Squib load problem!

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.

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.

Rastoff said:

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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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.

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.

thechef1 said:

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?

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thechef1 said:

...about the apex stuff, will it void my warranty and will they remove the parts?

Click to expand...

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:

Smith & Wesson will not be responsible for:
• Defects or malfunctions resulting from careless handling,
unauthorized adjustments or modifications made or attempted
by anyone other than a qualified gunsmith following Smith &
Wesson authorized procedures, or failure to follow the disassembly
instructions in the Smith & Wesson manual.

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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.

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

sstewart said:

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

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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.

randyr5 said:

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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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

What picture?

Oh that one.

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.

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