[myflatline]

Hi All, New to the MO forum, looks like there is a great deal of info here.

I searched but could not find my problem.

Recently ( last 3 mo ) I have started to split some of my shell casings up by the neck. Not all. Started with 3 out of 20 in Dec., 2 out of 7 in Jan. and 3 out of 6 last Sunday. I bought this 336 30-30 new in '80 have been shooting the Winchester Silver tip 170 gr. ( not ballstic tip ) for as long as they've been out with great success and never an issue until now.

Anybody have an idea what might cause this to start happening?

Thanks and glad to be on board

Jim

 

[yukondog]

First Jim welcome the sight, have you tried any other brands of bullets? If not try another box of a diferent brand and see if it still does it, I'm shure some of the reloading/gunsmith guru's will chime in here soon.

 

[me]

these factory load or reload. if reload could be time to aneil case.

 

[myflatline]

All factory loads, I bought all the Winchester ST's I could find. I haven't shot any other brand in years but may have to try something else

 

[janott]

I would Mic the neck of a fired case and compare that measurement to an unfired case which should be around .331"

 

[Templar]

I had this happen to me with Sellier & Bellot. Some old lot that I bought from one hunter. 2 out of 3 cases split at the neck. I have several boxes lying around now that I am afraid to shoot. I think I will take them apart, salvage some parts and throw the cases in trash where they belong. I shot new Remington and Hornady lot, no issue at all. Try some other brands, especially Remington and Hornady and see what happens. Hornady ammo is loaded hotter so your POI will be different though.

 

[dpe.ahoy]

If it never happened before, I would say it's the brass. How old is the ammo? Use another brand of brass, should have no issues then, if you do, time to seek out a gunsmith. DP

 

[janott]

If it's a brass issue then all that needs to be done is to anneal the case necks and reload.

 

[CalvinMD]

I also had the Sellier&Bellots split with a bit of regularity in my 6.5x55 Swede...the cases appeared as though they were annealed at the necks from the factory ...no matter..they still split and I stopped buying them

 

[Tele-Caster]

Any chance that some of these rounds with split necks spent time in a tanned leather cartridge carrier loop? Any chance that you carried them in leather cartridge carrier loops in damp weather without shooting them? Are you storing them in the same place you keep a loose lidded bottle of Sweet's 7.62 bore cleaner? Any chance that you might have run the rounds through a chamber damp with Sweets without shooting them, i.e., unloading?

Reason for this is that I've had split necks on .30-30 rounds fired from my Marlin on occassion. The lesson I learned is that cartridge brass doesn't react well with tanned leather or ammonia.

T-C

 

[myflatline]

Thanks all for your input. I'm going to try some new ammo and also take the other 336 and run some Win ST's through it.

I don't think any of the ammo is more than 5yrs old at the most and is stored in a safe. Will check with a mic

Thanks again
Jim

 

[Templar]

Keep us in the loop on this. I fixed the problem by avoiding Sellier & Bellot. I am curious if switching to another brand will work for you or is it really your 336 that's the culprit.

 

[zerbe]

I wonder if you got your hands on a lot of Win STs that were loaded a little hotter than they should have been. Like others have mentioned, try a different brand and/or some of your existing ammo from a different lot.

 

[myflatline]

Will try and go this weekend and I'll keep everyone posted
Again thanks for the input

 

[hub]

This split neck think happened with me as well. It was also with win silvertips back when my 336w was new. They were 150,s as i recall. My reloads worked just fine. I still have know idea what caused the necks to split. I,ve shot lots of handloads and factory rem ammo since that incident without any further problems. Go figure.

 

[Oz]

This split neck think happened with me as well. It was also with win silvertips back when my 336w was new. They were 150,s as i recall. My reloads worked just fine. I still have know idea what caused the necks to split. I,ve shot lots of handloads and factory rem ammo since that incident without any further problems. Go figure.

??? ??? ??? :-\ :-\ ??? :-\ :-\

Had the same thing happen years ago with a smelly .303. Had to be the brass. No other explanation.

Mark.

 

[Levergunz]

Last couple years Winchester brass seems to be of low quality.I have had a number of cases split after the first firing with even very mild loads.I usually use Remington or Starline brass now.I rarely buy loaded ammo.

 

[myflatline]

Snuck off this afternoon and fired off a few rounds. Took my 336 and Moma's 336cs, all I had was Winchester Ammo, Silver tips and power points both in 170 gr. Started with mine and the PP's instead of the normal silver tip, split 2 out of 3, next loaded the 336cs with the silver tips and split 2 out of 3 (3/4 group I might add)
So, I don't think it is the rifle, just bad brass. But please chime in
Next question is can I damage my guns if I continue to shoot this ammo, just bought 200 rds
I've never noticed this before but then again never really saved my brass until recently to start reloading ( another post another section)

Lets hear what you have to say
Jim

 

[CalvinMD]

You wont hurt anything...unless you want to try to get Winchester to exchange it for new stuff..just shoot it up and pitch it...I wouldnt keep any of the brass from that lot

 

[plumbercrackus]

i disagree with cal a little , i am a little concerned with throat erosion . i doubt 200 rds would hurt your barell ,but why risk a blowup ?
i suggest you pull your bullets and get rid of that bad brass,then reload with hornady or frontier brass