Sr9c scare!

[Tym2getbizeee]

Went to range again to see if my magazine disconnect pin would move after shooting a couple hundred rounds and it finally didn't. So that's the good news, but then my brother in law who got some reloads from Cabellas ask me if I wanted to shoot a couple so I said okay. I've shot about 350 reloads from a coworker of mine so I didn't think twice. Well after the 4th shot i noticed that the bullets were inconsistent. Here is what happened... BANG! Black powder all over my hands and this shell jammed! Im not sure if I feel comfortable shooting reloads again. This ever happened to anyone here. Glad everything is okay with my gun.

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[revhigh]

The moral of the story is .... NEVER .... and I mean NEVER .... shoot reloads that you haven't done yourself. Commercial reloads are generally OK, as long as the brass is quality, because they have the company's deep pockets behind them. Personal reloads ... NO WAY. You have no idea what some yahoo did fooling around with loads.

I also just noticed .... that A-Merc brass is about the WORST brass on the earth. The tolerances are generally way off, the thicknesses are inconsistent, and the primer pockets ALWAYS gave me a problem. When I see any A-Merc brass I just throw it away ... other brand name brass I shoot 10+ times or until it splits.

If I were you or your brother in law, I'd return that batch of reloads to Cabelas and get your money back (show them that casing in the pic). If they're using A-merc brass you don't want those reloads.

It kind of looks like the round was fired while the gun was out of battery to blow out all around like that. I would check your gun. With an UNLOADED mag seated in the gun, and an EMPTY GUN, rack the slide so that striker is cocked and the gun would be ready to fire. Now move the slide rearward about 1/8 - 1/4 inch and hold it there. Try to pull the trigger. If the striker fires, you have a gun that would fire 'out of battery' or without the slide fully locked up in the forward position. The striker (or hammer) if so equipped, should NEVER drop or fire unless the slide is locked ALL THE WAY FORWARD. If your gun will do that, it needs to go back to Ruger ASAP. The fact that you got powder all over your hands also leads me to believe that the gun fired 'out of battery', which is a very serious defect that needs to be corrected ASAP, if the problem exists.

By the way, there may have been 'black' in color powder on your hands, but it wasn't 'black powder'.

REV

 

[wixedmords]

I totally agree with revhigh here. I only trust my own reloads.

Reloads are a very personal thing and I generally find that others don't do the same things I would do, leading me to a lesser level of comfort.

Add the modern "have to reload quickly" theory to reloading, and I will happily let others shot their own reloads, I'm totally ok shooting mine. Many modern reloaders doesn't seem to have the attention to detail we had 30 or 40 years ago. I'd like to be wrong, but with the "how many rounds can you make in a hour crowd" I can't imagine the care is there. Quick is usually directly proportional to lesser quality, imo.

If you want to shoot your own reloads, find someone to mentor you in the process, do not totally rely on the internet for help. Internet help will rely on you asking the right questions, and you may not know the right questions to ask. Many decades ago I have a great mentor, and I will shoot his reloads, I trust his thought process that much. But he is still human, and that thought of "human error" would likely now enter my mind. I haven't shot any of his reloads for more than 20 years.

Nothing should stop you from shooting your own reloads, but shooting the reloads of others is a practice I would question deeply, and the question should be there in your own mind. Not being able to shoot your own reloads would cause me to think one couldn't trust themselves.

Don't be turned off from reloads Tym2getbizeee, just educate yourself on them and approach them in smart manner.

 

[Verndog]

Glad everything was OK and no damage! I wont shoot reloads so no comment there. Can you tell us what you did to cure the pin movement??

 

[wixedmords]

BTW, I am glad you made it through Tym2getbizeee.

I can totally understand your concern. I have never been a part of a case failure like that, YET.

Trying to find wood to knock on.

 

[rmansu2]

I agree with rev, it looks to me the round wasn't fully chambered. That said, I thought the SR9s has a safety feature built in that wouldn't allow such a malfunction. I'm not an SR9 owner but I know I have had that problem a few times with my P95. When it has happened, trigger pulled, hammer falls, no bang. Don't know if it's a feature on the 95 or not, but it has save me a few times.

 

[bronco45]

A lessor quality weapon would have produced an injury. A-Merc is crap, and I don't shoot reloads I don't have a hands on relationship with.

 

[revhigh]

I thought the SR9s has a safety feature built in that wouldn't allow such a malfunction.

Agreed ... almost all semi's have an 'out of battery safety', but if that safety fails, it can happen ... expecially with 1911's.

If it had been a typical .40 or 9MM 'blowout' it would have happened in a much more localized area of the case .... typically where it is 'less supported' at the bottom by the feed ramp. If you want to see what I mean ... remove the barrel .... drop in a case/round ... and look at the case/round near the feed ramp ... you can see that the case is not supported in a crescent shaped area above the feed ramp. This is typically where you get the Glock KABOOMS originating, and also why the older Glocks bulged the cases in that area so much so that they were useless for additional reloading. The newer Glocks are much better supported than the older ones. Since that round failed pretty much 'all around the case', that is what leads me to believe that it 'may' have been caused by an out of battery situation, ESPECIALLY since you got powder all over your hand, which would happen if the ejection window was partially open during the out of battery firing.

I'd check that gun very carefully for out of battery firing ....

REV

 

[revhigh]

A lessor quality weapon would have produced an injury. .

I'm not so sure I'd go that far... most weapons today are very good, robust, and stout .... plastic or not ... and I can't think of a modern gun that wouldn't have done just what the Ruger did with that case.

The bottom line is ... any SAAMI or less load in a properly functioning firearm, is very unlikely to cause very severe damage to the shooter OR the gun .... under almost ANY circumstances.

The original Glock .40's had quite a few unsupported case blowouts, and generally all it did was blow the mag out the bottom of the grip, and maybe blacken the shooter's hand a little. Sure there were a few cuts and bruises, but for the most part, nothing serious.

REV

 

[Tym2getbizeee]

Thanks for all the advise guys. The black stuff on my hands looked to have come from where the slide meets the chassis. I actually put a box of Blazer through the gun after the mishap. Shot fine. As for the pin, I just pushed back to where it was supposed to be. Seemed like it fixed itself. My coworker who's reloads I shoot have been perfect other than being a little dirty but I clean them before I shoot em. He's been doing reloads for over 40 years and is someone I trust. I might have to ask him for lessons in reloading. He's been dealing with parkinsons and the meds he's taking are effecting his hands so maybe I'll take over. Thanks again for all the advice and I'll be checking for battery fire. Hope it was just the ammo!

 

[Tym2getbizeee]

Hey Rev it does fire after the trigger is set and the slide it slightly pulled back. Can anyone else with an sr9c do this?

 

[revhigh]

Hey Rev it does fire after the trigger is set and the slide it slightly pulled back. Can anyone else with an sr9c do this?

That is not good .... how far back can you pull the slide and still release the striker ? Keep repeating the test moving the slide farther and farther out of battery. See how far you can go.

It shouldn't fire if the slide is the least bit out of battery.

REV

 

[Verndog]

Hey Rev it does fire after the trigger is set and the slide it slightly pulled back. Can anyone else with an sr9c do this?

I tried on mine and it doesn't fire, even if just barely pulled 1/8". As the slide moves, the trigger does also, and when I pull the trigger, it will move but will not release the striker to fire until it's seated clear back to battery.

 

[Gizmo42]

Mine will fire if you pull back the slide just enough to take up slack (pull back very slowly and you will feel it move a tiny bit then catch) which is maybe 1/16". Its a very small amount. Anything after that and it wont fire.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Most semi-autos index on the case mouth.
If it doesn't have a round in the chamber the slide is actually forward of the firing postion. You can mark the slide to the frame with a pencil and load a round or snap cap in and you'll see what I mean.
If the gun fires past that point then there may be an issue but testing without a round isn't a perfect test.

 

[P90]

I don't have a SR pistol, but out of curiosity I tried my P90. It will snap with the slide pulled back a very short distance, but the firing pin is deactivated and doesn't hit the primer. It has to be fully locked into battery before it will fire. BTW I used a primed empty case for experimenting. Not a live round.

 

[revhigh]

Most semi-autos index on the case mouth.
If it doesn't have a round in the chamber the slide is actually forward of the firing postion. You can mark the slide to the frame with a pencil and load a round or snap cap in and you'll see what I mean.
If the gun fires past that point then there may be an issue but testing without a round isn't a perfect test.

Great point Cheese !! I don't think my guns are like that, at least I've never noticed it, but I don't doubt some are.

REV

 

[terryg]

I just tested my SR9c.

1. Slide to frame alignment is the same with or without round.
2. Trigger disengages from striker when moved out of battery even the tiniest bit.

HTH

 

[revhigh]

That's the way it should be terryg !

REV

 

[terryg]

That's the way it should be terryg !

REV

Yes. I would need a micrometer to measure the distance in which it could be pulled back and still fire. Tym2getbizeee should really get his looked at by Ruger.

 

[NixieTube]

Weeeeooooooh that's ugly. Glad nothing worse happened and I'm glad you're OK. Check the gun out thoroughly according to others' advice in this thread, make SURE it's OK. Any doubts whatsoever, send it back to Ruger and have THEM check it out. A few days without your pistol is inexpensive insurance after something like this has happened. Ruger customer service is top notch and they will do a good job.

I think you've had enough doubts instilled about this particular brand of reload to last you a lifetime, so there's no need to harp on it, except that maybe Cabelas needs a head check. Pick some better ammo. next time. There's a lot of decent 9mm out there that isn't reloaded, heck I recently shot 50 rounds of MFS FMJ 9mm from Hungary and it was inexpensive but not dangerous -- all of it fed and all of it worked and all of it extracted/ejected safely. Not my favorite ammo. but it fired just fine in my SR9. There's "good cheap" and then there's "one step too far cheap." Stay on the bright side of the line

 

[Tym2getbizeee]

Waiting in an e-mail from Ruger with the shipping info so I can send it out. Hopefully it gets fixed and get it back soon. In the meantime I should be able to stick up on some rounds. I hate that I have to be without it for to to 2-3 weeks, but it's better to be than sorry and I'm never shooting reloads again. My buddy noticed afterwards that some of the ammo was bulging. I'll update once I get my baby back.