.357 magnum of impending doom

[KDK]

Hi all,

I reloaded some .357 magnum. The brass is headstamped "A USA". It was given to me by a friend who fired it once. While inspecting I found a case with a horizontal axial "cut" about a quarter inch above the rim. This cut didn't circumvent the whole casing. only on one face. I scrapped that piece and continued to reload. After the process, I found a loaded round with the same imperfection. I have included a photo below.

My question is. What could this be? Is it defective? Should it be discarded? (I am compelled to do this unless I receive overwhelming support to the contrary.) Should I scrap the whole batch?

If it is relevant the rounds are loaded with 6.0 grains of Unique so not very hot.

 

[carbuncle]

Looks weird, I chuck brass that looks weird. I'd shoot the rest, unless it looks weird.

Posted from my car phone.

 

[gerrycaruso]

It looks like a case head separation in the making. I'd take it apart,save the components and throw the brass away.

 

[KDK]

Yeah I agree it's no good. I'm not sure it's case head separation, I mean it's once fired. Either way it's getting pulled and the brass will go to brass heaven.

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[lafataa]

New brass is cheaper than a new face/hand. Best be safe and pull it and toss the case.

 

[dustoff22]

I believe that anything marked A USA is made by Armscor. I've had a couple issues with their brass and anything Armscor ends up in the scrap bucket.

 

[Rugerfan]

Yup. Not worth hurting yourself over. Pull 'em and scrapp the brass.

 

[55_grain]

With a thread name of "...of impending doom", I think you've answered your own question.

Pull it.

 

[jpm]

I have some armscor 30 carbine I bought new and shot and it reloaded just fine and shot really well. So not all of it is junk.

I'd be real curious to examine a round out of the box and then after firing to see just wtf is going on.

 

[EddieCoyle]

i can't figure out what force would be acting on a .357 round that can cause that failure.

 

[jpm]

the only thing I wondered about is if it was in a semi-auto like desert eagle or something

 

[Mike-Mike]

Looks belted like 77mm rem mag. Weird, I would shoot it and then take a good look at it. Then chuck it.

 

[mac1911]

i can't figure out what force would be acting on a .357 round that can cause that failure.

Would a lever action with headspace issues do this?

 

[EddieCoyle]

I don't see how. A .357 is going to headspace on the rim.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I was thinking the same thing as mac1911. I had an 1893 Marlin with excessive headspace but it was in .30/30 and I don't know if the .30/30 headspaces on the rim or at some point on the shoulder

 

[DW357]

My Henry Big Boy 357 causes a slight bulge at the base due to headspace but never looks this bad. I measured the bulge to be about 0.005" of a difference from the rest of the case IIRC.

 

[8x57mm]

A bomb in the making.... Straight to the brass bucket with those.

 

[KDK]

This brass was fired once out of a ruger sp 101. I think it's just bad brass. The lengths off the brass were all different ranging from approximately 1.70 to 1.90. Also the case mouth wasn't square. So I'm going to pull this one, fire the rest and scrap that brass. I'll have to try and source some decent .357 brass soon. Thanks everyone for the help.

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[jpm]

wow that's pretty bad QC on those!

 

[KDK]

Yeah, I'm new to reloading but have been doing it for a few good months and this stuff by far is the least consistent brass I've yet seen. It's going to get recycled and from what I've seen online though limited the A USA headstamp does not get good reviews.