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Factory Ammo...Fail To Fire

SMSgtRod

SMSgtRod

Professional
Founding Member
I was just wondering what the experience is with members on stuff not going bang.
A range buddy had a couple go Pfffffttttt. Primer had a center hit. Pulled the bullet
from one and it looked like the primer had fired. But it must have been weak as the
bullet never moved. On the second one, primer never went off.

Most interesting was some Hornady 454's I bought. I had just received the pistol so bought
some factory to see how much it kicked. Sure didn't kick often. First round fired, then
next couple didn't, then one fired. I tried 10 of the 20 and only 3 went bang.

Examining the primers they looked like very soft hits. I got brass, bullets and primers
to load up some of my own. 50 rounds fired flawlessly. What the heck???

Called Hornady to discuss my problem. Gave the technician the lot info and was
surprised by his answer. Seems the ammo I got wasn't supposed to be released for
commercial sale. He said the primer was really hard material and that's why they wouldn't
fire. Hornady sent replacements and an RA for the return.

I know there have to be more stories out there. So let's hear them!
 
I guess I've been fortunate to never have purchased a bad batch of centerfire ammo. I haven't been as lucky with rimfire but at 3 or 4 cents a round it's hard to get too upset.

Quick question, do you use your .454 for hunting? I have a Raging Bull in .454 and really want to take on a pig hunt.
 
Not quite a FTF, but I had an odd batch of Remington PMC 380. That seemed to have some weak brass. After running it through the Bodyguard i noticed significant bulge in the ejected shell. I contacted Remington and they sent me a shipping label and asked for a few spent shells and the remaining live rounds. A week later I recieved a check for the cost of a box.

At least I didnt end up with a handfull of shrapnel.
 
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Classified said:
Not quite a FTF, but I had an odd batch of Remington PMC 380. That seemed to have some weak brass. After running it through the Bodyguard i noticed significant bulge in the ejected shell. I contacted Remington and they sent me a shipping label and asked for a few spent shells and the remaining live rounds. A week later I recieved a check for the cost of a box.

At least I didnt end up with a handfull of shrapnel.
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Did you buy another box of the Remington PMC after that?
 
PepperGuy said:
I guess I've been fortunate to never have purchased a bad batch of centerfire ammo. I haven't been as lucky with rimfire but at 3 or 4 cents a round it's hard to get too upset.

Quick question, do you use your .454 for hunting? I have a Raging Bull in .454 and really want to take on a pig hunt.
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No I sure don't. But I'll bet somebody will come along to assist.
 
This is not quite a failure to go bang story, as much as it is failure to feed.

I often use Ammoseek to locate "cheap" practice ammo for both 9mm and 380acp. I gave my 22 year old daughter 4 boxes of Maxxtech 380acp ammo purchased online from Bud's Gun Shop to go to the range with her fiancé, to shoot her Ruger LC380. They came back to me later that day with a jammed up LC380, which happened after only 2-3 magazines of ammo had been fired. Upon examination, it was not in battery, and you could not rack the slide whatsoever, by hand at least.

I took it to my work bench, and ended up having to put it in a padded vice, facing a brick wall, and use a rubber mallet to knock the slide loose. Once I extracted the round that was jamming it, I found that the round had a primer that was not flush to the round, but was more than 1/16" above being flush in the rear of the case. This was enough to cause a failure to go into battery situation in the LC380, and things in fact got so jammed up you could not rack the slide either, due to the failure to go into battery I suppose.

I then went through the remaining ammo in all 4 boxes and found 2 more rounds that exhibited that same problem. They are all still sitting on the back of my workbench in fact, after a year, as I need to dispose of them safely. In the meantime, I've warned anyone who asks NOT to buy Maxxtech ammo, and I won't buy it again myself.
 
If you know a reloader they can pull the bullets for you and make the rounds safe.
If not, I'm sure your range will be more than glad to dispose of them for you. Ranges
find live ammo all over the place pretty much daily.
I've always done well with the better quality ammo from Targetsportsusa. I like to get
good factory ammo, get the feel of it, and then reload the brass.
 
I personally can’t seem to buy a good box of Remington UMC or Winchester white box. Been strictly buying Federal or Hornaday lately.
 
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SMSgtRod said:
Many times it's not the ammo. Some guns just don't like the way some folks make it. Finicky like little kids.
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Touché to that most times I’ll inspect the ammo and re run it. But the Remington UMC that I got had to many Failures to fire even when ran in my trash gun. I say trash gun but truly it’s an awesome gun but it’ll shoot anything ie trash gun lol.
 
KLGunner said:
Touché to that most times I’ll inspect the ammo and re run it. But the Remington UMC that I got had to many Failures to fire even when ran in my trash gun. I say trash gun but truly it’s an awesome gun but it’ll shoot anything ie trash gun lol.
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I recently went through 200 rounds of the Remington UMC 115 grain 9mm ammo. No problems encountered. Ran it through my XD Mod2 and XDS.
 
KLGunner said:
Touché to that most times I’ll inspect the ammo and re run it. But the Remington UMC that I got had to many Failures to fire even when ran in my trash gun. I say trash gun but truly it’s an awesome gun but it’ll shoot anything ie trash gun lol.
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Something I have noticed is when I have had the FTF's the pin hit the primer off center. That tells me that not everything got seated properly in battery. FTF's were not the first to fire. Always a few rounds down in the mag which may be a heat issue causing things not to reset correctly. Run the failed carts a second time and they most always bang nicely.
 
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I was out plinking with my first pistol a Ruger P95D and bought a box of CCI 9MM 115 gr. FMJ and unbeknownst to me grabbed a box of CCI Blazer aluminum cased 115gr. 9MM FMJ. The aluminum casing stove piped everytime. I couldn't give the rest of the box away after shooting 5 rds.
 
I have a Kahr CM40 as my EDC gun and if I have had any issues with it, it is because the gun is a hand Cannon and can not be limp wristed. It will fail to load the round completely into battery if you limp wrist it at all. It can be rather snappy, Chihuahua size with a pitbull bite. All workhorse not at all refined. I really need a Hellcat!
 
Believer said:
I was out plinking with my first pistol a Ruger P95D and bought a box of CCI 9MM 115 gr. FMJ and unbeknownst to me grabbed a box of CCI Blazer aluminum cased 115gr. 9MM FMJ. The aluminum casing stove piped everytime. I couldn't give the rest of the box away after shooting 5 rds.
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Never have used aluminum as I feel it's too soft. Don't use steel as I don't thing steel against steel is a smart idea.
Brass is perfect for me especially reloading. Then too, looks so pretty when polished up.
 
Believer said:
I have a Kahr CM40 as my EDC gun and if I have had any issues with it, it is because the gun is a hand Cannon and can not be limp wristed. It will fail to load the round completely into battery if you limp wrist it at all. It can be rather snappy, Chihuahua size with a pitbull bite. All workhorse not at all refined. I really need a Hellcat!
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A 40 that doesn't weigh a pound and will fail to load is not really anything you want to trust your life to. I love my Glock 23, in 9mm, 40 and 357 SIG. When I carry it now it's in 40 mode. But I have a new Glock 32 and it dearly loves to ride around in the holster with me.
 
SMSgtRod said:
A 40 that doesn't weigh a pound and will fail to load is not really anything you want to trust your life to. I love my Glock 23, in 9mm, 40 and 357 SIG. When I carry it now it's in 40 mode. But I have a new Glock 32 and it dearly loves to ride around in the holster with me.
[/QUOTE

I do love 357sig, and Glock, but I love me some Springfield.
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I will be getting either the XD Mod 2 subcomp. 9 or the Hellcat within the month. I was hoping to win one and save $500. I have talked to the gun dealers in my area and all I hear is that the Hellcat is backorder with their distributors.
 
Believer said:
I will be getting either the XD Mod 2 subcomp. 9 or the Hellcat within the month. I was hoping to win one and save $500. I have talked to the gun dealers in my area and all I hear is that the Hellcat is backorder with their distributors.
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Midway and Cabela's you might look at.
 
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