So I went shooting today and brought along some ammo I bought off a friends dad he gets it from a guy who apparently gets excess police ammo. Anyways this stuff is trash I got through a few rounds and had a squib load in my 9 pro 5 in, and stupidly decided to keep shooting it in my 9 4.25 (dumb I know but its a far drive a I wanted to keep shooting). This was a BAD idea I realize that because I again had another squib load. this time was worse I don't think I shot twice, but there was a bunch of other people shooting around me so I guess its possible. The reason I think I may have shot twice was because although it felt like a Squib there was nothing in the barrel BUT the slide locked back and when I say locked I mean LOCKED this thing wont budge at all. So i'm thinking I bulged the barrel and I will need to send it back to smith. the problem is I have full apex gear in the gun as well as trijicon HD's, will they cover me under warranty? will they keep my apex parts in there? I read somewhere that if you send a gun with aftermarket parts they send it back with OEM parts. Any one that has any experience with them please let me know.

On a side note my buddies dad is going to buy back all the ammo from me. He is a stand up guy and didn't know it was going to be a problem he said he shot a few hundred of the same stuff out of his 659 w/o any issues.

The firearm has not failed due to a defect in materials or workmanship.

If you bulged the barrel with defective factory ammunition, it is the ammunition manufacturer's responsibility to fix things for you.

If you bulged the barrel with defective reloaded ammunition, there is no S&W warranty to honor and no ammunitiong manufacturer to hold accountable.

I would pull the Apex parts back out before I sent it back in, the sights should be fine. As stated they most likely are going to charge you for a new barrel, a squib load followed by another shot isn't a warranty problem.

What the others have said is true. If this was caused by the ammo, it's not covered under the warranty.

Can you move the slide at all? If you can't, look closely down the bore with a light. If the barrel was bulged, you'll be able to tell. If it has been, you may have to use a hammer to get the slide off.

If you can get the slide off, take all the Apex stuff out and send it back to S&W. The sights are a non issue. Once they look at it, they may sell you a new barrel. The reason you want to send it to them is to verify that you haven't buggered the frame or other components.

Also, pull all the bullets on that ammo and toss it. If you don't have a bullet puller, you can just use a pair of pliers. Either way, that ammo needs to be destroyed.

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Freedom isn't free.

As a general practice, I don't shoot anyone's reloads except my own. I've helped a few shooters clear squib loads at the range before, and each time, I ask where the ammo came from, and each time its "these are reloads from my dad/friend/brother/friend-of-a-friend/etc.". Yikes, the liability alone isn't worth it.

I agree here. When you pull the bullets see if there is a equal amount of powder in each just to see if Bubba might have loaded some short, or bad powder, wrong powder.

Anyway it needs to be taken apart and disposed of.

OBTW don't shoot anymore in any of your other firearms. A lesson that cost you is a lesson you will remember.

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Psalm 23:4

thanks for all the input so far. looks like im going to send it back to smith and cross my fingers. if i have to buy a new barrel I think im just going to get a threaded one which I have been wanting anyways so i guys it wont be all bad. As for the ammo it is not reloaded ammo he said its like loose mix police surplus he got, and I wont be pulling any bullets because like I said before he is going to buy it back. I don't think im going to be able to get the slice off im not sure I really sure how I feel about taking a happen to the slide, I don't want to make things worse. but back to the question about the apex stuff, will it void my warranty and will they remove the parts?

If I'm correct, they remove the apex stuff and replace with stock, not sure if you get it back. It does not void the warranty from what I have read here.

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Criminals don't register guns.

The Apex stuff won't void the warranty, but there's a good chance you won't get the gun back. This is the concern I would have. If they don't return the gun, you won't get any of your parts back.

There is another thread where someone had a similar problem. He called S&W and they told him to send the gun in and they would test it. They determined it was not a defect in the gun (this is definitely your situation) and they suggested he contact the ammo manufacturer. But, S&W has not sent him his gun back yet. It's been about 3 months. S&W did offer to sell him another gun at a discounted price though.


This is why it's a good idea to remove the parts first. This is also why I asked if you could get the slide off. If you can't remove the slide, you won't be able to get your parts out.

Have you read the warranty? It has the answers you're looking for:
So, if the problem was caused by the parts you installed, then the damage is not covered. In your case, it was caused by the ammo so, the gun is not under warranty for the damage caused by the ammo. The fact that you have after market parts in the gun is irrelevant.

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Freedom isn't free.

There is a real possibility that they will offer you a new gun at a reduced price and throw yours in the metal chipper.
I'd put it back to stock before shipping to S&W

There's no way he can put it back to stock if he can't get the slide off. I'd give it a couple of whacks with a wood block and hammer to see if it will budge.

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Randy

i get that. My comment about S&W potential solution still stands.

wow I guess ill be taking a few whacks with the hammer. so they have the right not to return my gun to me? what if I want to use it for parts or a doorstop or paper weight. I dont see how they can just not send it back. anyways im going to take some whacks with the rubber mallet and contact smith ill try to keep everyone updated on the situation for future reference.

1st thing I noticed that the OP said is he believes it is Police surplus ammo. No LEA uses reloads that I am aware of. If this is the case, you may have a foot to stand on with the manufacturer of the ammo. As far as S&W not sending it back. S&W can not legally keep your property, It is your property. Not to mention if they did it would be an illegal weapons transfer.

so a few whacks from the rubber mallet and I got the slide off. After doing so i was able to verify the barrel is indeed bulged ( not sure if you guys can tell in the pic or not). So i guess my next step is to contact smith to see if my apex stuff will void the warranty as trigger components should have nothing to do with a barrel bulge. unfortunately I bought this particular gun used with the apex duty kit kit already installed I have since put in the ram and polymer trigger (awesome setup BTW). so i guess that means im going to have to buy a 9c which i have been wanted anyways and throw the stock parts in the 4.25. unless maybe I can use the parts from my pro 5 but it supposedly has the pro trigger even though I couldn't tell much of a difference. The ammo is not reloaded its just mixed factory ammo in a white box. thanks for the input so far gentleman.

forgot to add the pic

Attached Images

IMG_0945.jpg (22.7 KB, 191 views)

What picture?

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A republic if you can keep it

Oh that one.

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A republic if you can keep it

Yes I can see it a little bit past chamber a large bulge. I did that to a colt trooper two back in the 80s. I was all let's see how fast I can pull the trigger and ran right over a squib. Lesson learned. Still have that barrel and the fixed trooper.

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A republic if you can keep it

you can see on the inside of the barrel to the rifling is a little messed up.

This is an important piece of information. The warranty from S&W applies to the original owner only. So, you have nothing to worry about because you have no warranty on your gun.

That doesn't mean S&W won't fix your gun. Neither does it mean they won't replace your barrel for free. They have done warranty work on other guns I know of where the owner wasn't the original owner. I'm just pointing out that because you are not the original owner, they have no legal obligation to you.

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Freedom isn't free.

If the barrel is the only thing damaged, why don't you just buy another one. $60-70 + shipping is way more convenient than going through a complete investigation on the ammo manufacturer, who's liable, etc.

Even a 3rd party barrel @ $100 is better than what you'd get if S&W doesn't give you a free replacement and they have no reasonable need to do so (along with all the waiting).

Bottom line. I hope the convenience of staying around to shoot the junk ammo was worth the damaged barrel. Me personally, I'd just go home to shoot another day.

Glad you didn't get hurt or destroy the gun.

They will not remove your apex mods unless it is the cause of your problem, I have sent back 2 mod guns to them and they didn't touch the mods, you can call cust serv. and ask them.

Where would he get this barrel? After market yes, but factory barrels are hard to find. If you know a source, please, let us all know.

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Freedom isn't free.

Well here's your chance to buy that threaded barrel you wanted. I'd consider buying an aftermarket barrel and save the trip to s&w.

#1 the gun has been altered, it doesn't matter to S&W by whom.
#2 you were using re-loads. It's a bad idea to use re-loads from anyone you don't know& trust.
#3 you ignored a squib & fired again, lucky nothing worse happened. Good luck getting things squared away, but I see no responsibility for S&W.

Several of you guys have said this, but you're completely wrong. Read what the OP said before jumping to conclusions.


thechef1,
I don't believe it's legal for S&W to keep your gun. Nevertheless, there is another thread on here where a guy sent his gun in and is now having trouble getting it back.

Since you're not the original owner, S&W has no legal obligation to you to repair it. Like I said before though, that doesn't mean they won't. Give them a call. The worst that can happen is they say no.

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Freedom isn't free.

not trying to be a dick bro but you should really read the thread before spurting out opinions. they were not reloads and as far as I know I did not fire twice. that being said thanks for wishing me luck I appreciate that Im on hold right now with SW for about 24 minutes and 18 second right now but who's counting. ill let everyone know what they say.

yes please let me know where these 60 dollar factory barrels can be found or even a 100 dollar aftermarket everything i've seen is much more than that. have any links you can post? or better yet know where I can get a threaded at a decent price? and I think its pretty obvious that it was not worth shooting the ****ty ammo, all well lesson learned

If you have a bulged barrel, you fired twice.

Just buy a new barrel(Midway had factory a few weeks ago, Storm Lake is a more likely prospect though) and go on with life...

ok after 40 minutes on hold heres the deal. they pretty much dont cover the barrel bulge no matter what they said i need to take that up with the ammo manufacture. the apex parts are irrelevant being the second owner is irrelevant in this particular case however the warranty IS only for the original owner. they are sending me a prepaid envelope and i have to send it back to get a new barrel installed at 90 dollars. they said they will not sell me just a barrel but i find this hard to believe so I might just try to order one online though SW's website. storm lake after market threaded is 225 and non threaded is 180. anybody know a less expensive option for aftermarket?

Just got this email today from S&W, I was asking about buying an extra barrel from them.

Reference number: LTK111770587620X Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.
Subject: 5" pro barrel
Dear Customer,
We no longer sell barrels retail.
If further assistance is required please reply accordingly.
Sincerely,
Michael DiFiore

Short and to the point. Not what I wanted to hear but I think the reasoning is that they want to sell more pistols, not having people buy a .40 and 2 more barrels. I'm looking to see if Midway or one of the other vendors gets them back in stock. It might just be that Smith doesn't want to sell the barrels directly to the public but will wholesale them to a vendor who can resell them.

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Minimize the variables

yeah midway unfortunately is out of stock i think im just going to send it back rather then search the earth for a better option.

Midway USA still has the 4 1/4" .40S&W barrel in stock. They are out of all the others, but you can still put them on back order. So, they must have some coming at some time.

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Freedom isn't free.

Sorry, I only just saw your other post. I think $90 for a new barrel from S&W is a decent deal especially considering shipping is free.

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Freedom isn't free.

Send it back. Gotta play their game. Its a fair deal to get your gun back for $90.

So I walk in one on my LGS's today and oddly enough they had one storm lake M&P full size threaded barrel sitting in the display... so yeah I bought it, kinda felt like it was fate I've never seen one in any gun store before. It was the exact model I wanted a little spendy, ok a lot spendy (249 plus tax) but they are pretty hard to find so I figure if I dont like or or see it worth the money I can call sell or maybe work some kind of trade. If any one wants pics LMK its a little longer than I thought it would be it sits off the slide about a 1/4 in before the threads even start.

well after 30 years of reloading and not one squib we are in the same situation my son was shooting and did not recognize the squib

I will try to get it apart first as well


what is the best replacement barrel to look for besides factory

will they sell you just a bbl

its a 5" M&P pro

One of my friends duties as a rookie cop was to reload practice ammo for the city police force. This was many moons ago. Maybe the OP got a hold of something like that.

Holy Necro-thread! This thread is nearly 9 years old.

It would be best to start a new thread if you're seeking advice about a replacement barrel.

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What, me worry?

If you want a good barrel buy an APEX barrel either drop in or semi fit . 190 or 200. Just look on line lots available even factory ones.