Had a kind of Kaboom today

F

FlySubCompact

New member
I had a pistol malfunction today. New gun. It's a Smith and Wesson MP Bodyguard 380. Ammo was factory from Summit Ammo.

Went to the range with my brother to try his new Glock and some of my stuff, too. We'd shot everything and at the end of the session I decided to get some more practice with my current carry gun. Unloaded the defensive rounds and loaded up the Summit ball. Stuff I've practiced with before.

Made it through most of the box of fifty and midway of going through one mag full that last shot jarred really hard and the magazine popped out. Put the mag on the table and checked the barrel for a lodged bullet. It was clear and from what I could tell without disassembly, the gun looked OK. About that time my brother says: "Your bleeding." Some fragment had hit the end of my nose and it was steadily dripping.

Waited until the little wound clotted and looked at the magazine. The cartridge highest in the mag was bunged up pretty good. Three distinct gouges in the projectile. Thus the reason the mag popped out of the gun.

What I'd like to know is if you guys know what kind of malfunction this was and why it happened? The only thing I can figure is maybe that one round might have been overcharged and the little Bodyguard could not handle it. This little gun ejects empties about 20 to 30 feet most times and I could not find the last one for certain. I did find a couple and the cases were severely bulged along the feed ramp area. Here's a pic of the whole shooting match:

Bodyguard%2Bfailure.jpg


If you can zoom in you can see the damaged bullet head in the mag and the two bulged cases. Glad I was wearing glasses. Was a close one.
 
Good reminder to all to always wear eye protection.
Glad you are ok!

Look like some hot rounds to me and likely an overcharged round that blew out the web or the case head. I would not shoot anymore of that ammo and be contacting the MFG of the ammo to let them know what you experienced.
 
There are only two possibilities. The gun is at fault. The ammo is at fault.

From the picture, the rounds are grossly bulged, from either a "generously" relieved chamber (feed ramp area) OR the chamber is normal and the rounds were overpressure, causing the bulge.

What you describe is the classic case rupture, caused by either too much pressure, or not enough case head support for the pressure involved. If you could find the case, I'd bet it ruptured.

Gas dumped from a ruptured case in an auto pistol vents mostly down through the mag well, sometimes popping out the mag. One pistol I saw it happen to kept the mag body in place, and the floorplate blew off, dumping the spring, follower and remaining rounds on the ground.

Also, as you found out, there can be a small amount of "shrapnel" (fragments of case) that can come back at you from the ejection port, as well.
 
One possibility...

Do you have a scale that's accurate within 0.1grains? You might try weighing the remainder of the ammo to see if any of them vary from the average weight by a significant amount (say, 3.5 - 5.0 grains). Use an inertial bullet-puller to pull one cartridge of average weight apart, and weigh the powder charge. Do the same with one that varies far from the average weight. Compare the powder charges. When you contact the ammo factory, your findings may be diagnostic of the overall problem.

You MAY find that there's too much variance among the weights of the individual rounds for a meaningful comparison to be made, but it would take you less than an hour to weigh them with a digital scale. In any case, I'd like to know what you find out, when you talk to Summit.
 
Ammo was factory from Summit Ammo.
Click to expand...

Was it actually new ammo, or remanufactured ammo? I have a personal gripe with the multitude of ammo makers cranking out what they call "factory remanufactured" ammunition. It's reloaded ammo. Is it better than Joe down in his basement with his press while he listens to the game? Maybe, depending on what kind of guy Joe is. Or it could be no better at all if it's a small time outfit cranking out ammo to make a buck. People will say they've had ruptured cases with true factory new ammo from the big guys, and I can't deny them. But I'm willing to bet all the money in my pockets that the failure rate is a hell of a lot lower for the big guys. To me there are two types of ammo: factor and reloaded. Reloaded can be fine, but buyer beware.
 
FlySubCompact said:
What I'd like to know is if you guys know what kind of malfunction this was and why it happened? The only thing I can figure is maybe that one round might have been overcharged and the little Bodyguard could not handle it.
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That sounds like a valid hypothesis to me.

Your opening post describes the ammo as "factory," but I've never heard of Summit Ammo. It may come out of a "factory" of some sort, but from where I sit it bears all the hallmarks of cheap, remanufactured ammo that should never be trusted. Is it purported to be new production, or is it remanufactured (i.e. "factory") reloads? What's the headstamp? If they don't have their own headstamp, IMHO it doesn't qualify as "factory" ammo.

{Edit to add} Found their web site. Very amateurish, and offers no real information. What it does tell us, though, is that they are remanufacturers. I wouldn't trust ammo from a company like that in any of my firearms.
 
you need to take the barrel out and see if the rounds are seating fully into the chamber. I am not 100% familiar with your gun, but it seems like too much of the case is being left unsupported. glad your okay

if I had to take a gues, I would say the gun is at fault and if you are not very familiar with guns, let your smith take a look t it and then call s&w. such a low pressure round, I find it hard to believe that even an overcharged round would bulge cases like that if they are being properly supported
 
I got on the Summit website, no mention of it being remanufactured.

But there's a simple way to find out. If the box has different headstamps, they are reloads.

Keep the case, call Summit. It's defective.
 
First off, glad to see you're ok. Great reminder to everybody to always wear eye protection.

Now, first thing I'd do is contract summit. Next, take the gun to a Smith and have it looked over.
 
summit is not re-manufacture, I use it occasional, they make some rifle rounds that aren't always easy to find. in my experience with them, they make good ammo, loaded on the hotter side

i'll add that I think it's is a longshot to be pointing blame at the ammo. it seems almost obvious that this is a chamber problem and the fact that this is the first outing with the pistol further concretes that belief. can you show us a picture of the dis-assembled barrel with a round in it? and more specifically, where the feed ramp contacts with the chamber
 
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Over pressure ammo.

Unsupported case from a poorly cut chamber.

Firing out of battery.


Those are three things that can cause a bulged case or rupture.

Knowing how the rounds sit in the chamber will help.
 
[B]New gun[/B]. It's a Smith and Wesson MP Bodyguard 380. Ammo was factory from Summit Ammo.

I decided to get some more practice with my current carry gun. Unloaded the defensive rounds and loaded up the Summit ball. Stuff I've practiced with before.
Click to expand...

New gun? My current carry? Practiced with before?
OK, let's try to sort this out a bit.
Was the gun new, and unfired before you shot this ammo in it?
If so, you mean you carry a brand new gun without any amount of "break in", or testing?
You practiced with this ammo in other guns? Or you practiced with this ammo in this gun, meaning it was not "New" at the time of the kaboom?

So now, if you have practiced with this gun, and this ammo, has there ever been any other signs of a problem? If you have practiced with this gun with other ammo, has there been any sign of a problem?
Seems if there was a problem with the gun it would have shown up during previous shooting.

summit is not re-manufacture, I use it occasional, they make some rifle rounds that aren't always easy to find. in my experience with them, they make good ammo, loaded on the hotter side
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Hum??? Maybe this is why major ammo manufacturers don't push the limits of SAAMI pressure standards, and are not as "hot" of a load as some of the boutique ammo maker's ammo. A little over charge could still be within standards with a load not on the edge, but become a serious problem with a load that is.
 
summit is not re-manufacture, I use it occasional, they make some rifle rounds that aren't always easy to find. in my experience with them, they make good ammo, loaded on the hotter side
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I found posts online of folks using their ammo finding various headstamps. They may manufacture some ammo, but they're also reloading as well.
 
I found posts online of folks using their ammo finding various headstamps. They may manufacture some ammo, but they're also reloading as well.
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Maybe they just source their new brass at the lowest cost, and use what ever they can find at a price.
Probably not the best idea to use the same load in various brands of casses if they are pushing the envelope on pressure!
 
Cheapshooter,

This gun is newish. Had it for months and it has seen a lot of testing with various brands before I decided to carry it. I've already ran a few boxes of this brand of ammo before with no incident.

To the other posters,

Thanks for the replies and concern over my safety. Glasses, always were your eye protection.
This ammo does not appear to be remanufactured stuff. It carries it's own headstamp on new looking brass. My only experience and purchase of known remanufactured ammo is Zero brand. Never had a problem with Zero's stuff either, but I've only used their 9mm remanufactured ammo.

I AM NOT shooting this little gun with anything until I talk to the LGS guy where I bought the gun. He has always been fair and square in dealings with me, so I'm going to talk to him first chance about what to do. I'm also going to leave the gun, leftover ammo and magazine in it's current state so whoever (gunsmith/S&W) can evaluate the cause of the problem.

This is actually the second Bodyguard I've owned. The first one was a lemon right out of the box. It often had light primer strikes and would not lock back on final round. Took it back to LGS guy and he replaced it with this new one on the spot. Regardless of the cause of the malfunction of this particular gun, I will get a refund from someone. Either LGS guy or Smith. If it's an ammo problem, Smith and Summit can battle that one out.

Thinking I'll replace it with a Ruger LCP. I hear good reviews on it. If ammo is the determined to be the culprit no more of the Summit stuff will be purchased again.

If ammo was the cause I may eventually get another Bodyguard to try because I actually like the little pistol. The "feel" of it, how it's layed out, the looks/fit/finish and the trigger isn't atrocious as some little guns. The felt recoil is a heap better than my Keltec P3AT.
 
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A DIVISION OF DOWN RANGE INC.


SUMMIT AMMUNITION:
Manufacturing & Demil Services of small caliber munitions

for Military, DoD, Law Enforcement & Civilian Applications.
Click to expand...
Interesting, demil services, does that mean they use break down components?
Google search turns up very little about the parent company. One shows a shooting range, and another a manufacturer of shotgun wads.
 
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