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speer gold dot bad primer

6K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  CraigJS 
#1 ·
Went to the range today with the wife to try out her christmas present glock 26. First 3 shots went bang,bang,CLICK. We cleared the round out of the chamber and had a center hit right on the primer so i can only assume i had a bad round. I loaded the same round again and got the same results with it.
I've probably fired a good 40 thousand rounds over the past few years, most of that being the wichester white box and other "cheap" ammo and cant remember that ever happening. Needless to say i was quite shocked and a little frightened that would happen with "top shelf" ammo. We continued to run the gun through a wide variety of ammo and of course the glock preformed flawlessly.
My question is has anyone else had a similar experience? I'd like to think was this a one in a million type of thing and put it behind me. If I can't feel confident in the ammo i'm carrying.....damn
BTW it was a gold dot 9mm 124 gr hollow point
 
#3 ·
gold dots had a ammo recall for bad primers. Did the box have a sticker saying"no for law enforcement use"? Check their website for lot #'s. I think it's there.

Speer Recalls Gold Dot Ammunition
Speer Gold Dot Ammunition -380 Auto, 9mm, 9mm+P, and 40 S&W. An intermittent, low frequency occurrence of primer misfires may occur under certain circumstances in several calibers of Gold Dot ammunition. This only applies to Gold Dot ammunition of the specified calibers produced between 09-25-01 and 03-31-02.
An unauthorized change in manufacturing process was made in late September [2001]. This resulted in primers being used that did not meet specifications. Those primers are mostly used for ammo going to Government Contract shipments. However some of the ammo does go out through distributors to local and state contracts.
Speer Gold Dot 380 Auto, 9mm, 9mm+P, and 40 S&W ammunition produced between 09-25-01 and 03-31-02 should be returned to the factory for a no-charge replacement. Replacement ammunition will incorporate an "A" mark on the primer cup for identification purposes.

You should discontinue use of the subject ammunition and follow the procedure below immediately.

To return ammunition subject to this notice, please provide the information requested below by email, toll free fax, or toll free hotline. A customer service person will then contact you to explain how to return and replace any ammunition affected by the recall.
Telephone 866-286-7436, or FAX 866-665-2738, or email ammoATseg-outdoorDOTcom
Letters in lot code indicate month and year of production. Recall period is from Sept. 25th, 2001 to March 31st, 2002. Lot numbers with the sequence of letters shown below are part of the recall.

J26Gxx to J30Gxx (September 2001)
K01Gxx to K31Gxx (October 2001)
L01Gxx to L30Gxx (November 2001)
M01Gxx to M31Gxx (December 2001)

A01Hxx to A31Hxx (January 2002)
B01Hxx to B28Hxx (February 2002)
C01Hxx to C01Hxx (March 2002)

Also the labels will be a part number for specific breeds of ammo. The only Gold Dot parts numbers being recalled are:

53612 9mm 115 gr. +P+
53614 9mm 115 gr.
53617 9mm 124 gr. +P
53618 9mm 124 gr
53619 9mm 147 gr
53730 9mm 124 gr. (US Govt Spec and Sales)

53947 .40 165 gr. (Mostly sold to BATF)
53961 .40 155 gr.
53962 .40 180 gr.
53970 .40 165 gr. (US Govt Spec and Sales)

Also an extremely small quantity of .25, .32, and .380 ammo was manufactured with these primers. Presently one lot of .380 boxed in 50 round boxes is being recalled.

To qualify for recall, ammunition must (a) be from one of the recalled lot numbers and (b) have a part number listed above. Ammunition with the indicated lot numbers but a part number other than those listed is not being recalled.
 
#4 ·
When I first got my G19, I was using Fiocchi ammo. Everything was going smoothly, until I pulled the trigger to hear a click. I held the gun downrange for a minute, and then ejected the round. I inspected the round to find a very small dimple on the primer. It seems that when the round was made, the primer was to far into the case. No problems since.

I guess when thousands of rounds are made per day, odds are at least one will be bad.
 
#6 ·
Bud - it failed again Jeff said!

Rocky - thx for your info - that is most valuable.

Jeff - I too have not had (yet!) a failed GD - and do reckon this has to be all but a 1:1,000,000 thing. It is a shaker that's for sure but I reckon statistically, any ammo even top shelf stuff - must by law of averages have the very occasional failure example.

It is in some ways remarkable just how consistent ammo is these days. Do you have a press? I wonder - send it to Speer - or pull it and decap and inspect. Perhaps the former would be a good move.
 
#12 ·
True HG but I have decapped a good many misfires and once powder gone - and wearing eye protection - I don't worry about it. Personal choice! I know anvil is more depressed but - unless enough rapid inertial energy goes in - it should still be safe. I ain't had one go yet - put it like that - over 30 odd years :smile:

On further thinking - I would send that round back - a diagnosis needs made IMO and maybe even Speer would be thankful to find out the ''why'' of it. I would like to know too.
 
#13 ·
Whoa, not to critique your procedure for clearing your weapon and realizing that you are just posting what happend, you probably should have held the pistol down ranger just a minute just to see if the round fired off. Then cleared the pistol and trashed the round. Just trying to be safe not bashing. :redface:
 
#14 ·
P.S. post.... when a round fails to ignite that is called a "hang fire" and that round could have been hot when you decided to inspect your pistol and you could have been planning a funeral. As with life nothing is perfect, so don't expect too much out of your ammo not even the top shelf stuff.
 
#15 ·
HotGuns said you were lucky that you were at the range where it didn't really matter. And BlueLion was correct in saying wait for a period of time before clearing the round to a safe place. What if you were in a bad situation and it happened?

This brought to mind a Christmas present my brother gave to me...CNC machined "cartridges" to practice with. Next time at the range try this: have someone else load one of your magazines with a practice round somewhere in the stack. Upon hearing the "click", practice clearing the round, chambering a new one, and getting back on target in a timely manner. I also use it to determine if I am using bad shooting habits (pushing, flinching, etc.). They're a relatively inexpensive item that can be used improve one's shooting...
 
#16 ·
Ahh the ''ball and dummie'' - K9 that is certainly a great drill and one we include in NRA courses.

Nice thing about it is - a new or less experienced shooter can be told they are flinching or some fault but when they actually see it for themselves when reaching ''click'' - it seems to enable them to then correct it.

Also of course useful as a regular drill for practice - just as a means of malf' clearance familiarity. Not to be under-estimated.
 
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