Split Shotgun Cartridge. (Advice / Help Needed

[maktayla 50]

I have been hunting / shooting now for over 30 years, mainly air rifle, and rimfire. Even though I have been around shotguns all my life I never really got to shoot one a great deal. It was mostly hunting with my Father, clay pigeon shooting and so on. Anyway, I have only recently owned my own shotgun. Took it out out the other day and loaded it with Winchester 32g No6's. These cartridges were in excellent condition and so are, the barrells of my shotgun. This was the first time I tried these cartridges.

My first shot of the day was at a crow. After taking one shot, I took the cartridge out and it had split almost down the entire length, and you clearly see the the white powdery marks left by the cartridge(gases) when fired. It did not mark the inside of the chamber, but it did worry me. I immediately stopped using the Winchesters and nervously, (after a long think about whether I should continue) switched to Eley Coles (32g No 6'S),. Didn't have an issue with any of these and quite happily carried on all day.

Has this happened to anyone before? Was it possibly just down to a defective cartridge? Should I never use the Winchesters again?

 

Hopefully I'm just worrying too much but, as a sort of newbie to the ownership of a shotgun, I would just like to know if there is anything I should worry about should this occurr again. I know when I switched to the Eleys I didn't have an issue, so that to me points to a defective Winchester cartridge??????

 

Any advice would be great.

 

Oh yes, I did hit the crow

 

 

Thanks

[air gun ant 1,666]

I'd say just a one off, along as your not gonna try and re-load it don't worry. Sure the rest of the winchesters will be fine but take them back to your gun shop if you like, just show them the case and explain you don't feel safe using them and they should refund or replace them I would of thought?

Atb ant

[air gun ant 1,666]

And well done for nailing the crow 

[maktayla 50]

Thankyou Ant

I was hoping it was just a one off. But I'd thought I'd ask just in case theres something that I'm not aware of or, need to be made aware of. Haha, Don't think i'll try and reload it....

Once again, thanks for the advice. ATB

[remi700 99]

What are you firing them out of? I have had a similar problem to this firing B&Ps through a fabarm auto. Dont know why she does, and i've never seen it happen with any other shell but she nicks about every 2nd B&P I fire. Stopped using them in the end even though they are a cracking shell.

[maktayla 50]

Hi Remi

 

It's not a very expensive gun at all. Its a Zabala sxs and I thought it might be the cause of it at first, (cheap gun, manufacturing standards etc ???) but, I went on to use the eleys and had no problems at all. The cartridge casing itself on the Winchesters is a lot thicker, and seems to be made of a harder plastic than the Eleys which have a lot thinner, and what seams more pliable plastic. So whether there was an invisible fault in the cartridge casing, I don't know. It's not happened to me but, having a look about the forums I've seen people having the same problem with rimfires for example. So it is was probably down to a faulty cartridge. Won't use them again, will stick to Eleys.

Yours is a strange one though?? Especially if it is happening every other cartridge?? Can shotguns be cartridge fussy like some rifles for example???

 

 

[remi700 99]

Nothin wrong with a zabela sxs thats for sure. There good for hundreds a thousands a shells! Friend a mine had a 12g one choked 3/4 full. Mighty gun.

 

I think it could be somthing to do with the bore of the barrel in my case anyway. The fabarm autos are different to most guns, the barrels are bored bigger then 12g although the chamber is still made to fit a 12g shell the barrel is actually bored about 11guage. I think its supposed to help with recoil but my guess is that its having some kind of effect on the gas inside the barrel thats bursting the cases. Hard one to explain. Fantastic gun though, to date mine has yet to jam!

[maktayla 50]

Thanks Remi

Yes, it is a solidly built gun and I have to be honest, I get on with it quite well.

 

Would you know Remi if it is dangerous for gases to be escaping from the side of a shotgun case, or are guns manufactured to deal with this, i.e a flaw in a cartridge invisible to the naked eye.

 

Hope you continue to have many more jam-free sessions with your Fabarm. Hope I haven't tempted fate for you??????

 

P.s I wonder how many crows are shot and killed in this country per year???? Mmmmmm! Have to get everybody to post their figures. Haha

Edited July 6, 2012 by maktayla

[air gun ant 1,666]

Not enough mate not enough!

[COMPO 54]

Thanks Remi

Yes, it is a solidly built gun and I have to be honest, I get on with it quite well.

 

Would you know Remi if it is dangerous for gases to be escaping from the side of a shotgun case, or are guns manufactured to deal with this, i.e a flaw in a cartridge invisible to the naked eye.

 

Hope you continue to have many more jam-free sessions with your Fabarm. Hope I haven't tempted fate for you??????

 

P.s I wonder how many crows are shot and killed in this country per year???? Mmmmmm! Have to get everybody to post their figures. Haha

 

i think the bores and barrels on a shotgun are designed to take a lot more pressure than the standard cartridge causes when fired, so if no visible damage then it should be ok.

 

I believe that was a faulty cartridge and not the guns fault. and a shotgun doesn't need to be expensive to be good, there is not a lot to the design of a shotgun, its a barrel and a hammer effectively, if the firing pins strike when the trigger is pulled and the barrels are in good clean condition then the shotgun is good to use, a normal break barrel shotgun is a simple piece of engineering, ejectors and semi autos are more complicated but a standard non ejecting break barrel is very simple, so dont worry about it being a cheaper shotgun.

 

some guns do get on better with certain cartridges thats for sure, but what you describe sounds like the cartridge was damaged

 

If you get on well with it then thats ideal,

 

the only other issue i could think of whats the length of the cartridges in question and the chamber length of the shotgun being used? you can cause problems like that if using a 3inch (76mm) cartridge in a gun with a 2 3/4inch (70mm) chamber .......look under the barrel to get the chamber length (it will be stamped in there) and read the cartridge box for the cartridge length (go by what they say on them as the length of a cartridge is when fired and the case unrolled)

[Wino 3]

i think the bores and barrels on a shotgun are designed to take a lot more pressure than the standard cartridge causes when fired, so if no visible damage then it should be ok.

 

I believe that was a faulty cartridge and not the guns fault. and a shotgun doesn't need to be expensive to be good, there is not a lot to the design of a shotgun, its a barrel and a hammer effectively, if the firing pins strike when the trigger is pulled and the barrels are in good clean condition then the shotgun is good to use, a normal break barrel shotgun is a simple piece of engineering, ejectors and semi autos are more complicated but a standard non ejecting break barrel is very simple, so dont worry about it being a cheaper shotgun.

 

some guns do get on better with certain cartridges thats for sure, but what you describe sounds like the cartridge was damaged

 

If you get on well with it then thats ideal,

 

the only other issue i could think of whats the length of the cartridges in question and the chamber length of the shotgun being used? you can cause problems like that if using a 3inch (76mm) cartridge in a gun with a 2 3/4inch (70mm) chamber .......look under the barrel to get the chamber length (it will be stamped in there) and read the cartridge box for the cartridge length (go by what they say on them as the length of a cartridge is when fired and the case unrolled)

 

Good post, I've fired many thousands of shotgun cartridges through 30 year old + guns and have never seen an issue except one Hull cartridge once didn't have any lead shot in it, just went fizz! I didn't notice as I loaded two at the same time.

 

Dodgy cart or incorrect chamber length

[remi700 99]

Thanks Remi

Yes, it is a solidly built gun and I have to be honest, I get on with it quite well.

 

Would you know Remi if it is dangerous for gases to be escaping from the side of a shotgun case, or are guns manufactured to deal with this, i.e a flaw in a cartridge invisible to the naked eye.

 

Hope you continue to have many more jam-free sessions with your Fabarm. Hope I haven't tempted fate for you??????

 

P.s I wonder how many crows are shot and killed in this country per year???? Mmmmmm! Have to get everybody to post their figures. Haha

I wouldnt think gasses escaping from the side of a casing could damage a gun. When they pressure test the barrel they plug one end and blow it up to a certain pressure, usually 1370 barr I think although some guns are tested higher then that. That would mean that all of the barrel could take the same pressure.

 

It would be hard to tell how many crows are killed here every year but i can tell you we killed 100+ on Saturday mornin. Still no jams. You haven't Jinxed me yet!

Was chatin a friend a mine saturday night. 5 a them made 3 hides a couple a weeks ago and shot 940 in one day. Showed me the photos of it. The pile a crows was bigger then his car that was parked beside it!

[maktayla 50]

Hi Compo

Thanks for the reply, (thanks to all of you for the replies). Compo, the Zabala I have is chambered to take 3" magnum (76mm). The winchesters were 70mm.

I have to agree now with the faulty cartridge scenario. I think I was just a little bit nervous being a newbie. I have to agree with your views on shotguns. The gun comes up to my shoulder nicely and the bores themselves are like mirrors. I will try another one of the Winchesters now I have had a few replies. Its put my mind at ease.

 

Remi: 940 crows. Thats, well, words cant describe. I would love to have seen that photo . What on earth did they do with them all after? Set fire to them and have some kind of crow bonfire. I think I need to take a few more cartridges with me the next time I go out . Not that I'm going to get anywhere near 940 . Glad I havent jinxed you.. Oops! Shouldn't have said that..... . Talking about crows, yet again I'm relatively new to this type of shooting. I've heard, after you build your self a hide and manage to shoot a few, it doesn't take long for the buggars to get to know there is danger around. Is this true? Do you have move your hide?? Also heard that they can't count?? I probably got this around the wrong way but, I was told if two people were seen by a crow going into a hide, and later, one of you came back out they think the danger is over????

Wonder what their comrades thought with a pile as high as a car lying on the floor

[claybusers al 9]

dont worry as already said the chamber of a shotgun is designed for job. i owned a clayshoot that went through 5000+ cartridges a week and never experienced a split shell i have seen the the brass ends come off on occasions.