.44 Mag Case Cracked

[Guest Rupertus]

After shooting my S&W .44 Magnum revolver, the rounds were sometimes difficult to eject. Do they swell in the cylinder? Also, one of the rounds actually had a crack running down the side almost the entire length of the case. It was walmart white box 240 grain. Is that common with that ammo?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I've noticed difficult to extract issues sometimes on .357 revolvers. More often with short-barrel revolvers but maybe that is random luck of the draw and barrel-length has nothing to do with it.

Have wondered if it could be caused by the cylinder holes not being squeaky-clean enough--

Maybe a thin layer of invisible gunk lurking in the cylinder holes, from cleaning that was not good enough?

Or maybe if there is a little cleaning oil left in the cylinder holes, the heat from the first load of rounds would oxidize the oil into sticky gunk in there?

Maybe somebody who knows, could explain the likely causes.

[gregintenn]

Might be ammo that's loaded too hot. It does happen. I once had a box of Remington factory 308 ammo that you'd have to beat the bolt open with seomething after firing a round of it.

[leroy]

....I've noticed difficult to extract issues sometimes on .357 revolvers. More often with short-barrel revolvers but maybe that is random luck of the draw and barrel-length has nothing to do with it.

Have wondered if it could be caused by the cylinder holes not being squeaky-clean enough--

Maybe a thin layer of invisible gunk lurking in the cylinder holes, from cleaning that was not good enough?

Or maybe if there is a little cleaning oil left in the cylinder holes, the heat from the first load of rounds would oxidize the oil into sticky gunk in there?

Maybe somebody who knows, could explain the likely causes. ....

Lester has most likely hit the nail on the head here. I've had 'em stick too; 99 times out of a hundred, its dirty cylinders; especially on the hard kickers like the magnums using magnum ammo.

My fix was always to take a good powder solvent (...like hoppes...) and clean the charge holes in the cylinder (...using a bore brush...) all the way thru; paying close attention to the shoulder near the cylinder throat (...the throat is the very front end area of the cylinder...). Clean it very well, making shure you brush it well, then use a bunch of swabs and wipe each charge hole clean. Look at each charge hole very closely in bright light to make sure it's squeeky clean. Dry it down with several clean swabs and then re-clean each charge hole with denatured alcohol (...methanol, like you get at lowes in the paint department...). Swab 'em down again and you should be good to go. The methanol will degrease any solvent that is left from the initial cleaning.

My guess on the case split is that it was a bad case. I wouldn't worry about it, unless it happens again in the same cylinder hole. Sometimes you can have a bulged cylinder hole; but that's pretty far fetched. I've shot a bunch of hard kicking smiths and never seen one; but there are those who say they have.

By the way, the cases do expand when they are fired. 44 mag loads (...along with the 357 and 41 mags...) are pretty hot, probably in the 36,000 psi range. To give a bit of a perspecitve, the old 45 acp is about 19,000 psi. Some of the old black powder loads were in the 14,000 psi range.

Hope this helps.

Leroy

[Guest Rupertus]

The cracked case was the one that made the cylinder stick the most, obviously. Otherwise, I'm sure the cylinder could use a good cleaning like recommended. I never thought about cleaning the cylinder like you would a barrel, but it makes sense. BTW the gun has a 2" barrel if it makes any difference. Let me tell you that shooting it made my hand swell too! Thanks

[gregintenn]

You're the same guy who had the crane screw work loose on his 44 Mag, right? I believe I'd give the other empty cases a good look for other signs of excessive pressure.

[leroy]

Rupertus:________

...BTW the gun has a 2" barrel if it makes any difference. Let me tell you that shooting it made my hand swell too! Thanks ....

Heavy loads will do that. I like the 900 to 1000 fps stuff myself in a 44 mag. It cuts down on the hand hammering. The problem is that ya need to reload to make any up. I heartily recommend reloading for all gun guys. It gives an excuse to shoot more.

Let us know what ya see in the cylinders.

Regards,

Leroy

[Jonnin]

Ammo cases expand normally. My .44 revolver is the door type (open a door to load one by one, the cylinder does not swing out), and gravity will let the case go in and out as you tilt the gun. After shooting, the built in ramrod is needed to extract the cases, and sometimes it is difficult, due to the expansion. Also, freshly fired cases are hot and allowing them to cool a bit can make them easier to remove, if one is badly stuck. I have always been able to extract mine, but once in a while you get one that is difficult, this is normal. Difficult means, still able to extract it by hand, with a great deal of force. If you need external tools to extract the cases on a regular basis, clean the gun, and if that does not do it, get a smith to check it out, its not normal to have the problem all the time.

Split cases are NOT normal in factory ammo. 2 things to watch, as was said, the same chamber of your gun producing splits, and the other is multiple split from the same box of ammo. If its random chambers and more than 1 in a box of ammo, return the ammo along with the cases. If its the same cylinder every time, get a gunsmith to take a look. Reloaded 44s can split as well, and eventually they WILL, if you keep reusing the same brass. I cannot remember the last time I split a factory case; a split case in factory ammo is a 1/500 or fewer problem at a rough guess from my experience.

The cracked case was the one that made the cylinder stick the most, obviously. Otherwise, I'm sure the cylinder could use a good cleaning like recommended. I never thought about cleaning the cylinder like you would a barrel, but it makes sense. BTW the gun has a 2" barrel if it makes any difference. Let me tell you that shooting it made my hand swell too! Thanks

A short barrel 44mag is going to hammer you, yes. You can practice with 44 specials to reduce this if you want to shoot the gun a lot. This type of gun is for self defense, really and its not designed to be a pleasent shooter on the range where you pop 50 rounds thru it without a break. Ouch! Soft rubberized and wide grips help a ton with this problem. Also, what *type* of ammo was it? 44mag ammo can vary a lot, from under 200 grains to 300 (and up?? not sure what largest is off the top). A 300 grain deer hunting load is fairly brutal, and going to be worse in a snubbie. A 180 grain target load is much more bearable for range type shooting sprees. If your hand is swelling, it is a bad thing, you are actually causing injury to your hand, and should take steps to avoid this. Another option is to have your barrel ported, possibly.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Jonnin

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Yes if somebody shoots really heavy-recoil pistols frequently enough they risk repetitive stress injuries which are painful and take a long time to heal up.

It can be puzzling what can actually cause repetitive stress versus what you can get away with, and it varies by individual. Piano causes bad repetitive stress in some folks, but I played piano 30-40 hours a week for decades without getting symptoms. On the other hand, sitting at a desk working a computer mouse for 40+ hours a week will occasionally hurt me pretty bad. One would think that mousing would be less athletic and less harmful than piano playing, which is fairly athletic if you do it long enough.

10 years ago my .357 snubbie didn't hurt to shoot and sometimes I'd run up to 100 rounds thru it. Earlier this year I shot that booger after it had been sitting in the safe for awhile. Shot 15 rounds and it hurt my wrist so bad I went straight from the range to the gun store and traded that sucker off. For me, a snubbie was fine for a 50 year old wrist, but no good at all for a 60 year old wrist.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Lester Weevils

[Guest BEARMAN]

I had some trouble with Winchester .22 magnum case cartridges splitting lenghtwise. About half of two boxes of Winchester 'silver box' came from the factory with hairline cracks down the lenght of the cases. Contacted Winchester and they wanted me to send them the defected boxes of ammo on their dime.

They ended up sending me back four boxes for my two partial boxes. Best check Winchester cases visually, for the hairline crack issue's in their magnum cartridge line. IMO

For recoil stress in the hand, try a shooter's glove, or one of those open fingered biker type leather gloves...they work wonders taming heavy recoil. YMMV

Edited December 31, 2010 by BEARMAN
spelling error

[Guest Rupertus]

I was shooting 240 grain rounds. I have shot 180 grain before and it wasn't nearly as bad. I don't think I was injuring my hand, but I definitely felt the recoil. I think its fun to shoot something with that kind of power behind it. I tightened a loose crane screw that almost made the cylinder fall off, cleaned it up, and all looks good.

[Guest canebreaker]

Lite loading 1,000 rounds of 38 spls for a day at the range. I would take the brass and she would take the nickle cases, silver bullet image to her. Not knowing the age of the cases, how many times they had been reloaded. It averaged 50 nickle to 5 brass cases that were cracked beyond a quarter of an inch. Not sure what caused this, to much crimp on the bullet? More for the scrap, 3.50 per pound.