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Hi Folks,

Sorry for the late reply, I've been out in the bush for a few days.

I'll try and answer the questions :-)

The rifle is a beautiful Franz Sodia of Ferlach. Unfortunately he has long since passed away, so I can't contact him.

4seventy - Yes, the ammo was S&B. Old S&B that I have had in my safe for at least 4 years. 9,3x74R is not a very popular caliber where I live, so who knows how long it had been sitting on the dealers shelf before I bought it…?

500Boswell - I don't think the problem was oil or grease in the chamber, I had already fired 4 reloaded rounds through each barrel that morning before I started on the new box of S&B, and the old reloaded cased were fine, no signs of cracks of distortion.

The gun has never damaged cases like this before, I must have fired 80 plus rounds through each barrel, (most of these reloads which I have reloaded over and over again) and never had this problem before. It seems to have only started with this box of "new" S&B ammo.

Also, not every case of the "new" S&B ammo fired in that barrel cracked. I fired 10 rounds, 5 through the top barrel and 5 through the bottom, of the 10 only 3 seem to have cracked.

OK, so I have just spent an hour CAREFULLY examined all 40 of my reload cases, which have been reloaded about 7 times each, and I also CAREFULLY examined the 10 "new" S&B cases.
Through a process of elimination and logic (I think…???), I think I may have found an answer and a conclusion… Tell me if you think my thinking is correct please?

It must be noted, after the close scrutinizing I can tell which case was fired in a chamber, as the firing pin of one of the chambers apparently does not retract completely voluntarily, and leaves a slight scratch on the primer, identifying that case as being fired in that chamber. I don’t know which one it is, but I can now group cases together according to which chamber it was fired in.

Here are my findings:
Of my 40 reload cases, 18 out of 40 have very slight hairline cracks (I think this can be expected after being fired 7 times and never annealed, am I right in thinking this…?). Of these, 11 were last fired in the primer scaring chamber, 7 in the other.
22 of the 40 cases showed NO cracks at all. 9 of these were last fired in the primer scaring chamber, 13 in the other. All of these cases will have been fired in both barrels numerous times during the last 7 reloadings, so I don't think it is fare to point a finger at one specific barrel accusing it of causing hairline cracks.

Of the 10 "new" S&B cases. Only 3 were cracked, and they are big “blow out” cracks. The other 7 show no cracks at all. Of the 3, only 2 were fired in the primer scaring chamber!!! YAY!!!

Up to 10 minutes ago I was blaming the bottom chamber for cracking the case necks, fearing the worst, a pitted, eroded or cracked chamber!!! Now I think I can safely say cracked cases have come out of both chambers, and I would there for like to surmise that it is not the chambers, but a bad batch of brass that is responsible for the cracked necks.

Phew, I’ve just made my self feel so much better about my “sick” rifle!!!
But please, if you disagree with my thinking let me know. There may well be something I have missed or over looked…?

I will try and post some pics of the cracked cases.

Many thanks,
Pete.

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Walk quietly, but carry a big stick!

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