The F114 wads I reported failing actually disintegrated upon firing. Fragments were found a few yards downrange after being noted in the air.
There were no physical abnormalities found with the remaining wads.
Plastic is known to degrade with age. It can get brittle.
Oxidation or gassing out? I've fired a good many old shells with plastic wads and never noted anything like the F114's blowing up.
Stuff I loaded for field use 20 years ago still seems viable, but the Remington wads were fresh when loaded. Ditto a flat of Federal Champions that I finally got tired of looking at and shot up this year. They were about 15 years old.
Interesting topic for more research.
