Range Report SR40

[Paul C]

I have had this gun, which is my first handgun, for several months and have around 1350 rounds through it. I have seen progression in my marksmanship (still suck).

A few weeks ago I was at an outdoor range and shot wwb fmj 180gr through a 55 gal steel drum. The bullet when through one side and not the other. I lifted the drum up to look for bullet frags and found a pristine bullet (zero loss of shape except rifling marks). This concerned me so I decided to switch ammo and started shooting Remington UMC 180gr JHP.

I purchased some UMC ammo at Wal-Mart yesterday and as always, I popped the box open and randomly inspected the bullets. One bullet was obviously seated too deep in the brass so I set that one aside and planned to call Remington on Monday.

This morning I went to the range since it had been a few weeks for me. I was going twice a week but it is pricey (range fee plus 100rds makes it a $45 event). I shot OK by my standard as I have only been shooting handguns for 3 months and I am still learning.
I have pictures but not hosted on the net... would be nice to be able to upload or attach them here.

When I was picking up my brass I notice that one of the pieces of brass was mangled. It is more than just a split. It looked like it imploded after the bullet left. After looking at additional spent casings I noticed that they ll look like they have stress marks around the whole circumference about a 1/4" up from the head. I have not noticed this with any other spent ammo, but I never really looked that hard.

Cause for concern or wasted worry?

Link to pictureshttp://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.192142544159973.44625.100000926873156&l=e779dc8be4

Don't know if that will work.. it is a Facebook album and I try to keep in locked down.

 

[Lateck]

Welcome to the SR family....
I can not address the bullet issues but I see your shooting is better then mine!..

The SR40 is a fun gun...

Good luck, shoot straight and be safe.

Lateck,

 

[revhigh]

WWB, Remington UMC, and Blazer ammo are the absolute bottom of the barrel for ammo. They're usually loaded very light, and have poor accuracy. No surpises there. Plinking ammo at best.

At those costs plus range fees ... I'd seriously consider learning to reload.

It's not unusual to have a case or two be mangled up a little, there's a lot going on when the slide cycles, and if an ejected case is a little slow or inconsistent as happens often with cheap ammo, it can get pinched or gouged during the ejection process. A case can't 'implode' during firing because it's almost totally contained in the chamber during ignition. It's also possible to accidentally step on some cases while you're shooting as well.

REV

 

[Paul C]

Rev,

I have been considering reloading... which is why I have become more concerned with looking at the used brass and saving it. I do not think I would have noticed this if I had just "swept and dumped" like I have been.

I have SERIOUS doubts about using the UMC brass though

 

[revhigh]

Believe it or not ... I've found that 'most' brass from garbage ammo is fine to use for reloading. During reloading, if any piece of brass gives me a hard time ... it gets chucked.

I'd save it either way.

The following cut and pasted from one of my other posts, just for reference, not much difference in cost between 9MM and .40 ...

************
Costwise, it's easy to make up the cost of the reloading gear VERY QUICKLY, and have ammo that easily exceeds total garbage like ultramax reloads.

1000 - 9MM 125 grain hardcast lead bullets ... $54.
1000 - Small pistol primers .... $30.
6000 - grains Power Pistol powder .... $12.

Total cost for 1000 rounds .... $96 .... or $4.80 per box of 50.

Total cost for 1000 rounds factory at $12.50/box ... $250.

Savings per 1000 rounds .... $154 per thousand .... over $450 per YEAR savings at 200-300 rounds per month.

Therefore .... FAR less than a year to recoup the cost of a modest reloading setup, with the benefits of a relaxing pastime, as well as FAR more accurate rounds.

Something to think about ..... ?

You'll shoot MORE, shoot far BETTER, and do it CHEAPER, reloading. Takes a couple hours of reading and practicing on a single stage press to become proficient at reloading. NOTHING is more rewarding than pulling the trigger on a round that YOU MADE, and then realizing how much better you shoot with quality made rounds

********************

REV

 

[NixieTube]

I've never seen a spent casing from any firearm that was pulled inward and curled up and basically shredded like the one(s) you're showing there. That case was torn *inward* by outward force. It's hard to imagine what could possibly cause that except a pair of Vice Grips or needlenose pliers wielded by someone who wanted to make the spent brass unusable to anyone else.

I think you accidentally picked up a piece of crap off up off the floor that someone else had discarded and took a picture of it.

If the round failed to eject and caused that kind of damage to the brass, you wouldn't be talking about a good day at the range - you'd be talking about a really serious malfunction of the gun, probably a broken gun and an injury at the very least. There's nothing I've ever seen or heard of that would cause the front of the case to crinkle itself inward like that and still have the gun function, except someone with a pair of pliers after the case had succesfully ejected. And even then I don't see how it can happen without something else malicious going on. Firearms just don't behave that way, even with bad brass and cheap cartridges. If anything, cases blow OUT - not IN, particularly after they have successfully ejected from the gun.

If you had said: "This is a case that got stuck in my gun after I fired the round and it failed to eject" that could possibly make sense. Otherwise I don't understand how the kind of damage you show to that case could have happened and the firearm keep functioning.

Are you sure you didn't pick something up off the floor that someone else had intentionally mangled so it couldn't be reloaded?

 

[Paul C]

The area was clean. While picking the first 5 rounds up (shooting in groups of 5) I cleaned my area. This round was about three groups in and I found it in the shooters box. Not to mention that my gun leaves a finger print so to speak. The firing in strikes the primer low of center and deep. I know it is not scientific, but it appears to have been fired by my gun (looking at the primer) There were no shooters next to me.

Since I cannot definitively say it was mine.. it is possible I managed to find a piece of stray brass, but I doubt it.

 

[NixieTube]

The area was clean. While picking the first 5 rounds up (shooting in groups of 5) I cleaned my area. This round was about three groups in and I found it in the shooters box. Not to mention that my gun leaves a finger print so to speak. The firing in strikes the primer low of center and deep. I know it is not scientific, but it appears to have been fired by my gun (looking at the primer) There were no shooters next to me.

Since I cannot definitively say it was mine.. it is possible I managed to find a piece of stray brass, but I doubt it.

Well then I think you have a piece of alienware. There is no properly-functioning handgun in the world that should do that to a case and still successfully eject the case. It doesn't happen. There are both inward and outward "tangs" on the piece of brass you're showing there and it looks like the round didn't just explode in the chamber but the brass was manipulated afterward. The gun should not function, there's no handgun in the world that will do that to a cartridge case unless something is seriously wrong.

I've never seen a spent cartridge ejected like that in my life. Ever. And I've seen hundreds of thousands of them. You have pieces of metal protruding both inside and outside the normal diameter of the case. If you are telling the truth, don't fire another round through that gun or you are risking your life. You say you have 1350 rounds through your gun and I guess anything is possible. Send it back to Ruger. They'll fix it.

If you really think that's a case you fired from your gun, do yourself and the rest of the range officers in the world a favor and call Ruger tomorrow and send the gun back and have it repaired, before you hurt yourself or anyone else. Case damage like that does not happen with a firearm that is functioning properly, period. It doesn't even happen with a firearm that is malfunctioning.

 

[revhigh]

Funny thing is ... every once in a while, I get one that looks kinda like that out of my progressive press if I put the bullet in cocked to one side while seating it where it tears out one side. I too doubt that a gun did that by firing a round ... it just makes no sense and would be hard to accomplish from a purely mechanical and physical aspect.

REV

 

[Paul C]

Hmmm.... after looking at it some more... It is possible that I stepped on it and if the casing was on an angle it may explain the way it deformed. About 50 rounds were run through after this group with no other issues.... It isn't the gun.. I checked the chamber and barrel and both look fine. I uploaded a picture of the primer markings to that photo album link above.. You can see the unique looking marks I was talking about.. Maybe they are not unique to SR40's but other spent casings I have seen do not have the extra imprint at 6 o'clock.

 

[NixieTube]

Are you sure you didn't fire a 9mm round in the .40 chamber? It happens sometimes that people mix their ammo. up. I'm trying to be on your side here and also skeptical - but it seems to me an SR40 would chamber a 9mm round and fire it and cause damage like this.

 

[Paul C]

Impossible as I only have a 40 and only had 40 ammo...

and the photo I just uploaded was the suspect casing next to another spent casing.. Suspect casing on the right and clearly stamped 40 S&W

 

[NixieTube]

Impossible as I only have a 40 and only had 40 ammo...

and the photo I just uploaded was the suspect casing next to another spent casing.. Suspect casing on the right and clearly stamped 40 S&W

Then that's really weird. I mean seriously weird because looking at the photos I doubt the case would even extract, much less let you fire more rounds. You really need to strip the pistol down and take a look at the chamber. I just don't see how you can have that kind of damage to the case without having something seriously wrong inside the chamber. The metal on that case you show is really torn apart and crinkled up in ways that just don't make much sense for a gun that still fires. It looks like one of those rounds that a gun fires *last* right before it's about to break, if it hasn't already.

 

[revhigh]

Hmmm.... after looking at it some more... It is possible that I stepped on it and if the casing was on an angle it may explain the way it deformed. About 50 rounds were run through after this group with no other issues.... It isn't the gun.. I checked the chamber and barrel and both look fine. I uploaded a picture of the primer markings to that photo album link above.. You can see the unique looking marks I was talking about.. Maybe they are not unique to SR40's but other spent casings I have seen do not have the extra imprint at 6 o'clock.

I wouldn't worry about it. Your gun didn't do that.

Shoot it and be happy.

REV

 

[Loco Weed]

I saw a Speer .44 mag loaded round where the bullet obviously caught the edge of the case mouth and peeled it back like a banana during seating. What you have is a defective round of ammo... it's not the fault of your pistol.

 

[Mike J]

I agree with Rev & Loco. There is no way your gun did that. Personally I dislike Remington UMC. I had a stovepipe in my P944 once because of a light loaded round of it. I realize this is silly because it was one round out of about 1000 of it that I had used around that time but I have had better luck with WWB or Federal. I will still shoot it if it's all I can get though.

 

[NixieTube]

To Paul C: I hope you get the problem sorted out. Don't take my skepticism personally, I do this whenever I see something that just doesn't sit right with me, but it's not a personal thing. Take a good look inside the chamber of that gun and please do take other people's ammo. recommendations.

If none of that works, send the gun back to Ruger posthaste, and send that case you photographed. In all my experience with Ruger customer service, they've proven to me that they'll take the steps to make it right with the least amount of pain/$$$.

 

[Tmyoungjr]

Definitely hit up Remington also. As mentioned the problem was most likely the round itself.

You had plans to contact them anyways due to the bad round you found in the box - include mention of this one too.

Stay safe and if buying cheap wallyworld stuff stick with Federal or WWB