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44 mag ammo question

1K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  Cbig 
#1 ·
Shot my S&W model 629 a few days ago and had trouble ejecting the spent shells - - - had to use a screwdriver to push them out. After I got them out, I discovered that three of them were split down the side.
These were my own reloads from probably about fifteen years ago. They were NOT loaded too hot. Never had an issue with this ammo before.
My question is : does ammo get " old " after it's been laying around for awhile under non-humidity controlled conditions?
So far as I know, these were once fired cases (Winchester) loaded with 4227 powder right out of the Hornaday manual.
Any coments would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Could have been bad brass. It happens. Not often, thankfully, but it happens. I've had most of that happen with Hornady brass - never Winchester - but I can see it happening.
 
#3 ·
I've had the same thing happen with old loads. I think it's stress on the brass from being under tension.
 
#4 ·
Has to have something to do with the age, and storage of the ammo. There is no way you can put to much 4227 in a .44 mag case.
 
#5 ·
Well, I dunno about brass age as I've fired 18+ year old handloads in in my 629, both standard brass and nickel plated. I'd have to say that the loads gotta be high for a split and hard extraction. The only time I've had difficult extraction in any revolver is from "hot" loads (mebbe not "hot" according to a reloading manual, but "hot" for a particular gun). How does your gun perform with factory ammo?
 
#7 ·
i doubt straight age has much to do with it. I am still shooting ww1 and ww2 surpluss... in fact with 22lr unavailable.. i'm pretty much ONLY shooting ww1 ww2 surplus. trying to use up the ww1 first.

this surplus includes pistol ammo!

I've yet to split a case that wasn't coroded, and I don't shoot coroded rounds. I pull the projectile , deactivate the brass and then toss it into the scrap pile..... so I'd call it something other than age.
 
#8 ·
Another thing to consider is how it was stored over those 15 years too.
Hot (in the glovebox), or bouncing around (again, in the glovebox), etc...

I had one spare magazine for my .380 that lived in the glovebox of my car for 6 years until I sold the car and remembered it while cleaning the poor thing out.
I took that mag to the range and had pierced primers and split cases from the first 4 rounds til I noticed it I didn't shoot the rest but I pulled them down and the W231 inside had been vibrated down into granules about half the size of regular W231 kernels with some of it a fine dust too. These were rather mild cast lead loads when I loaded them.
That was six years of driving down gravel roads and the occasional trip out to the field so I know they got the snot shook out of em.

Otherwise, the brass might've gotten brittle over 15 years but I doubt it.
Generally, loaded ammo can withstand non-humidity controlled storage for a short term (10-20 years) even if they're not sealed at the bullet and primer. I've had factory .357 ammo that my uncle bought in the early 70s and stored just in the bottom of his wooden gun cabinet in a non-A/C house for 20 years or so. It turned out just fine.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for your thoughts guys. It happens to be that this was not nickel plated brass, but I was interested to hear that nickel plated brass might have a tendancy to do that.
These cartriges were stored in my nightstand drawer, but that's another thing I've wondered about. I was interested to find out that bouncing around might have a negative effect on the powder.
Thanks to all who replied.
 
#10 ·
Nickel-plated brass will not reload as many times. New, or once- or twice-fired, should be no problem But nickel is harder than brass, so each time it expands (fired) and contracts (resized) it work hardens more, and it will fail sooner than a plain brass case.
 
#11 ·
Odd man out here, again! I have mebbe 2000 .38 special cases. 20% are nickel plated, some from early '70s and most from early '80s. I have seen no difference in reloading life. Some nickel cases have been reloaded enough to wear the plating "see through thin". I have 100+ .357 Magnum cases, some 20 years+ old and some reloaded "hot". I haven't seen any difference in case life. I have only 20 .44 Magnum nickel cases but they have been reloaded over 10 times with "hot", 265 gr bullet loads for my Puma, and they are still going strong.

So, my experience seems to say, not enough difference to bother with, if any...
 
#13 ·
IMHO the problem is because of the headstamp, Winchester. I've had several issues with Winchester brass, both rifle and pistol over the years. The latest issue was with some Winchester pistol brass with flash holes about 5/64" in diameter, barely enough of a ledge in the primer pocket to seat a primer on. An e-mail sent to Winchester got me a phone call from a customer service rep from Winchester. I explained the problem with the brass, and he wouldn't acknowledge any culpability for the product, and tried to place the onus totally on the vendor I purchased it from. I told him that if this was his stance about the product they produce, I would not buy any more of their products in the future. To this he didn't care either.
Several years back I read a piece written by Layne Simpson. I've read his articles for many years and see where he uses Winchester brass frequently in his tests. In this article he said that he had purchased some rifle brass (brand unnamed) and that after the long storage, it was pulled out for use and it had split neck and shoulders, even though it had never been fired.
 
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