9mm case head separation

[A/C guy]

I was reloading some 9mm range brass, with everything going smoothly. Then, one case went into the sizing die with the usual force, but on the down stroke to pull the case out of the die, it pulled the head off the case. No unusual force either in or out of the die. On close inspection,it looks like an area (15% of cir.) of the side wall was not attached to the case head. Could have been an old crack or a manufacturing defect. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

And yes, I got the side wall out of the die. I carefully compacted it with a small punch and eventually knocked it out the bottom of the die. I then sized a few cases to check for function (cases looked ok).

[762xIan]

That IS odd...I have never had that happen to a pistol case.

Ripped a few rims off rifle cases, but never pistol.

Bad case most likely, piece of dirt and quickly working the handle maybe.

I don't know what dies you are using, but I do like to clean my dies every once in a while. Lee dies are pretty well known to have a bit of a rougher finish, I have polished the inside of my dies with Flitz.

[BerksCountyDave]

I'm glad it happened on the press and not in your gun.