Cheep or free ammo warning

B

BoogieMan

New member
A friend of mine gave me a bunch of 9mm ammo after Sandy. Packs had been wet but the aluminum case ammo looked fine. I shot up about 25 of the 100rnds and noticed that the cases were not flying as expected, getting a bit more smoke than expected. And I felt some dust.debree hitting me. So I inspected some fired cases and they were split, some even came apart.
Here is what it did to the chamber in my 1911:
20150528_173409_zpspwf33av0.jpg

Here is the breech face:
20150529_081951_zpswnbsgzbp.jpg


I saved about $5 in ammo. I now have $200 in a new barrel and several hours of my time to fit barrel and time the pistol. The Kimber Target II SS will be better than it was from factory when all is done. However, it aint cheep even when doing the work yourself.
Lesson: Dont save a dime to spend a dollar and nothing is free.
 
That really sucks to say the very least.

Even though I don't reload, I have a bullet puller I use for ammo that comes with guns I've bought or traded for. I probably have about a thousand rounds of unknown origin that I refuse to shoot in any gun.
 
Damn, now were these factory loads? I assume so since they were aluminum cased, the damage looks similar to flame cutting you see in revolvers. If it's factory ammo I would contact them and see if they will do anything for you. I know in the past ammo companies have split the cost of replacing guns that their ammo blew up.
 
As I told you, I doubt the chamber is really damaged. It looks like part of a separated aluminum case is stuck in the chamber.
An easy way to tell is to try to put a cartridge into the chamber. If it goes in-even with a little pushing, you have chamber problems. If it won't go in, there is a piece of casing stuck in there.
 
As I told you, I doubt the chamber is really damaged. It looks like part of a separated aluminum case is stuck in the chamber.
An easy way to tell is to try to put a cartridge into the chamber. If it goes in-even with a little pushing, you have chamber problems. If it won't go in, there is a piece of casing stuck in there.
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Bill- Definitely not the case. I fired many rounds after that with not trouble, new cartridges drop right in easily.
If it's factory ammo I would contact them and see if they will do anything for you
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Not worth the hassle. It was old stock Blazer aluminum. And honestly it may not have been their fault anyway. The cartridges were wet at one time or another during Sandy.
 
Maybe i'm just not believing it but I would be curious to inspect it. Logic wants to tell me that maybe a case separation happened and some how another round got in, expanded inside the thin case and was force ejected and the next ones continued the pounding till this happened allowing others to easily be chambered.

I could be wrong but i'm more curious than anything. Glad you got a new barrel and back in business.
 
Maybe i'm just not believing it but I would be curious to inspect it. Logic wants to tell me that maybe a case separation happened and some how another round got in, expanded inside the thin case and was force ejected and the next ones continued the pounding till this happened allowing others to easily be chambered.
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I absolutely believe it especially if those cases were splitting. Look at this photo of what they call flame cutting in revolvers and compare it to the inside of that chamber

flamecut-686--s113.jpg
 
With cases splitting I would say it's highly probable. When a round fires it's supposed to expand to seal the chamber, if the case splits that chamber is not being sealed and allowing hot gases to escape past the casing. You can't go by how long it takes for flame cutting to occur in a revolver because it happens even with perfectly functioning guns and ammo, not as a result of cases splitting.
 
Looks like some metal transferred from cases to barrel and chamber. Needs a good cleaning. I've had this happen with brass cases that were on the soft side. Already replaced the parts? Too bad.
 
Aluminum will oxidize and get that corosion on the surface maby a good case cleaning could have prevented this . Factory Blazers ? I dont see any reason they would have been to hot . I have always thought they were under powered .
 
Do you still have the barrel? Quick dip in muriatic acid (hcl) will dissolve the aluminum, lots of hydrogen bubbles. If it is transferred al.
 
Oof. That sucks. Glad nothing worse happened. Quick question, did the ammo look odd? Were there any signs that it wasn't ok to shoot?
 
Oof. That sucks. Glad nothing worse happened. Quick question, did the ammo look odd? Were there any signs that it wasn't ok to shoot?
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Some oxidation on the bullet and case. Nothing terrible just discoloration.
 
With only 25 rounds fired, I'm having trouble viewing what is in the photo as anything other than deposits.

I'm having more trouble with the idea that ammo that left the factory good can turn into something that eats a barrel out after 25 round simply by having gotten wet.
 
It is aluminum deposited in the barrel is my guess. I could surely be wrong. But, it looks like aluminum to me. I've seen it while fabricating. God Bless
 
You have a $1000 pistol and decided it was alright to put some cheap flood damaged ammo through it?
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On that day I clearly was not the sharpest crayon in the box. Funny thing is that I had and have plenty of quality 9mm ammo new and reloads.
However, its a good excuse to upgrade the barrel and do some other things while im at it.
 
It is aluminum deposited in the barrel is my guess. I could surely be wrong. But, it looks like aluminum to me. I've seen it while fabricating. God Bless
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The pic is a little deceiving. Blink a couple times and refocus. The rough areas are not deposits they are erosions. Some areas are at least .015" deep. As soon as I get the new barrel in I will cut this one in half and repost some pictures so that its more clear.
 
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