9mm ammo safe to shoot?

[labhound]

Just bought 500 rounds of 9mm ammo (Federal Champion 115 gr fmj rn) and noticed in a couple of the boxes that about a total of 10 cartridges had the bullet noticeably recessed deeper into the brass than normal. Don't know if this is from the factory like this or got mashed in shipping, but they are all adjacent to one another in the box. First time I have encountered this. Question is, are these safe to shoot or should they be discarded?

 

[coolluke01]

All or just the "mashed" ones?
9mm is a high pressure round. Shooting a out of spec round could lead to over pressure. Don't shoot the mashed ones.
The real question is how many are somewhat mashed? Many wouldn't shoot a round after it has been in a chamber more than a few times. They feel it moves the bullet back into the casing a little bit every time you load the chamber.
How much is too much? I would check quite a few of them to get a better idea of how many are out of spec. 50 rounds through a mic would give you a 10% average.

 

[labhound]

I'm only concerned about the mashed ones. I've shot many a box of this ammo (Federal Champion) and this is the first time I've noticed any problem with the cartridges. It appears to be only approximately 10 cartridges with the bullets recessed. Not a big deal to me to discard them, just curious if they would be safe to shoot. I don't reload so I have no experience with recessed bullets and the outcome of shooting them.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I agree completely. You didn't say what brand of ammunition you have. I would find out from the manuf what the overall length is supposed to be and check them all.
The deep seated ones will definately be a safety hazard because of pressure.
I wouldn't shoot the one that are out of spec. You can't go by what a reloading manual says for COAL unless you know exactly what brand and weight the bullets are in this ammunition and it is spelled out in the loading manual that way. Each bullet has it's own spec per weight and design of the bullet. They are not all the same just by weight alone.

Call the manuf, tell them what you purchased and asked them for the minimum over all length that the cartridge should be to be safe to shoot and check your shells length against that.

If these aren't name brand shells then maybe someone else can help you with the spec, I can't, but don't shoot them.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

you put your second post out there before I finished typing mine.

To answer your question in your second post, anything from heavy recoil to your gun blowing apart.

 

[rellascout]

Do not shoot.... File a claim with the shipper.

 

[labhound]

9mm ammo safe to shoot "UPDATE"

Just a follow up post on the outcome of my e-mailing Federal about the defective Federal Champion ammo I had purchased. Sent them an e-mail on 1-5-12 about the two boxes of cartridges that had some bullets recessed into the brass case. They responded on 1-11-12 and instructed me to ship the two boxes of cartridges back to them via UPS and upon inspection would reimburse me for the ammo and my shipping costs. So I boxed them up and included a copy of my e-mail correspondence plus a note saying if it was all the same to them, they could send me three boxes of ammo in return for these two I was sending them in lieu of sending me a check and I would finacially be about even in the whole process. I had the wife drop the box off at the UPS store on 1-17-12 and Federal received it on 1-20-12. Today 1-30-12 I received a box from Federal via UPS containing three boxes of ammo. I had sent them Federal Champion and they sent me Federal American Eagle which from checking prices online seems to be a step up price wise from Federal Champion. So the whole process was satisfactory. I got enough ammo to equal my costs of ammo and shipping and Federal gets two thumbs up for their end of the deal!

 

[NG VI]

Can't ask for more from the manufacturer.

 

[1SOW]

I'm impressed with Federal!

They 'could' have said the "shipper" was at fault, not Federal.

 

[MedWheeler]

Thanks for coming back and updating us. Many don't, and we do like to hear "the rest of the story" as it plays out.. Good to hear they took care of you.

 

[Jeremiah10:23]

Labhound said "Not a big deal to me to discard them..."

My question is how do you guys dispose of an unsafe live round?

 

[Tcruse]

Labhound said "Not a big deal to me to discard them..."

My question is how do you guys dispose of an unsafe live round?

Gun ranges usually have Disposal container for such rounds.