Too long

[Fox Mike]

Was loading my Charter Arms 380 this morning and after it was loaded I found that I couldn't rotate the cylinder. Trial and error abound. I first made sure each cylinder was clean. No help. Swapped hole with the rounds and still couldn't rotate it. Next I took my digital caliper and started measuring the case lengths. WOW! I found one case that measured over .7. Normal case length is .680. Install another round and all worked as it was supposed to. Browning ammo and never fired cases (new out of the box). Live and learn. As an old maintenance officer of mine used to say: "If it ain't hornets, it piss-ants. Always something to aggravate you."

 

[rugerguy]

...as they say "stuff happens,,, and of course it is people making things, for other people and what day of the week it, Monday they hung over from the weekend, and late Friday they in a hurry to get out of there, gotta love unions and "piece workers"...

( ...and YES , even with automatic machines, somebody has to set them up..)

 

[turd]

^^^I'm not aware of any firearms assembly or ammunition worker's unions. Can you clarify?

 

[s4s4u]

( ...and YES , even with automatic machines, somebody has to set them up..)

A single round being out of spec out of several hundred is not a setup issue.

 

[hittman]

UMWA

 

[rugerguy]

Yep, thats when as the shirt says "stuff happens"..............I know we used to get the "rejected" ammo from some of the local ammo makers in the area and we had at 4 of them within a few miles, ,we used the 'rejects' for test firing repaired ( serviced) firearms, and gave them back the empty brass......oh yes , it could be interesting as to what may or may not happen, but hey it worked for us back in the 70s and 80s when we had the shops........
obviously in the case of the OP, it was only a "bad"??? should have been rejected?? did not pass inspection, but still got through............
....and I was at one time a 'stewart' for the IUE..........before that I worked security for 3 different companies that were government contractors , that were all union, UAW......
it's not the unions, its the people they try and represent at times..........

 

[golferboy426]

Yep, thats when as the shirt says "stuff happens"..............I know we used to get the "rejected" ammo from some of the local ammo makers in the area and we had at 4 of them within a few miles, ,we used the 'rejects' for test firing repaired ( serviced) firearms, and gave them back the empty brass......

it's not the unions, its the people they try and represent at times..........

no it's the unions

 

[eveled]

Quick google search. Says Browning ammo made by Winchester which is made by OLIN. Most of OLIN is non union.

Lake city is Union (IAM) but they make the military ammo.

 

[LDB]

Was loading my Charter Arms 380 this morning and after it was loaded I found that I couldn't rotate the cylinder. Trial and error abound. I first made sure each cylinder was clean. No help. Swapped hole with the rounds and still couldn't rotate it. Next I took my digital caliper and started measuring the case lengths. WOW! I found one case that measured over .7. Normal case length is .680. Install another round and all worked as it was supposed to. Browning ammo and never fired cases (new out of the box). Live and learn. As an old maintenance officer of mine used to say: "If it ain't hornets, it piss-ants. Always something to aggravate you."

So rather than being 0.680 length one case was 1.380 length? (0.680 + 0.70). I bet it stood out a bit.

 

[blume357]

Had the same thing happen earlier this month at our East Coast Ruger Gathering... I loaded my 30 Cal Black hawk up and the dern thing would not cock and locked up on me... finally realized the brass ammo I was using was out of spec and not going fully into the chambers...

 

[rugerguy]

thank you blume for staying "on point" . this is NOT for ANY UNION BASHING, I stated "people making things for other people" and lets leave it at that, this is a gun forum after all..........

and yes "stuff happens",,,and so it goes,,,,,, RIP Wil Terry

 

[jerryp5878]

Had the same thing happen earlier this month at our East Coast Ruger Gathering... I loaded my 30 Cal Black hawk up and the dern thing would not cock and locked up on me... finally realized the brass ammo I was using was out of spec and not going fully into the chambers...

Long ago I reloaded for my 30 Cal Blackhawk and found that case length was so critical. I was into using cast 110 or 130 gr bullets, but trimming those cases was an absolute requirement. Lock up was the penalty for sure.
Jerry

 

[blume357]

I have not shot my Blackhawk that much and never had a problem before... now I need to check my ammo... blaming ammo being out of spec on a union is just about as good as blaming the democrats for it....
I actually grew up being taught that unions were evil and just a step toward communism..... did get a little different perspective when I first went out in the world and was working in a cotton mill .... all non union... still not a total convert but I am wearing a pair of boots right now union made here in the U.S.A. and they feel pretty good.

 

[Fox Mike]

I have not shot my Blackhawk that much and never had a problem before... now I need to check my ammo... blaming ammo being out of spec on a union is just about as good as blaming the democrats for it....

Totally agree. The machine that does the loading doesn't care who pushes the "start' button; union or non-union.

 

[neilin]

Was loading my Charter Arms 380 this morning and after it was loaded I found that I couldn't rotate the cylinder. Trial and error abound. I first made sure each cylinder was clean. No help. Swapped hole with the rounds and still couldn't rotate it. Next I took my digital caliper and started measuring the case lengths. WOW! I found one case that measured over .7. Normal case length is .680. Install another round and all worked as it was supposed to. Browning ammo and never fired cases (new out of the box). Live and learn. As an old maintenance officer of mine used to say: "If it ain't hornets, it piss-ants. Always something to aggravate you."

A good rule is to never trust any brand ammo until it is range tested. For instance, in my experience, the bullet in Remington center fire revolver ammo will at times, work loose from recoil and jam the cylinder.

 

[neilin]

Had the same thing happen earlier this month at our East Coast Ruger Gathering... I loaded my 30 Cal Black hawk up and the dern thing would not cock and locked up on me... finally realized the brass ammo I was using was out of spec and not going fully into the chambers...

What brand ammo were you using?

 

[ArizonaTea123]

Speaking of unions, the worst one I remember was the Soviet Union.

 

[Jim Walsh]

This is one of the reasons I have case go/no-go gages for everything I reload. It takes a few extra minutes but it’s well worth it to never have these issues.
Rather surprised a commercial operation doesn’t have a laser to check every case. To rely on the old fashioned “sample plan” in this day and age is foolhardy.

 

[Ronbwolf]

If you have never had a problem with ammunition, you have not shot enough. In teaching classes, both beginners, and "transition " classes, I always include a section warning to ALWAYS check your ammunition carefully. I used to keep a bag of "examples," bullet improperly seated, backwards bullet, raised primer, backwards primer, no primer, side of case crushed, split case, etc. I have even found one round of.40 S&W in a box of 9mm from a major company. In 50 years of reloading I have had a few problems with case length and crimp to the point that I usually buy a "factory crimp die," and take the extra step to crimp. I learned from my gunsmith years ago, that 95+% of problems they see are ammunition/magazine /user related.

 

[p345Fan]

Was loading my Charter Arms 380 this morning and after it was loaded I found that I couldn't rotate the cylinder. Trial and error abound. I first made sure each cylinder was clean. No help. Swapped hole with the rounds and still couldn't rotate it. Next I took my digital caliper and started measuring the case lengths. WOW! I found one case that measured over .7. Normal case length is .680. Install another round and all worked as it was supposed to. Browning ammo and never fired cases (new out of the box). Live and learn. As an old maintenance officer of mine used to say: "If it ain't hornets, it piss-ants. Always something to aggravate you."

I wonder if this ammo was made in the plant that Winchester got when they bought out Ammo Inc? Highly variable OAL’s were a problem with Ammo zinc’s stuff. Utter garbage.

 

[p345Fan]

Yep, thats when as the shirt says "stuff happens"..............I know we used to get the "rejected" ammo from some of the local ammo makers in the area and we had at 4 of them within a few miles, ,we used the 'rejects' for test firing repaired ( serviced) firearms, and gave them back the empty brass......oh yes , it could be interesting as to what may or may not happen, but hey it worked for us back in the 70s and 80s when we had the shops........
obviously in the case of the OP, it was only a "bad"??? should have been rejected?? did not pass inspection, but still got through............
....and I was at one time a 'stewart' for the IUE..........before that I worked security for 3 different companies that were government contractors , that were all union, UAW......
it's not the unions, its the people they try and represent at times..........

Try Ammo Inc. I did and had 30 out of 100 rounds that were too long or too short. I guess that’s why the store was selling it for 8 bucks a box.

 

[Fox Mike]

I wonder if this ammo was made in the plant that Winchester got when they bought out Ammo Inc? Highly variable OAL’s were a problem with Ammo zinc’s stuff. Utter garbage.

I have probably shot 600 or more Browning rounds and this is the first one, and only one, I have had a problem with.

 

[p345Fan]

I have probably shot 600 or more Browning rounds and this is the first one, and only one, I have had a problem with.

That’s good to know.