Checking ammo is always a good idea

B

benenglish

Guest
I know folks around here reload extensively if not exclusively but look what I pulled out of a box of factory ammo. In order not to slam an identifiable manufacturer, I can't say exactly what cartridge this is. However, I thought it was a good reminder to always look at my ammo before I close a bolt on it.

How often does this happen with standard chamberings from major manufacturers, anyway?

BadAmmo.jpg
 
Looks more like what gets filtered thru those 1000 round blister packs from (insert nation here)
 
CWG said:
Looks more like what gets filtered thru those 1000 round blister packs from (insert nation here)
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It wasn't a .223/5.56, though it is a .224 cal. It was straight out of a 20-round box from one of the 3 or 4 largest/best known USA gun and ammo makers. Every other case in the box was fine.

I was surprised, so I took a picture and posted it. Maybe I just lack experience because I haven't shot enough factory ammo over the years but this is the first time I've seen something like this from a big-name maker.
 
Odd, I've never seen anything close to that.
Certainly dropping a letter is in line to whomever.
dang ugly!
and I HOPE sammi doesn't cover that!
 
CWG said:
Certainly dropping a letter is in line to whomever.
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Agreed. I emailed the Customer Service dept at the company with a link to this thread so they can see the problem. I hope this is a one-in-a-zillion and that they don't actually have any serious ongoing QC issues. My experience with the brand has always been positive and this certainly seems to be a statistical outlier. At least, I sure hope so.
 
I don't understand why it is considered "slamming" to mention who the manufacturer is or the lot # when it may save someone from getting seriously injured.
It may even be cause for the manufacturer to issue a recall if the problem is big enough to warrant. Isn't part of this forum for keeping shooters informed?
Why is it we can only hear of the wonderous things manufacturers do & never hear when they screw up or screw a customer over? Maybe it goes on more than we think. If the info was out there, they would either straighten out their act or go out of business.
 
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Rflshootr said:
I don't understand why it is considered "slamming" ...
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Neither do I and I agree.

However, I note as a long-time reader of the forum that whenever any thread specifically names a vendor and describes terrible service or defective merchandise, that thread gets deleted.

If Wilbur were to post a reply OKing it, I'd happily provide all the info you list.

The (very quick, I'll grant them that) response of the manufacturer has been to require I send them the cartridge for inspection before they can do anything.
 
That is very typical of manufacturers. They want to get the defective product out of the consumers hands. Then there is no chance for a later law suit that you have no evidence in your hand to show as proof. It has been my experience, both personally & hearing from others, that they all do this.
 
I doubt if a round that misshappen would chamber. although there are people who would see that it did.
 
Rflshootr said:
That is very typical of manufacturers. They want to get the defective product out of the consumers hands. Then there is no chance for a later law suit that you have no evidence in your hand to show as proof. It has been my experience, both personally & hearing from others, that they all do this.
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What else would you expect ?
Do you really think they would say "go ahead and use it, and if your rifle explodes the picture you have sent us will help you sue us"
Come on now, be realistic. Of course they would like to get their manufacturing defect back in their hands safely without incident. Then they would probably send you a thank you / apology note and a new box of cartridges.
At this point he cannot sue them as he has no damages , if he fires it and nothing happens he has no damages. If he fires it and loses sight in one or both eyes he has a real good suit and will have money but no eyesight. In my mind there is no real choice here but do the prudent thing either send the round to the manufacturer or destroy it.
Dick
 
Dick,
I'm making a general statement. Granted, nothing happened. But if it did & there were other rounds in the same package that were also defective and they went unnoticed.......
I'm not saying anyone would sue, but I'm sure there are people out there that scheme up ways and twist things around to do just that. Get my point?
 
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I wouldn't consider a lawsuit the appropriate response just for finding a defective product worth a dollar-and-something in a box of 20. I'll send it back to them, hope they can learn from it, and think no more about it. The way I look at it, in my life as a whole, the free bottle of Coke the girl at the range checkout gave me today more than made up for the money I lost. Karma balances.

I just thought it made for an interesting picture to share.
 
I'm still trying to get a handle on the tolerances of the loading equipment used that would permit a case neck to be pushed back that far & bowed out to that extent.

Anybody with an insight into how it could be achieved?
 
John Kielly said:
I'm still trying to get a handle on the tolerances of the loading equipment used that would permit a case neck to be pushed back that far & bowed out to that extent.

Anybody with an insight into how it could be achieved?
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Looks to me as though the round was loaded, crimped and finished and then it got sideways in a conveyor somewhere and got scrunched up short, box got dropped, meteorite hit it, whatever. :)

Just my uninformed guess
 
"Checking ammo is always a good idea"

When it comes to ammo,what really concerns me most are the rounds that you can't check. The ones that don't fire(Duds),or the "Short charged" ones that jam the action in automatics. The ones that are visibly defective can be discarded(Culled)

I've had a few close calls in my lifetime because of defective ammo.




Glenn
 
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John Kielly said:
I'm still trying to get a handle on the tolerances of the loading equipment used that would permit a case neck to be pushed back that far & bowed out to that extent.
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I wondered the same thing. Since I'm about to send off the cartridge (along with the box it came in, a couple of fired cases, and a couple of unfired rounds from the same box), I thought I'd take some measurements.

The SAAMI drawings for the cartridge and chamber show the cartridge neck should have a maximum diameter of 0.2530 inches and the minimum chamber diameter at the neck should be 0.2550 inches.

The pictured cartridge measures 0.2695 at the bulge.

In a "roll it across a sheet of glass" test, I can detect no eccentric movement of the bullet tip. That's crude, yes, but I'm fairly confident in saying this is a reasonably concentric round and that argues against any sort of post-assembly impact as the cause of this condition.

Anyway, I thought I'd add a couple of data points before I called for the FedEx pickup.
 
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