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  #1  
Old 06-15-2018, 06:15 PM
misswired misswired is offline
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Default Another factory reload incident

Blew the mag outta the pistol, powder on my hands and face.
Casing was stovepiped...don't know if it was an overcharged load or outta battery discharge?
What I do know is I'm done with factory reloads!
Glock 21 shooting zero bullet reloads again.
Can you tell what happened looking at the casing picture?
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Old 06-15-2018, 06:23 PM
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Many semi-auto pistols have chambers that leave some portion of the case unsupported at discharge. A case with some level of defect could fail as shown, venting combustion gases into the breach or perhaps downward through the grip-frame and magazine well.

Any product manufactured by the millions may have some level of defect that may pass through the most strenuous quality controls. Is that the case in this incident? I don't know. Is the pistol itself somewhat outside manufacturing tolerances, allowing more unsupported case within the chamber? I don't know.

Placing the blame upon remanufactured ammunition might be premature. Unfortunately, just about all firearms manufacturers' warranties specifically exclude "reloaded" or "remanufactured" ammunition.

Might be worth having your pistol examined by a good gunsmith well versed in that particular brand and model. Probably get better information that way than whatever shows up on an internet forum based upon one photo of the ruptured cartridge case.
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Old 06-15-2018, 11:18 PM
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The problem with re-manufactured ammo is..........
you never know if the case has been fired more than one time.
Plus there is always a chance that the case when made might have had a flaw?

Then there is a chance that your case was not supported.
Some barrels are worse than others.

Second party Example;
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Old 06-16-2018, 01:51 AM
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I agree with Lobo and feel that the fact that the round was probably not supported and there appears to have been a weak spot on the brass. I feel that there would have been more damage, possibly separation of the rear portion of the brass if it were a hot load. Also, I can't tell from the picture but I would expect that the primer would have been blown some if not completely out.
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Old 06-16-2018, 06:35 AM
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That looks like an overload to me. The gun functioned just as it was designed to do. When the case burst, the force was directed down the mag well and away from the shooter. That is exactly what is supposed to happen. My guess is that the gun is still good to fire but I would have it checked out just to be sure it was not a gun issue or that no structural damage occurred. I'm not a remanufactured ammo fan, but that's just me. It's just not worth the little bit that is saved to make it worth my while.
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Old 06-16-2018, 06:47 AM
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The "Glock smile" was a Gen 2 issue, G3 and later the chamber as pictured above is more supported. Primers aren't a reliable sign of pressure, I can tell you from personal experience. AFAIK and again from personal experience, Glocks won't fire out of battery.
My guess is a defect in the case. So blame the ammo guys.
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Old 06-16-2018, 07:16 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misswired View Post
Blew the mag outta the pistol, powder on my hands and face.
Casing was stovepiped...don't know if it was an overcharged load or outta battery discharge?
What I do know is I'm done with factory reloads!
Glock 21 shooting zero bullet reloads again.
Can you tell what happened looking at the casing picture?
I hate to ask dumb questions but I really don't know....
What exactly are Factory Reloads , what factory/factories manufactures them ?
As a reloader for the last 50 years , I buy very little ammo and am unfamiliar with this.
I had a similar experience with Winchester Wildcat 22LR ammo, it was a double powder charge , I found the ammo had been recalled by Winchester after firing a double charged round in a Ruger 10/22 . The fired case looked just like yours.
The rifle had to go back to Ruger for repairs and a new magazine .
I'm glad you were not injured , this kind of thing can happen to brand new factory loaded ammo and I'm not sure how to completely avoid it.
Gary
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Old 06-16-2018, 08:05 AM
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"Factory reloaded" is just a term for any commercial enterprise that loads ammo using brass that has been previously fired. I avoid such stuff as neither you nor they have any idea how many times that brass has been fired or what weapon it was fired in unless they are buying it directly from an agency or organization that only uses new ammo.
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Old 06-16-2018, 08:12 AM
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I went thru maybe 1,500 rounds of "remanufactured" 9mm ammo. The only issues I had were a handful of rounds with the primers seated upside down. At that time, I paid $140 (plus tax) for 1,000 when I was paying at least $200 for "new".

Since then, "factory" ammo has come down in price, that brand of "remanufactured" has increased and the difference is maybe $20, at most. While I had no issues with the stuff, it just doesn't make sense to me now.
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Old 06-17-2018, 01:21 PM
misswired misswired is offline
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Thanks for the help... never had that happen before.
The pistol visually looks OK and Its been fired 25 times without a problem.
That was a real eye-opener with a lucky outcome... this time.
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Old 06-17-2018, 01:43 PM
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What company did the Factory reloading?
Did you contact them?
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Old 06-17-2018, 02:10 PM
misswired misswired is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobzGuns View Post
What company did the Factory reloading?
Did you contact them?
No contact; company name is in the OP.

You can see where the blast force deformed the magazine when forced past the mag catch.
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Last edited by misswired; 06-17-2018 at 02:43 PM.
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Old 06-17-2018, 03:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misswired View Post
No contact; company name is in the OP.
So... 'Zero Bullet Reloads'is the brand?? Sorry... I thought "Glock 21 shooting zero bullet reloads again" was just another way of saying you were weren't going to shoot reloads in your G21 (zero reloads meaning 0 reloads).
Hadn't heard of them before this thread?
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Old 06-17-2018, 07:38 PM
WR Moore WR Moore is offline
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FWIW, Black Hills does non destructive testing/examination (NDE) of all the cases they use for remanufactured ammo. Any cases showing flaws become scrap.

If the defective round was .40 with 180 gr bullet, the cause could have been bullet setback during the feed cycle resulting in over pressure. This is not unknown with the .40/180 in new ammo that's been repeatedly chambered.

Last edited by WR Moore; 06-17-2018 at 07:40 PM.
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Old 06-17-2018, 10:46 PM
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I pretty much stick to Black Hills for almost all of my ammo.
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Old 07-16-2018, 04:50 PM
e3mrk e3mrk is offline
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The only reloads I will shoot are the ones I make because I can inspect each case for flaws where as the factory just has a assembley line and cant check every one.
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Old 07-16-2018, 05:52 PM
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The case was fired in a Glock pistol as new ammo. The case was reloaded and fired in a Glock pistol again. It happens frequently but usually the case orientation is not identical. This time the ruptured case had the "Glock Bulge" on the bottom the second time it was fired.

All of my 40 S&W brass is fired in Glocks. I picked up the brass at a police range after the shooting was completed. About 90% of my 9 MM brass was fired in Glocks. I load all my 9 MM and 40 S&W ammo at or just below mid-range powder charge. I have found multiple ruptured cases in my fired brass.
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Old 07-16-2018, 08:54 PM
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My only experience is with Freedom Munitions, and its been generally good, but there have been issues. Their new manufacture 9mm Luger did (and may still have) dual thickness brass of their own construction, thicker on the bottom and thin at the top, creating a "shelf" midway in the case, supposedly to make loading quicker/cheaper, keep bullets from accidentally being pushed to low, whatever. This creates a weak point in the brass where the case can separate. I reported this on this forum a long time ago, I had multiple case separations in my UC-9 uzi, blowing up in my face on more than one occasion. My pictures I uploaded were used again by others, saw someone else post they had the same problem I did with a handgun. I never was injured by these, but its a bad deal anyway you put it.

My father has shot many thousands of 9mm Luger rounds from them through is Glocks, never a problem. I shot their remanufactured stuff through my Uzi with decent accuracy, but so low powered it had problems cycling the gun reliably, also having another round blow up in my face when a recycled proprietary case ended up in a lot.

Their 45 ACP ran in my Thompson and 1911 fine, but spat back at me in my M-24 1917, leaving unburnt powder everywhere. The 38 Special loads they made were OK for general short range handgun stuff, but weren't accurate out of my 1894ae, one even had a bullet lose its crimp and fall deep into the case. I never had any problems with their brass from the first shot, but after a few reloads through their old brass I had case head separation and full length case failures from some of their remanufactured 38 brass. I'm guessing they recycle brass that's "good enough" but a lot of it is old and mold for future reloading.

As prices close in, the remanufacturers are going to have a tough time.
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Old 07-17-2018, 09:08 AM
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Freedom Munitions Has always been my 'Go To' factory reload, but they MAY not be around much longer. They filed for Chapter 11 status a last Month. I placed an order with them almost 3 weeks ago, for an item supposedly in stock and it still hasn't been fulfilled.

I've since tried LAX brand's 'Sasquatch' reloads and they're working just fine (so far).
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Old 07-17-2018, 09:34 AM
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Some years ago, a friend gave me a 500 round box of commercial 9mm reloads. I experienced several base blowouts (Colt GM, unsupported base) similar to that pictured above, but no damage to the gun resulted.

I pulled all of the bullets, dumped the powder, and reloaded the bullets and primed cases with a known powder charge of another propellant. I used the removed powder for loading some light .44 Special loads, treating it as if it were Bullseye (no idea what it actually was).
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