Shield 9mm, Can't Rack Slide, Live Round in Chamber

[Florida J Frame]

Was the round in question re-man or new. Freedom Munitions sells both and do you happen to have the lot number from the box? I have some new in stock and plan to check each one.

 

[Larry1945]

This round came from a box labeled "9mm 115 Gr RN, New - 50 rds." The numbers below the bar code are 50016 00404, and below that are the numbers 5523-4893-62.

When I order "New" ammo I expect everything about it to be new, including the brass. The case isn't the problem here, nor is the seating of the bullet. This is nothing but piss-poor quality control, both in the primer and the seating thereof and in the final product...

 

[Florida J Frame]

I agree that they should have caught this in final but it looks like a primer issue actually caused it. Probably could have happened with any brand of ammo that isn't hand inspected. I hand inspect all my carry ammo and will start checking the range stuff much closer. Thanks for posting

 

[TX-Dennis]

This round came from a box labeled "9mm 115 Gr RN, New - 50 rds." The numbers below the bar code are 50016 00404, and below that are the numbers 5523-4893-62.

When I order "New" ammo I expect everything about it to be new, including the brass. The case isn't the problem here, nor is the seating of the bullet. This is nothing but piss-poor quality control, both in the primer and the seating thereof and in the final product...

But the brass is headstamped IMI. That indicates a reused case, not a new case.

 

[rsrocket1]

You need one of these:

Dead Blow Hammer - 4 Lb. Neon Orange

$8 with a coupon and sometimes on sale at that price. Works well with muzzleloaders and while working on cars too.

 

[NCW Ray]

Okay, I have my Shield back with no harm done. Turns out it was an ammo problem, a terrible round courtesy of Freedom Munitions. I've included a photo of that round; if you enlarge it you can see the problem. For one thing, the primer is not fully seated - it's not flush to the case rim. Even worse, there is a small blob of what looks like solder right in the middle of the primer. The armorer wasn't sure, but he thought that when I pulled the trigger on this round the striker tried to do its thing but immediately ran into that blob of solder. Something about the poorly seated primer and that blob in the middle of it just locked everything up - the striker, the extractor and the slide.

He cleared it by standing the gun up with the barrel on the edge of his workbench, then hitting the back of the gun hard - really hard - with a big nylon hammer. It took two or three good whacks to break it loose. I tried that at home, but I don't have a nylon hammer that big and I just couldn't apply enough force to it. It took him all of about 5 minutes and he didn't charge me a dime. He looked at that round and just shook his head and laughed. I took six rounds of ammo with me so he could test fire the gun after clearing it, and they sailed through with no problems.

I've learned a couple of things from this experience: One, that's it for Freedom Munitions. If their quality control can't catch a round like that, I'm done with them. And two, I'm going to eyeball every round I load before it goes in the magazine. No more trusting factory ammo, from anyone.

So that's it guys; thanks to those of you who followed me along on this adventure and gave me your thoughts. I'm a couple of days older and a whole lot wiser than I was before this happened...

A human eye does not inspect every round that comes out of the loader. Every ammo maker has bad rounds get by and out to the end user. I've shot a ton of Freedom NEW 40 ammo and never a problem and will continue shooting it.

 

[Pondoro]

A human eye does not inspect every round that comes out of the loader. Every ammo maker has bad rounds get by and out to the end user. I've shot a ton of Freedom NEW 40 ammo and never a problem and will continue shooting it.

I consider a protruding primer a risk of a slam fire. There should be a 100% inspection of some type: either a fail safe installation (primer seating ram must seat against the case or the machine stops), an error proofing step (primed case can get stuck in some area based on the primer sticking out and making it too long) or an inspection (could be machine performing the inspection).

 

[rwsmith]

Here's what I do.....

put the frame of the gun into a padded vise. Make sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction. Make sure that the slide is not being held in the vise. Get a sturdy dowel that is long enough to keep your hands out of the line of fire, that is big enough to catch the front of the slide right next to the barrel. DO NOT hit the front of the barrel, only the slide. I've used the handle of a wire brush before to good effect and the bend keeps my hands out of the line of fire.

With a rubber mallet hit the dowel end so that the slide is driven back. AGAIN, keep your hands out of the line of fire and wear safety equipment.

Start out easy and tap the dowel with the rubber mallet and repeat a few times. If the slide doesn't come loose, hit it little harder a few times. Keep increasing the force of the mallet and within a few minutes you will notice the slide move back and try to close. It shouldn't close so hard that you can't eject the problem round.

If not in the vise I hold the top of the slide getting as much of my left hand on it that I can. I make a 'V' of my thumb and fingers of my right hand and hit the back of grip as high on the grip as I can, with the 'V' of my hand. If that doesn't do it, the vise is the best way.

I had a problem reloading with some hinky bullets in 9mm that needed a really short OAL, consequently, I got cartridges stuck in several guns before I figured out what the problem was. I've used these two methods to clear several guns. If the bullet is really stuck in the lands ahead of the chamber (9mm compacts have really short chambers) when I get the slide open, sometimes it would actually pull the bullet. Be sure to check your barrel to make sure a bullet isn't stuck in there.

Since the DAO Shield is made to reset the striker after each trigger pull, I DOUBT that the striker is against the primer. Don't take chances however. The gun could still go off.

Doing this with a single action pistol may be asking for an unwanted discharge.

 

[oink]

I try to always inspect my ammo but I'm sure there have been plenty of times I haven't. During a short period when I was carrying a G21 and the Dept was supplying really junk ammo for practice and qualifications I would field strip my gun and drop every round I was going to use in the barrel to check fit and otherwise inspect.

Looking at the picture of round that jammed the OP's gun I'm going to say it's a reload for sure and it looks from the picture like the original primer wasn't fully punched out but got dimpled and partially punched out in the attempt. It then continued through the loading process with the partially punched spent primer receiving more abuse and wear. A fairly cursory inspection should have picked it up.

 

[Execpro]

It is always a good idea to inspect your ammo before you load your guns.
I have fired thousands of rounds over the last 50+ years and about 30 years ago I was on a hunting trip and was loading a semi-auto rife with Remington hunting ammo and had a slam fire when putting a round in the chamber.
It scared the —— out of me! It's a good thing I followed all the safety rules. Gun pointed away from everyone and Pointed at the ground at a 45 degree angle away from rocks etc.. That morning hunt was over before it started,but I did kill a good piece of dirt!
When I got home to the rifle range I fired the rest of the 2 boxes I bought for the hunt without incident.
Since then I check my ammo!
It's also VERY important to check your gun to be sure it is functioning correctly( firing pin not protruding ect.).
Glade everything worked out for you!

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!

 

[Jeppo]

I've been following this, from the beginning, anxious for the final episode. I have never bought Freedom ammo so I have no dog in this hunt.

It seems to me there is reason to be suspicious of Freedom's quality control, particularly in light of other reports. Is it the case that this story should be reposted so as to bring it to the attention of more forum members? Perhaps under a title like, "What can happen if you don't check 'factory' ammo".

 

[Buford57]

Glad you worked that out. I've been buying 9mm "new" ammo from Freedom for about a year. 9 and .380 are the only centerfield calibers I own for which I don't load my own. The stuff has been good to me. I started using it on the recommendation of a friend who had sworn off Remington after buying multiple boxes with extreme variations in seating depth within each box. My "never again" brand is S&B due to dud primers. Internet searches tend toward the dissatisfied customer. When was the last time any of us started a thread praising a product?

 

[Larry1945]

Jeppo makes a good point - if you guys think it's appropriate, I'd be happy to submit a "What can happen..." post with a brief account of what happened and a photo of the round. I too think as many shooters as possible should see this and know what happens if you don't catch a defective round like this one before feeding it to your gun. Let me know...

 

[Jeppo]

My vote is the only opinion about appropriateness that counts is yours. I found it extremely beneficial to follow your story and perhaps others could too. If you post it with a more "broadly" appealing title, members can click or not.

 

[Munsterf18]

One of my habits when I open a box of pistol ammo is to run my hand over all 50 rounds while they are in the plastic holder. I'm feeling for a raised primer. It will quickly catch your attention sticking up when the other 49 are smooth. This is a much better technique for me to use than looking at them, where I might not notice it.

Just fyi.....

 

[Larry1945]

I agree with Munster...yesterday for fun I opened a new box of ammo and replaced one round with this bad one. Without looking, I ran my thumb over all the rounds and found this one in a heartbeat. That will now be S.O.P for me with every box of ammo I open...

 

[carbuff]

Larry1945, I am pleased that you were able to retrieve that live round without a tragedy. Your prudence and thoughtful actions are to be commended.

I have read the many comments about the poor quality of Freedom Ammunition in this tread. Fortunately, I have not encountered a bad round in the multiple-thousands of NEW 9mm, .40 and .45 ammunition that I have purchased from Freedom. All loaded, fired and ejected without failure. I do not attribute this good fortune to simply good luck.

I spend the extra money on NEW rather than re-manufactured ammo at a lesser cost. Why jeopardize myself or others for a few cents?

Thank you for posting this subject. It is both a refresher and a warning about the possible fatality when handling firearms.

 

[ggibson511960]

Frustrating Post

I read through this post several times trying to understand the final disposition and am still frustrated. The OP says he tried several times to fire the dud round. Was he able to rack the slide to re-cock the striker or did he merely pull on a dead trigger? Now that he has the bad round out of the gun and can see the mess on the primer, is in fact the primer live or dead? That's important because if the primer is dead it is either from the original round and was failed to be punched out, or it was a defective new primer. It would be relatively easy to see if the round was disassembled. One way it was Freedom's fault, and the other way it was the primer vendor's. The teardrop shaped indentation on the primer looks like that from a fired round, indicating that the original primer was left partially in the case, explaining its protrusion. Such a round would wedge tightly between breech face and barrel. If this ever happens to me I'll try gently tapping down on the barrel block with the piece aimed in a safe direction. Much more mechanical advantage on that stuck round than trying to cam the barrel down with the locking lug cam. I would also wonder if the firing pin/striker assembly is in good order with a good return spring in a clean hole in the slide. Were it not, and protruding above the breech face, this kind of thing could happen.

I wish I knew what went wrong. Frustrating.

 

[Florida J Frame]

I have been using Freedom Munitions 9mm and .380 for a couple years and haven't had a bad round. I'll be sure to inspect each order but I intend to keep using it. I only buy new and I trust it. I hope they manage to sort out their financial issues.

 

[Speedo2]

Larry, glad that you and the Shield are Ok.

I've had stuck re-roads (due to excessive COL), but have never seen a primer with that weird glob on it. Your photo suggests that it may be some foreign material that somehow got stuck to the primer face. If so, the question is: where did it come from? Have you inspected your slide's breech face? Also, any chance of debris entering the magazine?

I suppose it's possible that the mysterious primer glob caused the slide to jamb the round into the barrel chamber, perhaps engaging the bullet into the rifling. From my experience with excessing COL, the resulting slide jamb can be difficult, but not impossible to release by pushing the slide front (not the barrel) against a wooden bench top. However, your description of what you and the courageous gunsmith went through to release your slide suggests that it was more than just bullet-engaged rifling.

I would like to suggest an autopsy of that defective, globbed-up and remanufactured Freedom Arms round. Send it someone with a kinetic puller and then punch out its primer to see what's in the primer pocket. Please report back any findings. Also, thanks for posting this; it's been very interesting. -S2