I have shot a fair amount of .40 S&W rounds, mostly my reloads. I shoot a Beretta 96, Browning Hi-Power and a Sig-Sauer 1911 Match Elite. I like a very hard 170 gr TC bullet at near 1200 fps. The powder charge is weighed and the velocity chronographed.
I was shooting with a fairly well known gun writer whom I have never seen post anywhere.
On one shot I sent brass down the magazine well of the Beretta. Stung a bit and surprising. Several rounds later, the same thing. We looked everything over and I told him my load data. He didn't think it was too hot but I did blow two out. Some of the brass had a tell tale swelling at the base. The brass was once fired PMC. The aforementioned writer advised me against reloading PMC brass in higher pressure rounds for use in guns without full chamber support.
I cut a Remington case longitudinally mouth to base through the center and a PMC case the same.Inside the Remington case where the the shell wall transitions to the base there is a fillet radius which adds some thickness to the case. The PMC brass wall was straight down with a 90 degree angle to the base, no web at all. Probably a weaker design.
I pulled all 1000 or so rounds and donated the PMC brass to the local range, reloaded all components into other brands of brass and have had no repeat ruptures.
