New Starline Nickel plated brass/strange problem

[Patriot]

I have had this happen before on new brass that wasn't deburred/chamfered at all or fully. This is almost always the cause of something like this.

If the case has burrs or "teeth" at the mouth from the cutting process, these will bite into the jacket during crimping. It will be next to impossible to remove the jacket as it is being gripped by the case mouth burrs.

You really have to inspect new brass and chamfer the inside of the case mouth well to get all of those burrs off fully.

[rgold1963]

Would the results of firing a round like this be catastrophic?

[Patriot]

Would the results of firing a round like this be catastrophic?

Depends on how strong the bite is. Starline brass comes with the following warning, which is also on Midway's website "To ensure a round case mouth, cases must be sized (or have the expander ball of the sizing die run through case neck) and deburred/Chamfered prior to loading." I made this error when I first started reloading, and thankfully never fired my first batch of 50 after I figured this out.

[The_Shadow]

That is wild!  The bullet should not come apart like that, they must have had an had an issue.  The core didn't get swedged properly.  Hornady has a inter ring to lock the cores inside, either the ring is missing in the jacket or the core didn't get struck to fill the jacket out.


How was the bullet weight on those? Were they the proper weight?

[TheDuke]

I agree with Grim Reaper on this. My son just got started reloading and i gave him my old Dillon and some supplies. He didn't listen to me and forgot to chamferr the inside of the case mouth. I went to pull a bullet to check his powder charge and as hard as i tried i couldn't get that bullet out. This was a Montana gold FMJ so no hole for the lead to come out. I imagine if the mouth is gripping the jacket with a strong crimp that the lead could come out with enoigh hits of the kinetic puller. If there are enough burrs on the case mouth they will dig into the jacket and bite like a bear trap when crimped

[Steve4102]

  Might be a good idea to contact Hornady about this.  They may want to know and may want those bullets back for examination.

[rgold1963]

Comparing the regular and the nickel side by side, the mounts of the cases look identical and equally smooth. They measure exactly the same also. I loaded one of the nickel cases with a Nosler 150gr bullet and it did take more force than usual to get it out but it came out in one piece and there are only very slight rub marks on the jacket. No deep gouges or signs of heavy burs(which of course I would have been able to see inside the mouth)
I have some other caliber XTP's that just came in with these 10mm's so when I switch the press over to the next caliber, I will have to check and see if the core will come out on them as well.

[gandog56]

You don't like your nickel plates I'll buy them off you. I love them!

[rgold1963]

You don't like your nickel plates I'll buy them off you. I love them!

I have plenty of other bullets I can load these with I was just trying to find out what might cause this issue with the XTP's. As soon as I have time I plan on loading some 150gr and possibly some 135's and running them over the chronograph along side the same bullets in regular brass cases to see if there is any difference from the added neck tension the nickel seems to have.

Ron

[REDLINE]

1st time I've seen it.  For me at least it sure is a strange sight when never seeing it before.

[The Earl o Sammich]

This was posted over on the 1911 forum and it was postulated that the bullets are designed to have the force going into the target on the front of the bullet and not designed to have the "backwards" force exerted on them from a kinetic hammer.  I believe that has merit and in conjunction with what Grim suggests about the nickel brass being tougher and having more of a bite I guess this doesn't seem so surprising.

[rgold1963]

I am going to try and get one of the jackets out but I will probably have to cut it out with a dremel. I imagine the base of the jacket is quite thick and solid so it's obviously not going to open up like the nose of the bullet which is exactly what we want.
I had a few minutes to work on this more today and I think I am going to adjust the powder die to bell the nickel case a bit more than the brass and see if that helps the situation. It doesn't appear to get quite as wide of a bell as the brass cases do which is what the powder die is set for right now.

Ron

[DM1906]

If you're trying to save the brass, stick a primer in it and fire it (in a SAFE direction). It should exit the barrel, but it's easy enough to poke it out with a cleaning rod if it doesn't.

[rgold1963]

I loaded some of the 200gr XTP's into the brass Starline I have and just tested them. 8.6gr of power pistol, 1.260 OAL shot out of a G20 with a 6" KKM barrel. I only shot 5 rounds but the avg velocity is 1287 fps. The brass looks fine with no signs of over pressure at all. I still haven't decided if I will load any of these with the nickel cases or not. I might save the nickel for the 150 and 135gr Noslers I have. They are much shorter and don't seem to stick in the case nearly as much.
I am going to load more of the 200gr XTP's and see how they group later this week. When testing velocity I never bother to set up a target as I am more concerned with working up the load/safety.
If they do group well, this would be a great hunting load as well as an SD load. Considerably more energy than any .45acp load at any weight.


Ron

[REDLINE]

Thanks for the info.  What primers did you use?