Unseen Danger!! Check your carry ammo regularly!!

3660 Views 24 Replies 14 Participants Last post by ExSoldier, May 1, 2021

Tally XD

Discussion Starter · Sep 6, 2016 (Edited)

I have several members to thank for what I am about to post here. If this is already posted somewhere I apologize in advance but I have been a member for several years and do not remember seeing this. I think it is of enough importance to post it in any regard.

I am not preaching!! This is a reminder for some and news to others!

After discussions here about carry ammo for short barrel snubbies I got to reading about different ammo selections and brands in the .40s&w caliber.

I came upon some info that had slipped my mind, already was aware of it, but had just simply let it slip for many months.

This really can cause you great harm or destroy your gun or both!

Pull your carry ammo regularly and inspect it! If there is any sign of damage to the case, any at all, or signs of bullet set back do not use this ammo! Not even for practice! Get rid of it permanently so it cannot be used by you or anyone else.

For those that are not aware, bullet set back and case damage can occur to cartridges that have been ejected and then put back into rotation in the magazine. It can happen after one time or after several times. The more set back the projectile gets the more pressure that will build up in the case when you fire it. This can lead to case rupture or severe damage to your firearm and maybe to you. Chambers cannot handle super high pressures and can and will come apart in your hand violently. Some chambers are not fully supported and are even more susceptible to this.

I just tonight pulled my carry ammo for inspection and I was utterly surprised.

Here is a photo of 6 of the 14 rounds I removed from my main carry magazine. The rings you see just below the crimp line is a sign of bullet set back. Other cases show dents and damage.

Ammunition Brass Metal Bullet Gun accessory

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Reactions: 5

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UrsusMedius

· #2 · Sep 6, 2016

This brings up the question: What's a good way to get rid of suspect ammunition? I visually inspect all my ammo ever since I had a FTF caused by a bad round and have so far collected about a half dozen rounds of 9mm that are either badly dinged up or otherwise suspect looking. what's the recommended way to dispose of these?

Ianthin

· #3 · Sep 6, 2016

UrsusMedius said:
This brings up the question: What's a good way to get rid of suspect ammunition? I visually inspect all my ammo ever since I had a FTF caused by a bad round and have so far collected about a half dozen rounds of 9mm that are either badly dinged up or otherwise suspect looking. what's the recommended way to dispose of these?

I know my LGR collects suspect rounds, the one of the guys disassembles them for parts so to speak.

Reactions: 4

CR Williams

· #4 · Sep 6, 2016

At the least I will always fire the round in the chamber off when I'm at the range. It will be the first round in whatever string I'm firing first. I don't rotate carry ammunition much but I always do that to avoid just such a things as the OP shows.

Reactions: 2

OldVet

· #5 · Sep 6, 2016

Minor dents that do not affect feeding are meaningless. Anyone who ever reloaded dinged 5.56 cases knows this.

Reactions: 2

GraySkies

· #6 · Sep 6, 2016

Bullet setback is easy to check, especially with hollowpoints. Just take a handful of ammo from the same box as the ones loaded in your mag and line them up, then take a light straightedge and lay it across the top of the line. You can slide any of the rounds from your mag under the straightedge and make sure the length is still the same as when it came out of the box. Simple.

I use a caliper to check them when I feel like I need to, rather than the above method, but not everyone has half-a-dozen pairs of calipers just laying around (I'm a machinist, so I do).

The potential for setback is very dependent on the particular ammo/brand/size and also the particular gun you are dealing with. On some it's a constant problem, and on some it never happens at all.

Better safe than sorry, of course, so be aware of it.

ghost tracker

· #7 · Sep 6, 2016 (Edited)

I think the Wild Bill Hickok method might be best, just practice every evening until your pistol...is empty. Reload with fresh ammo the next mornin'! :biggrin2:

I had a setback surPRISE with some early .357 Sig factory rounds. Apparently the SAMI pressure starts out high & goes up in a narrow-tolerance HURRY. It is only took a single tooth-rattling, ground-shaking ka-BOOM to scare me into being in a constant state of "setback awareness" :ahhhhh:

Reactions: 2

102023

· #8 · Sep 6, 2016

Never heard this. Thanks!!!

I rotate my mags weekly but usually leave the chambered round be. However, I unloaded and secured all my firearms a couple months ago and loaded them up week or so ago.

Guess it's time to check all my ammo. Those rounds are more than a year old anyway. Suppose its time to shoot it all up and buy some new stuff.

ghost tracker

· #9 · Sep 6, 2016

Sounds like a GREAT excuse to get a new digital...micrometer. And ANY ol' excuse is better than, uhhh, no reason at all!

RolandD

· #10 · Sep 6, 2016

Hornady American Gunner XTP .380 JHP's set back after being cycled through my wife's Kahr CT380. If she clears her weapon, they get separated out to be fired at the range.

robbnj

· #11 · Sep 6, 2016

I remember reading about a LEO who would clear his carry gun every day and put it into storage, then reload the ejected cartridge the next day for duty (one can only hope he wasn't going gunless when off-duty).
I'm pretty sure the story was about an FTF when it was most needed.

Tally XD

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 6, 2016

OldVet said:
Minor dents that do not affect feeding are meaningless. Anyone who ever reloaded dinged 5.56 cases knows this.

Agreed. But, the picture I posted is not clear and the rounds are worse than they look in the photo. One of the cases has a crease/wrinkle that looks like a mashed beer can.

RolandD

· #13 · Sep 7, 2016

Tally XD said:
Agreed. But, the picture I posted is not clear and the rounds are worse than they look in the photo. One of the cases has a crease/wrinkle that looks like a mashed beer can.

I don't think I'd be buying that brand anymore.

Jwr1221

· #14 · Sep 7, 2016

One trick I've picked up is each time I unload my EDC, I take the round that was in the chamber and put a line on it with a black sharpie marker. It then goes somewhere lower in the magazine and a fresh round goes into the chamber. Once I have enough "marked" rounds to load a mag, it gets fired at the range.
Gives me an easy way to make sure that any single round of carry ammo does not get chambered more than twice.

Josh

Reactions: 3

Tally XD

Discussion Starter · #15 · Sep 7, 2016

RolandD said:
I don't think I'd be buying that brand anymore.

That brand is Federal HST law enforcement ammunition. One of the finest that can be bought. Its not the ammo or the brand. It was due to my error in chambering these rounds over and over once the mag was pulled and the chambered round being put back into the magazine to be chambered again. Any ammo is susceptible to this some maybe more so than others due to bullet design. It was my error in not regularly checking my carry ammo for this type of damage.

Reactions: 1

ExSoldier

· #16 · Apr 30, 2021

RolandD said:
I don't think I'd be buying that brand anymore.

Speaking of ammunition brands, I experienced at least a 10% failure of ignition in MagTech .38sp to the point that I stopped buying it. It’s Brazilian so good luck with complaining. I think they used inordinately hard primers because they were all in my M642 snub nose and were “light strikes,” where you could see the tiniest dimple on the primer.

ExSoldier

· #17 · Apr 30, 2021

Also, was having this conversation with my wife’s gardener team. They were discussing gun lubricant and one guy said he used WD40.

I told him BAD IDEA because it’s designed to be a metal penetrant and could seep into your ammo primers causing incomplete ignition or worse a squib load resulting from that followed up by a hot load down the barrel. Ka-Boom! The television show NCIS had an episode where this happened. For exactly the same reason. One of the few times CBS got gun stuff right on a cop show.

patkelly4370

· #18 · Apr 30, 2021

I only unchamber and rechamber one round. It gets checked with calipers and hasn't set back. Lucky me.
When I need to dispose cartridges that can't go in a firearm, I toss them in the burn barrel (55 gal drum) at burn time. One at a time to avoid surprises.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

ExSoldier

· #19 · Apr 30, 2021

Jwr1221 said:
One trick I've picked up is each time I unload my EDC, I take the round that was in the chamber and put a line on it with a black sharpie marker. It then goes somewhere lower in the magazine and a fresh round goes into the chamber. Once I have enough "marked" rounds to load a mag, it gets fired at the range.
Gives me an easy way to make sure that any single round of carry ammo does not get chambered more than twice.

Josh

GREAT IDEA!

Reactions: 1

OldVet

· #20 · Apr 30, 2021

ExSoldier said:
Speaking of ammunition brands, I experienced at least a 10% failure of ignition in MagTech .38sp to the point that I stopped buying it. It’s Brazilian so good luck with complaining. I think they used inordinately hard primers because they were all in my M642 snub nose and were “light strikes,” where you could see the tiniest dimple on the primer.

Light strikes are a gun problem. No gun should have an issue firing any brand of primer. Brand X is not armor plated.

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