Factory ammunition failures

AL45 · June 25, 2013, 09:06 PM

An employee had a rifle bolt severely damaged while firing factory ammunition. He couldn't attribute the damage to anything other than the factory cartridge. He called the ammunition company and they refused any liability. He contacted the company that made the rifle, and to his surprise, they replaced the rifle. I have had many misfires with cheap .22 LR and cheap shotgun shells and once had a .308 round that when fired, displayed excessive noise, recoil, the case was hard to extract and where the bullet impacted is a mystery. I won't mention brands because I have no hardcore evidence of what is to blame and have no desire to bash anyone. All these incidents did involve top brands. Have any of you had potential dangerous situations with factory ammunition?

jepp2 · June 25, 2013, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Have any of you had potential dangerous situations with factory ammunition?

I had a squib (primer fired, but there was no powder in the case) on a factory Remington 22 Jet. Lodged the bullet about 1/2" past the forcing cone. If I had not check, but instead fired the next round, would have been a very bad result.

Jimro · June 25, 2013, 09:42 PM

I had some factory 308 push the primer about 1/3 of the way out of the pocket (at least that's what it seemed like at the time). Turns out that is a "low pressure" sign not a high pressure sign, but it was disconcerting to see.

Jimro

jersurf101 · June 25, 2013, 10:11 PM

I have seen a Mossberg 590 blow apart in the middle of the barrel with factory ammo. We had been shooting all of our shotguns a good bit that day. Blew the heatshield 100 yards in the woods. Not even the factory is perfect. Comforting isn't it?

jwrowland77 · June 25, 2013, 10:41 PM

Just a bunch of .22LR not shooting. It's funny I was afraid to pull the trigger on my first reload, but now I feel safer, shooting my own reloads when compared to shooting factory rounds, which I haven't done now in a year and a half.

45Gunner · June 26, 2013, 12:02 AM

Going back about 25 years ago, I bought a new .45 ACP with a sought after brand name. The second range outing I was shooting Brand X ammo (which is now very popular). I had a round explode in the barrel doing considerable damage to the new gun. Fortunately for me, all the damage was from the breach forward. I called the ammo manufacturer and they requested I send them the remainder of the case of ammo. They told me to send the gun back to the manufacturer and they would pay to repair or replace the gun at the discretion of the manufacturer. The gun was repaired and the ammo manufacturer sent me two cases of ammo. I must admit that I was very hesitant to use that brand ammo again but I did and have never had another problem with that brand, which coincidently has become my favorite brand when I can find it. And, that particular gun has recently been reworked by my Master 1911 Gunsmith (after shooting over 150,000 rounds with it) and is among my top two favorite guns in my collection.

ballardw · June 26, 2013, 12:08 AM

Rifle: Remington 40X
Ammunition: Winchester Super-X 22LR Match
Ruptured rim of case and had bits of brass hit my forehead.
Out of tens of thousands of rounds.

wet · June 26, 2013, 12:14 AM

year ago I bought a box of 22mag, half of which were misfires. the next box perfict.

TXAZ · June 26, 2013, 12:36 AM

Over ~30-40 years, seems like most of the factory ammo squibs, likely a dozen, we're as another noted above, 22LR's, followed by 3 .50 BMG (all French "thick" primer issues), followed by 2 or 3 9mm, and 1-2 7.62x 39 (I believe circa 80's Russian). No shot shells or other rifle cartridges, no explosions. And I don't reload. Likely 99.99+% went bang first trigger pull.

ClydeFrog · June 26, 2013, 09:58 PM

I was at a Gander Mountain range today shooting my brand new Smith & Wesson M&P .45acp pistol. My friend had a double feed with a factory made American Eagle 230gr FMJ.
I only put a small amount of LPX on the new .45acp & I honestly think it was "human error" on the part of my friend(limp wristing hold).
It may have been the QC on the American Eagle line of ammunition too.
The brass and cases looked flawless when I opened the box.

Every .45acp round I fired cycled with no issues.

I also heard of a aluminum alloy case CCI Blazer round cracking & rupturing in the cylinder of a DA revolver while a woman fired it.
The firearm was damaged & I think the woman had minor injuries.
This was in the early 1990s. The revolver may have been low quality too.

Clyde

Koda94 · June 26, 2013, 11:14 PM

does military surplus ammo count? years back I was given a bunch of 9mm what appeared to be middle eastern surplus rounds. Markings were all middle eastern font... FMJ and IIRC green casings.

fired a few rounds and then one barely made a noise and the slide didnt even recoil. I dropped the mag and cleared the chamber and checked the barrel, and nothing was in it. I packaged up all that ammo and gave it back.

Pistol has never ever jammed only that time. I've never considered surplus ammo for any caliber since...

thedudeabides · June 27, 2013, 04:54 AM

One squib that was easy to pound out with a wooden dowel and a few bad primers.

Those were all in the 90s.

I mostly shoot reman ammo these days, that stuff tends to be real good.

okiewita40 · June 27, 2013, 05:53 AM

Went to the range last week for qualification. We were using Blaser aluminum case ammo. It was underpowered and had 8 dead rounds in a box of 50.

Toolman · June 27, 2013, 05:29 PM

With the ammo shortage being what it is & the commercial producers working 24/7 to try to keep up, I'm not a bit surprised there are a lot quality problems showing up. When you're running balls-out it's hard to catch everything. They need some breathing room.

kimbers rule · June 27, 2013, 07:58 PM

Back when I was a kid, maybe 13 or so, I had a Remington core lock dud in my .270 as a finish shot on a blacktail forkinhorn. I didn't need it luckily, but sent the round in to The Big Green with a letter explaining how disappointed I was. They sent me an apology letter, a ball cap, and three boxes of ammo. I've been a Remington fan ever since.

June 25, 2013, 09:06 PM	#1
AL45 Senior Member Join Date: December 12, 2012 Posts: 761	Factory ammunition failures An employee had a rifle bolt severely damaged while firing factory ammunition. He couldn't attribute the damage to anything other than the factory cartridge. He called the ammunition company and they refused any liability. He contacted the company that made the rifle, and to his surprise, they replaced the rifle. I have had many misfires with cheap .22 LR and cheap shotgun shells and once had a .308 round that when fired, displayed excessive noise, recoil, the case was hard to extract and where the bullet impacted is a mystery. I won't mention brands because I have no hardcore evidence of what is to blame and have no desire to bash anyone. All these incidents did involve top brands. Have any of you had potential dangerous situations with factory ammunition?

June 25, 2013, 09:42 PM	#3
Jimro Senior Member Join Date: October 18, 2006 Posts: 7,097	I had some factory 308 push the primer about 1/3 of the way out of the pocket (at least that's what it seemed like at the time). Turns out that is a "low pressure" sign not a high pressure sign, but it was disconcerting to see. Jimro __________________ Machine guns are awesome until you have to carry one.

June 25, 2013, 10:41 PM	#5
jwrowland77 Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2012 Location: Conway, Arkansas Posts: 1,398	Factory ammunition failures Just a bunch of .22LR not shooting. It's funny I was afraid to pull the trigger on my first reload, but now I feel safer, shooting my own reloads when compared to shooting factory rounds, which I haven't done now in a year and a half.

June 26, 2013, 12:02 AM	#6
45Gunner Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2009 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 1,902	Going back about 25 years ago, I bought a new .45 ACP with a sought after brand name. The second range outing I was shooting Brand X ammo (which is now very popular). I had a round explode in the barrel doing considerable damage to the new gun. Fortunately for me, all the damage was from the breach forward. I called the ammo manufacturer and they requested I send them the remainder of the case of ammo. They told me to send the gun back to the manufacturer and they would pay to repair or replace the gun at the discretion of the manufacturer. The gun was repaired and the ammo manufacturer sent me two cases of ammo. I must admit that I was very hesitant to use that brand ammo again but I did and have never had another problem with that brand, which coincidently has become my favorite brand when I can find it. And, that particular gun has recently been reworked by my Master 1911 Gunsmith (after shooting over 150,000 rounds with it) and is among my top two favorite guns in my collection. __________________ 45Gunner May the Schwartz Be With You. NRA Instructor NRA Life Member

June 26, 2013, 12:08 AM	#7
ballardw Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 1,411	Rifle: Remington 40X Ammunition: Winchester Super-X 22LR Match Ruptured rim of case and had bits of brass hit my forehead. Out of tens of thousands of rounds. __________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ All data is flawed, some just less so.

June 25, 2013, 10:11 PM	#4
jersurf101 Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2013 Location: Eastern NC Posts: 553	I have seen a Mossberg 590 blow apart in the middle of the barrel with factory ammo. We had been shooting all of our shotguns a good bit that day. Blew the heatshield 100 yards in the woods. Not even the factory is perfect. Comforting isn't it?

June 26, 2013, 12:14 AM	#8
wet Member Join Date: October 2, 2011 Location: ID. Posts: 89	year ago I bought a box of 22mag, half of which were misfires. the next box perfict.

June 26, 2013, 12:36 AM	#9
TXAZ Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 2010 Location: McMurdo Sound Texas Posts: 4,322	Over ~30-40 years, seems like most of the factory ammo squibs, likely a dozen, we're as another noted above, 22LR's, followed by 3 .50 BMG (all French "thick" primer issues), followed by 2 or 3 9mm, and 1-2 7.62x 39 (I believe circa 80's Russian). No shot shells or other rifle cartridges, no explosions. And I don't reload. Likely 99.99+% went bang first trigger pull. __________________ Cave illos in guns et backhoes

June 26, 2013, 09:58 PM	#10
ClydeFrog Junior member Join Date: May 1, 2010 Posts: 5,797	new M&P compact .45acp ball/milspec 230 grain FMJ.... I was at a Gander Mountain range today shooting my brand new Smith & Wesson M&P .45acp pistol. My friend had a double feed with a factory made American Eagle 230gr FMJ. I only put a small amount of LPX on the new .45acp & I honestly think it was "human error" on the part of my friend(limp wristing hold). It may have been the QC on the American Eagle line of ammunition too. The brass and cases looked flawless when I opened the box. Every .45acp round I fired cycled with no issues. I also heard of a aluminum alloy case CCI Blazer round cracking & rupturing in the cylinder of a DA revolver while a woman fired it. The firearm was damaged & I think the woman had minor injuries. This was in the early 1990s. The revolver may have been low quality too. Clyde

June 26, 2013, 11:14 PM	#11
Koda94 Senior Member Join Date: November 25, 2012 Location: Cascadia Posts: 1,294	does military surplus ammo count? years back I was given a bunch of 9mm what appeared to be middle eastern surplus rounds. Markings were all middle eastern font... FMJ and IIRC green casings. fired a few rounds and then one barely made a noise and the slide didnt even recoil. I dropped the mag and cleared the chamber and checked the barrel, and nothing was in it. I packaged up all that ammo and gave it back. Pistol has never ever jammed only that time. I've never considered surplus ammo for any caliber since... __________________ lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

June 27, 2013, 04:54 AM	#12
thedudeabides Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2012 Posts: 1,031	One squib that was easy to pound out with a wooden dowel and a few bad primers. Those were all in the 90s. I mostly shoot reman ammo these days, that stuff tends to be real good.

June 27, 2013, 05:53 AM	#13
okiewita40 Senior Member Join Date: June 11, 2007 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 409	Went to the range last week for qualification. We were using Blaser aluminum case ammo. It was underpowered and had 8 dead rounds in a box of 50. __________________ What on god's green earth do you think your doing?

June 27, 2013, 05:29 PM	#14
Toolman Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2006 Posts: 514	With the ammo shortage being what it is & the commercial producers working 24/7 to try to keep up, I'm not a bit surprised there are a lot quality problems showing up. When you're running balls-out it's hard to catch everything. They need some breathing room. __________________ Crime Control. NOT Gun Control.

June 27, 2013, 07:58 PM	#15
kimbers rule Member Join Date: November 3, 2012 Location: State of Jefferson Posts: 95	Back when I was a kid, maybe 13 or so, I had a Remington core lock dud in my .270 as a finish shot on a blacktail forkinhorn. I didn't need it luckily, but sent the round in to The Big Green with a letter explaining how disappointed I was. They sent me an apology letter, a ball cap, and three boxes of ammo. I've been a Remington fan ever since.