I picked up a P239 in .40 at a local auction this week for a really good deal. I took it out to shoot it last night, and everything was going well until a case head separated and launched the extractor into orbit. I was shooting left-handed-only and felt something smack my thumb, which was extended up beside the slide. The gun jammed, and looking down into the chamber I could immediately see the body of the case stuck in the chamber, and the case head was completely gone. By some miracle I found the spring, but the pin and extractor are long gone. I even went back today and combed the range with a roofer’s magnet, but no luck. Thankfully the parts are available through Matrix Precision, so I already have replacements on the way.

The ammo I was using was admittedly sketchy. I got a bunch of old reloads several months back from the widow of a friend who had passed away. He had a bunch of old reloaded ammo that she didn’t know what to do with, so I took it for disposal. I pulled all the bullets and dumped the powder, and reloaded the primed brass with 180gr plated bullets over 5.0gr of HP38. Admittedly, this load is at the top of the book range, but I’ve had no issues with it in the past. I’ve found I usually have to load HP-38 pretty hot if I want to get a complete burn.

I fired about 40 uneventful rounds prior to the mishap. Most of the brass that I recovered looked fine. No bulges, no flattened primers, it fired and cycled smoothly. I did find one nickel-plated case that is cracked around the case head, but did not completely separate. That one doesn’t show any bulging, either. The one that came apart does appear to have bulged at the base.

Either way, I’m not shooting any more of this stuff. I’m going to pull it all and ditch the brass. But I’m curious if you think this is a load problem or if I’m dealing with bad brass.

Interestingly, I've had this happen once before with .40 S&W a few years back. It was factory ammo fired from a friend's Beretta Mini-Cougar (It was either Federal Hydra-Shock or HST, I don't remember which...either way it was quality defensive ammo). The case looked pretty much exactly like my reload from yesterday.

Here’s a photo of the offending round, the one with the crack, and a couple of other undamaged samples from the same batch.

My guess it was older brass that has weakened with age and/or reloaded too many times.

PC

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PCWyoming,

Odd. I have some old 2003 40cal brass that I’ve shot/reloaded and didn’t have any issues with the brass.

Yours seems to be mixed brass, so that makes me lean towards the load being the issue. I have never seen a 40 cal round separate like that. And we used the 40 when I was in the CG and I’ve seen literally truckloads of it shot w/o issue.

With that being said, I have had old, and I mean WWII 8mm Mauser brass crack and split due to the age of the brass. So it can happen, and I’ve had it happen to me.

I’d maybe check your scale and make sure you don’t have an issue there. Try reloading some of that brass and see if you get the same results by loading up to it.

One of the first things I was told when I got into centerfire pistol shooting is neve-ever shoot unknown hand loads and I extended it to someone else hand loads... You never know... Even experienced people make mistakes...
40 Cal brass is very available and generally cheep...Dump those rounds and move on...

60

I got into USPSA competition in the mid to late 1990's.
I've seen many case head separations during those passing years.
Every single one that I recall was a .40 S&W.
Old brass? Perhaps fired previously in a earlier generation Glock? It's anybody's guess.

All of my friends that shot a double stack .40 in the Limited Division would only reload two to three times and then toss the brass.

Back in my full bore USPSA days, my home club put on USPSA Level 3 championship/tournament events. $100k+ in merchandise on the prize table.
We had competitors fly into the USA from all over the world. South Africa, Philippines, Europe, Asia.
One female competitor from South Africa had a .40 case head separation that damaged her pistol, and she was unable to finish the Level 3 tournament.
As co-match director, I certainly felt bad for her, knowing what she had spent to come to the USA and shoot in our tournament. Airfare, lodging, rental car, food, & pocket cash.
That's why most professional USPSA shooters (and serious non professional USPSA shooters) have a second (twin) pistol in their range bag.

The .40 S&W was/is a compromise cartridge. The goal was to get some of the 10mm power, in a 9mm sized pistol. That can only be done with increased chamber pressure.
I have .40 barrels (and .357 SIG barrels) for several of my P226 pistols. I rarely use them, and don't reload for .40 or .357 SIG at this time.
If I feel the need for an autoloading pistol that has more "horsepower" than 9mm, I reach for one of my choices in .45ACP or 10mm.

quote:

If I feel the need for an autoloading pistol that has more "horsepower" than 9mm, I reach for one of my choices in .45ACP or 10mm.

I'm definitely with you there. I like my 9mm and .45 ACP. Up until last week I only had one .40 handgun, and only keep it around because it was my old duty weapon and it has sentimental value. It never gets carried and rarely gets shot. I grabbed the P239 because I wanted to try it and it was a really good deal. So far I have mixed feelings about it...I'll probably do a write-up on it once I get it back together and get a chance to put a few more rounds through it.

Well, the load was apparently the problem. I got the parts in and fixed the gun, then tried a different batch using a different bullet but the same charge weight. It didn't blow out but there was some minor bulging and another cracked case. I shot some factory ammo through the gun with no issues and zero bulging, so that was telling as well. Back to titegroup for .40 s&w it seems. I can't wait to be done with that jug of HP38.

IMO what you encountered was an overworked case that finally let go. It happens when a reloader gets a bit cocky and loads to maximum levels and runs his cases until they fail. It's also why that it's a very common rule in the shooting world to NEVER shoot any reloads that you did not make for yourself. This means don't ever shoot gun show ammo sold in a ziplock bag or ammo "donated" by a grandfather or uncle. If you didn't personally put the powder in the case do not shoot it. As for commercial loads, from the majors such as Winchester or Remington I will shoot it. If it's the crap no name ammo sold by some ranges who insist you shoot "commercial" ammo, that I won't shoot.