380 ACP Split Cases

[xoregonian]

Was at the range yesterday and after firing a few mags started picking up brass and found these.
Guns used: Glock 42, Kimber Micro, and Sig P238.
Found about half the spent brass was split. Called Federal and the nice young woman that
answered said no one from that department was available. They would call me back. So far:
Crickets. All pistols cycled fine and bullets landed where pointed. Still I don't think new
factory ammo should do this. Anyone else have this experience?

 

[actaeon277]

Are you sure you didn't pick up someone else's brass?

I've seen split cases from firing the wrong ammo, down one size.

Such as shooting .40 ammo out of a .45.


Or .380 shot out of a 9mm.

Since all your guns were .380...

 

[xoregonian]

Are you sure you didn't pick up someone else's brass?

I've seen split cases from firing the wrong ammo, down one size.

Such as shooting .40 ammo out of a .45.


Or .380 shot out of a 9mm.

Since all your guns were .380...

Yeah it was an indoor range, clean stall, no one to the left or right of me. Checked head stamps and they were mine.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Do you have anymore of this ammo. Maybe see if it's one particular pistol

 

[xoregonian]

The only thing I've seen close to this was with Mosin Nagants. Some times there was so much wear or overly aggressive cleaning that the chamber wouldn't fully support the case so it would split and stick in the chamber. These cycled fine. I was keeping my stall clean so I wouldn't slip or trip and was told I could keep everything that fell behind the firing line. I keep my brass because I bought primers and powder years ago and I'm cheap. Don't think I'm going to reload any of this brass.

 

[xoregonian]

Do you have anymore of this ammo. Maybe see if it's one particular pistol

300 rds. I had loaded up mags for all three. Shot the Kimber picked up the brass, saw the split cases and shot the Glock 42. Same result. Finally shot the P238. Same same. Stopped shooting 380 ACP. If these were reloads I would just chalk it up to worn brass. I'd chuck it and move on. The fact that its factory ammo kinda concerns me. Finished my time with my Glock 40. 10mm easy to distinguish from 380.

 

[Jaybird1980]

300 rds. I had loaded up mags for all three. Shot the Kimber picked up the brass, saw the split cases and shot the Glock 42. Same result. Finally shot the P238. Same same. Stopped shooting 380 ACP. If these were reloads I would just chalk it up to worn brass. I'd chuck it and move on. The fact that its factory ammo kinda concerns me. Finished my time with my Glock 40. 10mm easy to distinguish from 380.

Strange. I would think Federal would be more interested

 

[xoregonian]

Strange. I would think Federal would be more interested

I'm gonna give them some time. Everyone is shorthanded these days. We had periods of forced overtime last winter because
no one wants to work. I've never seen anything like it. People work for a couple of weeks then quit. I wanted to buy some different ammo to test but 380 is now made out of unobtainium because I can't find it in stock anywhere.

 

[clayshooter99]

Do not sit by the phone!!! Federal is not what they were in the 70's 80' and 90's with quality control, product quality and customer service. They still owe me for a box of their stuff I sent back and they tested, promised to pay for the box of 243's and the shipping, that was 3 years ago and around a dozen phone calls later. I grew up shooting and loving Federal, just not the company or care they had in the past.

 

[xoregonian]

Do not sit by the phone!!! Federal is not what they were in the 70's 80' and 90's with quality control, product quality and customer service. They still owe me for a box of their stuff I sent back and they tested, promised to pay for the box of 243's and the shipping, that was 3 years ago and around a dozen phone calls later. I grew up shooting and loving Federal, just not the company or care they had in the past.

I do plan to follow up. Everything said in this thread tracks with exactly what I was thinking.

First: Confirm it's your brass.
Second: Confirm it's not the gun.
Third: Contact Federal and follow up.

I would shoot another brand of ammo if I could find some in stock. My guess is just weak brass but I
don't know enough to be sure. I thought I'd reach out because this community has a large knowledge base
and if someone doesn't know they probably know someone that does.

 

[Squid556]

Odd to me that all THREE pistols are doing that. Probably just got a low quality batch of ammo. Would be interested to hear if they keep doing that with new ammo.

 

[Mgderf]

My guess is a batch of improperly annealed brass.
Lately I have seen .380acp EVERYWHERE, but it's incredibly expensive.

 

[Robert Richardson]

It worked once, that's all the manufacturer cares about. Just saying.

 

[DadSmith]

Was at the range yesterday and after firing a few mags started picking up brass and found these.
Guns used: Glock 42, Kimber Micro, and Sig P238.
Found about half the spent brass was split. Called Federal and the nice young woman that
answered said no one from that department was available. They would call me back. So far:
Crickets. All pistols cycled fine and bullets landed where pointed. Still I don't think new
factory ammo should do this. Anyone else have this experience?

Let us know what federal says when you get something from them. I imagine they may want the rest of your ammo to inspect it and the spent brass.

If you don't hear back from them within 5 business days call them back.

 

[BE Mike]

That looks like old ammo. Is it current production? It looks to me that there might have been a spot of corrosion on the inside of the cases which created a weak point and subsequent discharging of the cartridge led to the split from that point up to the mouth of the case, which is the thinnest part of the brass.

 

[xoregonian]

That looks like old ammo. Is it current production? It looks to me that there might have been a spot of corrosion on the inside of the cases which created a weak point and subsequent discharging of the cartridge led to the split from that point up to the mouth of the case, which is the thinnest part of the brass.

Yeah circa 2019 when it was about 10c/rd cheaper. I found some other ammo today and of course all 50 rounds
were fired with no problem. Went looking for 1 box of ammo and found another problem:
Been looking for one of these for a few years had to take it home

 

[Creedmoor]

It worked once, that's all the manufacturer cares about. Just saying.

Yep, brass is a consumable.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Yeah circa 2019 when it was about 10c/rd cheaper. I found some other ammo today and of course all 50 rounds
were fired with no problem. Went looking for 1 box of ammo and found another problem: View attachment 210534
Been looking for one of these for a few years had to take it home

Oh that's a good problem to find

 

[xoregonian]

My guess is a batch of improperly annealed brass.
Lately I have seen .380acp EVERYWHERE, but it's incredibly expensive.

I don't know if this is what you're talking about but I bought some cheap Turkish 9mm before I bought the 380 ammo
and I've never had any issues. I have surplus Yugo 8mm Mauser, surplus 7.62x54r, and even some SPP .45 ACP
Blazer ammo older than the 380 and all is still good.

 

[xoregonian]

Oh that's a good problem to find

Yeah, there is a story I'll post over in the handgun show and tell. It involves Bigtanker, Cameramonkey, a Proteq open shoot, and the search for a carry pistol for my wife.