaded round before the expander opens them up again. Thats why ive been going to forster and having the necks honed out and not using expanders. And i though you said the brass was purchased once fired? I still dont see cracks formong after the first reloading but just giving you some ideas of what can and does go on sometimes.

 

[RAG]

I agree regarding the over-sizing of the brass....most of my guns have custom dies matched to custom reamers to ensure a perfect fit, but I do have a couple "standard" cartridges and dies, in which I "sort" through dies until I find one that's a good fit. Oddly, in this case I actually loaded the ammo for my brother...I simply opened the boxes of lapua brass, primed, charged and loaded. Splits occured upon first priming. Really must have been a bad "mixture" of metal/brass...only plausible explanation.

 

[Webster]

Where did you get the idea that brass hardens from just sitting around with time? They make brass hardness standards for calibrating hardness testers that are accurate to 1 hardness unit. The hardness doesn't change with time. I have have been doing metallurgical failure analysis for 45 years.

 

[M-61]

Does Lapua still outsource their 223 brass?

No. Lapua now produces its own .223 rem brass.

Does this statement "...now produces...." mean at some time Lapua DID outsource their brass manufacturing? If so is there any way to determine which is theirs and which is (or was) outsourced?

 

[M-61]

Does Lapua still outsource their 223 brass?

No. Lapua now produces its own .223 rem brass.

Does this statement "...now produces...." mean at some time Lapua DID outsource their brass manufacturing? If so is there any way to determine which is theirs and which is (or was) outsourced?

I am still wondering if Lapua did outsource their brass at some time?

 

[wboggs]

I have had exactly the cracks you describe on the second reload of Winchester .300WSM nickel
plated brass. First firing was the factory load. No problems at all with brass cases loaded near max for 4-5 loads.
Wonder if others have had problems with nickel plated cases.