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as stated by Slidehammer in the Down Range 16 ga wad thread:
"I've about had it with the black Remingtons body spliting during the winter. I guess Remington doesn't think anyone shoots below freezing, much less below zero!"

My question:
When does this splitting occur? After how many reloads?

I've used Rem green hulls for hunting loads here in New England and never have seen a split hull - I try to pick up my spent shells with about 70% recovery - the 100 throws them pretty well. All new factory ammo - either remy or win. steel.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

I rarely have any splits in the body of this hull--99% of the time I trash a hull because the mouth has all but closed in and become brittle.I shoot these in temps well below freezing.

I have noticed some lots of Black Remington cases seem to have a more
pliable or soft feeling at the case mouth, and those seem to load prettier than the stiffer ones. Regardless, I prefer these to the Fed and Win for my 1 ounce loads. Once the splits go to the body of the hull, I pitch them.

sprocket,

My last experience of this body spliting was a 15 degree Montana day... How many loads? These were factory loads on the initial firing! As mentioned, the pliability of the black hull varies and this particular lot gave me 20% body splits some over 1" long! These were not crimp splits..... although crimp splits worsen in the cold. 5% of some reloads also split in the body.... This was a different lot number of shells and they were on the first reload! Ammo was "outside" as it usually is in Sporting Clays and this problem showed up mid-round and progressively became worse.... This is the second occurrence this winter...... Federal purples seem fine..... I have shot factory and/or reloads below zero without splits.

I like the black hull because it works well with my good supply of R-16 wads. But I will finish winter with Federal's and save Remington blacks for summer. I would rather keep an eye on basewads that lose factory fired hulls on the initial firing. It reminds me of some of the last lots of the old style AA's that had a habit of spliting with some lots on the first firing as well.. It wouldn't cost Remington much to upgrade the polyethyene tube is the sad part.

Slidehammer

Slidehammer - I'm no expert by any means but it seems that if more folks were having the same problem as you were/are with the rem black hulls, especially on the first firing, there'd be more noise on the web here - it makes me suspect that you've gotten into a batch of bad hulls.

Your solution seems sound enough and safety foremost so I'm not faulting you here, it just sounded very odd as it was the first time I heard of rem hulls being talked about in a negative way.

anyway, thanks for the clarification.

Slidehammer, I'd inform Remington of the problem. If you have the batch numbers, that would be a big help. I'm certain this is not supposed to be happening at any reasonable temperature. 15 degrees Farenheit is not that low.

A split in the case inside a gun is not a good thing. Loose, hot gas can do some real damage, especially in a repeater. Then there is the danger of a stuck wad from a failure to develop full pressure and a complete powder burn.

I am certain Remington will pay you to return the ammo and will replace it and then some for your service to them. Just make sure you talk to someone with a brain if you can find one within their corporation. That alone can be challenging. Just insist on getting through to an ammo production person and not some airhead with a headset answering calls. If you have to mention product liability and lawsuit, do it. Than one always gets a fire going under someone's butt. However, save it as the dam buster for really stuborn problems or if they insist on only speaking dumbass that day. It does have its down side. They tend to circle the wagons and stonewall you forever after unless you let the right person know it was a ploy to get past the usual no nothing sh*t wallopers answering the phones. Wink

Slide - you just send a flat of 7.5's out here for some low altitude testing and I'll give you a full report on the hulls Wink

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 41 Location: Gainesville,GA

The picture is enough of an explanation- I am glad its not very cold in my area. I suspect Remington could solve it by upgrading their hull material. In any case , I won't take any black hulls to cold weather shooting unless this is proven to be an aberration.

Member Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 40 Location: California

Slidehammer,

The splits are none too cool. Were I you I would follow the recommendation of 16gaugeguy and get hold of Remington. I would think they would like to know this.

Something you might want to consider is the dimensions of your chamber. I have no idea what you shoot, but when I worked in manufacturing I know that sometimes stuff got out that was out of tolerance or just barely in tolerance. This is equally true of expensive or cheap items. If your chamber is at the big end of the spectrum this might be your problem, and I suspect that Remington might ask you that if you contact them. Accurately measuring the chamber and comparing it to SAAMI standards before you call could give you a leg up in credibillity with them.

P

Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Illinois

Slidehammer
The same thing happened to me today 4 out 12 split below the crimp. 14 degrees is not that cold. I just figure it is typical remington quality.

Like I suggested, this is a QC issue Remington needs to know about. You'd be doing all of us a real service if you'd rattle Reminton's cage Slide. I do know they will replace your ammo and compensate you for any shipping and inconvenience if they want the remainer back. just call them and work out the details with somebody with some clout. Thanks., 16GG.