Okay, this may not be the right place to ask this but here goes. I recently bought an old box of PMC 210 gr. SWC in .41 Rem. Mag at a gun show. I know these are old, but thought they would be fine. Anyway, about every other or every third round doesn't fire upon the initial primer strike. I realized this while shooting a Taurus Tracker this weekend. The rounds in question go off 100% when cycled through again, but I'm worried they could potentially go off prior to that and blow up a gun in my hand, so I stopped shooting them. I have exactly 28 rounds left. What would you do to the remaining 28 rounds?

And no, it's not the gun. Primer strike is good and deep, and this is the only ammo I've had this problem with. Thanks in advance.

Mark,

Really slow fire! Keep the duds lined up with the barrel for at least 10 seconds before proceeding. If you're really worried, shoot it as a single shot, and unload the duds after 10 seconds.

Or you could just pull the bullets, pop the primers, and reload the whole batch.

Buck

Hmmmm.
You say they fire on the second strike ....
I suppose it is possible to hold the trigger back and reset the hammer when you hit a dud to keep it at battery through the second attempt.

Exactly what Haggis said. Keep the gun pointed at the target for 10 secs is reasonable. This is what i was taught to do shooting rifle, it might be whats called a hang fire. Dont ask me how it works but sometimes, not often but sometimes the round will detonate after a few seconds and you dont want it to detonate in your hand. If you got a bullet puller and feel like it, take the rounds apart and put new primers in and see what happens. Bullet puller is a good thing to have, cheap and will come in handy. An eraser so to speak for reloading mistakes.

"An eraser" that is a good analogy!

Like bones and pps have said, don't get in a hurry when they don't go off. Keep the firearm closed, pointed in a safe direction and wait several seconds.

Good advice from all.

Thanks guys. I guess I knew all of this, but when it happens to you...

Thanks again. Cush

Well the problem is your shooting 'em in a Taurus....

Get a real 41 mag like this one:

Chris, that cut me deep!

Sgt Preston here. I went to the range yesterday (also Saturday & today). While I was waiting to request a lane, I looked thru the window to see who was shooting. At that exact instant, so help me, the guy directly in front of me pulled the trigger on an "Auto" (probably a Glock). The gun did not go off, so the guy turned 180 degrees & racked the slide to extract the bullet. The barrel was pointed in my direction. I got the hell out of his way fast. I can undersatnd racking the slide, but keep the business end of the gun pointed down range. What an idiot. Sgt Preston USMC LLA

quote:

Originally posted by Sgt Preston:
Sgt Preston here. I went to the range yesterday (also Saturday & today). While I was waiting to request a lane, I looked thru the window to see who was shooting. At that exact instant, so help me, the guy directly in front of me pulled the trigger on an "Auto" (probably a Glock). The gun did not go off, so the guy turned 180 degrees & racked the slide to extract the bullet. The barrel was pointed in my direction. I got the hell out of his way fast. I can undersatnd racking the slide, but keep the business end of the gun pointed down range. What an idiot. Sgt Preston USMC LLA

You shoulda got him kicked the heck off the line!!!!!!

Sgt Preston here. Shovelwrench I asked for a lane next to him & spoke to him when I had a chance. I took the opportunity to educate him & to try to make him a better & safer shooter. I repeated the rule about always keeping the barrel pointed down range & pointed out why it's important. He seemed like a reasonable person & I think that he will remember the range rules. Preston

I have had my share of misfires with center-fire ammo, but never the dreaded hangfire. HOWEVER, I have experienced a hangfire on two occassions with rimfire ammo. It can happen. Keep those muzzles downrange for a few seconds.

Last summer, I was at the range I shoot at and another guy was two lanes left of me. I was taking a smoke break and watching. He was firing a nice 6-inch colt Trooper with reloads. He fired four rounds then hit a dud. He looked at the gun, thumbed the hammer back to fire another round before I could stop him and the previous round went off. He got some lead in his hand and a damaged gun for his stupidity. Luckily, he was wearing Shooting Glasses. Swelled the chamber in the cylinder and hit part of the frame.

If you hit a dud, factory, old or,otherwise, keep the gun pointed downrange for at least 30 seconds(This one went at about 14), then carefully open the cylinder or rack the slide, take out the offending round and toss it downrange.