Blazer .380 95 grain

E

eagle1994

Inactive
Always have had good results with Blazer in my 9mm S&W 669, but that was many years ago. Bought a new S&W M&P Bodyguard 380 after Christmas 2014. First ammo shot was Blazer 95 gr. Out of 100 rounds, had four fail to fire and numerous light primer strikes. Out of 50 rounds of American Eagle 95 gr, zero issues, a few lighter strikes but all fired. All strikes were deeper than with the Blazer. Out of 50 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 90 grain, zero fail to fire issues and zero light strikes. So out of a total of 100 rounds of Am Eagle and Gold Dot, zero issues in terms of FTF, fail to feed, or fail to extract. The gun shoots great, sights dead on, feels good in my hand. I'm about to run another 50+ rounds of Gold Dot (carry ammo) through it. If no issues, then I'll simply avoid Blazer range ammo. (BTW, I contacted Blazer CS and was basically "blown off."). M&P Bodyguard is a super pocket pistol in a Remora 2R holster, same holster made for the Ruger LCP. About the Bodyguard trigger, yes long pull but very smooth. Double and triple taps to silhouette targets at 15-20 feet, nice groupings. Any suggestions welcomed.
 
Blazer ammo is cheap stuff good for the range or plinking only. I would never recommend it for SD or duty carry. Look for some Gold Dots for SD/Carry.
 
I have the same Bodyguard. I have only had one lite strike and that was with some cheap ammo(can't even remember the name). It was the only ammo I could find at the time as 380 was hard to find. I have fired some Blazer and it worked fine.

I like the Bodyguard. Yes, long trigger pull but you can get used to it.
 
eagle1994 said:
Out of 50 rounds of American Eagle 95 gr, zero issues, a few lighter strikes but all fired.
Click to expand...
Does the underlined statement mean that the rounds failed to fire the first time but fired on the second try, or just that the primer strikes weren't very deep?

If they failed to fire, I strongly suggest calling S&W customer service and asking them for a free shipping label to send the pistol back. If you're the original owner, they should not charge you a cent, and their turnaround is generally less than 2 weeks.

IMHO any given new-production pistol from a reputable gunmaker, loaded with recent-production ammo from a major North American or Western European manufacturer*, should fire almost every time.

If it has several failures to fire using ONE type of ammo from ONE production lot, it could be a fluke caused by bad ammo. (If this is the case, I'm disappointed that Blazer didn't offer to replace the ammo or give you a refund, but c'est la vie.) However, if it fails to fire using TWO types of ammo, or the same type from different production lots, it's likely the pistol.

*IOW no gun-show reloads, no steel-case Russian stuff with primers seemingly made of granite, and no ammo from your Grandad's closet in moldy boxes so old that they don't have the manufacturer's zip code on them. ;)
 
Blazer .380 in M&P Bodyguard

Thought about sending the gun back to S&W. Have read others have done that and nothing changed ... S&W claimed nothing wrong. I mean out of the first Blazer box of 50, one FTF, with ignition on second trigger pull. Other 49 zero issues. Second box had three FTF. Both boxes same lot #s. As I stated before, no FTF with Am Eagle and Gold Dot. All recovered Gold Dot casings had strong primer strikes. If I have future issues with Am Eagle and Gold Dot, gun goes back. Hate to do that because I'm almost as accurate at 7 yds (double and triple taps) with the M&P Bodyguard as I am with my Glock 23!
 
To Carguychris: With the Am Eagle that had lighter strikes, they fired first time. Only with the Blazer did I have to do a second strike. One Blazer round needed three strikes! I know these little guns often have light primer strikes because I Googled the issue and there were numerous comments. BTW, I throughly cleaned and lubed the Bodyguard before its first range visit, ensuring the breech face was clean and dry.
 
BTW, my main CCW is a Gen 3 Glock 23 stoked with 155 gr Gold Dots, and equipped with a Crimson Trace LG-417 LaserGrip.
 
Some brands just have a little harder primer... that coupled with a pistol that may not have the hardest hits by the firing pin, and you get light strikes.

Testing your carry ammo is important, but its less worrisome for range ammo. Just avoid the blazer if your pistol doesn't like it.
 
Wow - Good report - Thanks! I am carrying my BG .380 with an HP in the chamber ... and Blazer FMJ in the magazine. I haven't test fired it since range access is so difficult here. I am going to get a box of non-Blazer today!! :)
 
I wouldn't use Blaser even on the range. That gives you 4 FTF and an opportunity to do a stoppage clear, true, but you have to ask the question on weather or not you have a bullet logged in the barrel. .

When I teach I'll often deliberately toss in a couple dead rounds for that very reason. I know the lodge issue is not happening. I just wish it were possible to deliberately induce a stove pipe failure safely.
 
just try some more ammo. get a few boxes run through te gun, if it still gives you any issues send it in. I don't use blazer, but lots of people do. I think you need more testing wit a different ammo to find if your problem is with the gun or the ammo
 
Had the same problem with a 16 ga Winchester Steelbilt single shot with then Remington shotshells. Two or three clicks of the trigger and it still didn't go boom. Other brands of 16ga worked perfectly. Gave the Remingtons to someone else. Didn't need the frustration.
I too remember .380's being hard to find for quite a while. Those that were available were expensive. Luckily, that problem of availability for that round has gone away, for the moment;)
 
Its probably just a combination of the gun and that brand don't get along, while other pistols may be fine with it.


I use the blazer brass all the time in 9mm, it is my favorite range ammo. It is clean and pretty accurate for a cheap fmj.
 
I'd take the slide off and soak it in some mineral spirits,
kerosene or the like to make sure ALL the oil was out
of the firing pin channel. Probably hit it with some
non-chlorinated break cleaner once it was out of the
kerosene.

Ya never know.

All the Best,
D. White
 
Thanks for the good feedback! BTW, the Blazer was the standard aluminum alloy casings, not Blazer Brass. The first round I fired after buying the gun was a Blazer and the primer failed to ignite on the FIRST round! I watched Hickok45 on YouTube on the M&P Bodyguard 380, using Blazer as well as Am Eagle. He had a FTF on one round with both, out of about 25 rounds with each brand--each fired on second pull. Again, for carry ammo, I'd recommend Gold Dot 90 gr. Every recovered case had solid primer dimples, zero light strikes, zero issues. I've read that light strikes happen with some ammo (and with certain guns) because the primer is not seated properly and that particular weapon may not have a strong hammer spring, as another gun may have. It's strange because many of my Blazer primers had strong primer dimples after the round ignited on the first pull.
 
For DWhite ... thanks for the suggestions. During my last two cleanings, I saturated the firing pin channel (breech face) with GunBlaster cleaner (let it soak in the channel). I had zero failures last time to the range, approaching 200 rounds total fired, which isn't much. As I've said, going to run another 50 rounds of Gold Dot after I put another 50 of Am Eagle through it. I'm hoping for zero issues. I will continue to use GunBlaster cleaner on the breech face and rear of slide each cleaning, and ensure no oil gets near the breech face or slide rear. (I use Breakfree LP, not CLP, as my lubricant. Container says it won't harm plastic, and it really looks good after wiping it down on the polymer frame.
 
BLAZER ammunition is interesting stuff. In it's original 88grJHP load it was superb in all of my 380 pistols at that time. I even used it for small game hunting with an ASTRA CONSTABLE II and it killed the crap outta small game DRT.
Then I had a single round of BLAZER 380 [ cannot remember which load now...] blow the slide completely off an all- but- new BERSA 380.
BERSA replaced the gun as I do believe the slide was far too had and the BLAZER round simply cut it in two at it's weakest point.
And so it goes...
 
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