A little while back, I bought a few cases of (NEW, not reloaded) subsonic 9mm that I had earmarked to shoot specifically through a few of my guns.
Unfortunately, what I got was 2 cases of junk and I'm out nearly $600 at the moment.
This post may sounds like I am bashing the manufacturer, however, it is not meant in that manner and I am keeping my personal opinions to myself. But the topic is meant nothing more than to let you educate yourself.
I have emailed the manufacturer to request a call from a supervisor so I can request refund and to show the obvious defect in their brass that is causing an unsafe condition, but so far, it has fallen on deaf ears.
My main concern is that you cannot tell from looking at them (at least from the outside) that there is anything different or wrong with them. But there is an obvious ridge/groove that is inside of the brass which in my opinion causes an obvious weak point that does not exist in any other 9mm casing that I know of, and probably with reason.
Not only does the existence of the groove cause a weak point as evidenced by not one, but two casings one right after another, but also may cause a pressure spike due to the inside area being different diameters.
I will be the first to say that I am not a trained physicists nor do I have a doctorate degree, but I have been around firearms and ammunition for the biggest part of my life and I have contacted several people who have experience far greater than mine in this subject, and they all have came to the same conclusion about this brass as well.
Now for the story.
All was fine with the ammo the first 7 shots that I fired through the carbine. I was on semi auto and firing one shot at a time zero'ing my irons and Eotech.
Round #8 fired and all seemed fine, however, unbeknownst to me, the casing had entirely split in two and the front half of the casing remained in the chamber and split where the internal groove is, and the rear of it ejected normally.
Round #9 chambered partially (at least until the bullet seated as far as it could against the remaining brass from round #8) and fired (exploded) out of the side where the groove is, causing an out of battery detonation spewing fire, powder, and everything else everywhere it should not be.
The bullet from round #9 past through the brass remnant from round #8 that was still in the chamber and became lodged in the barrel bore (squib).
Here are the photo's of the casing(s)
Each round had the same internal groove and here are the photo's of the two cases that caused problems and blew up in my face.
Here is the best photo I can get that shows the groove along the inside of the case. You can see it easily with your eye, but I can't get a better picture of it.
Here are the two bad cases. The brass on the left was round #8 that split (at the internal groove) and the brass on the right was the one that suffered from an out of battery detonation. Notice how both cases are approximately the same height. That's because that is the location of the internal groove.
Here is a photo showing the squib still stuck in the barrel. Note that you can also make out the lodged part of the casing from shot #8 as well
After using the rod to drive out the squib, also pushed the split casing from round #8 simultaneously.
Here is a photo that I found that shows the internal groove much better than I could take with my camera.
Coincidentally, the person who took the picture below had exactly the same problems as I had that he detailed in post #34 here: http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/288787-ammoload-headstamp-9x19-brass.html
Unfortunately, what I got was 2 cases of junk and I'm out nearly $600 at the moment.
This post may sounds like I am bashing the manufacturer, however, it is not meant in that manner and I am keeping my personal opinions to myself. But the topic is meant nothing more than to let you educate yourself.
I have emailed the manufacturer to request a call from a supervisor so I can request refund and to show the obvious defect in their brass that is causing an unsafe condition, but so far, it has fallen on deaf ears.
My main concern is that you cannot tell from looking at them (at least from the outside) that there is anything different or wrong with them. But there is an obvious ridge/groove that is inside of the brass which in my opinion causes an obvious weak point that does not exist in any other 9mm casing that I know of, and probably with reason.
Not only does the existence of the groove cause a weak point as evidenced by not one, but two casings one right after another, but also may cause a pressure spike due to the inside area being different diameters.
I will be the first to say that I am not a trained physicists nor do I have a doctorate degree, but I have been around firearms and ammunition for the biggest part of my life and I have contacted several people who have experience far greater than mine in this subject, and they all have came to the same conclusion about this brass as well.
Now for the story.
All was fine with the ammo the first 7 shots that I fired through the carbine. I was on semi auto and firing one shot at a time zero'ing my irons and Eotech.
Round #8 fired and all seemed fine, however, unbeknownst to me, the casing had entirely split in two and the front half of the casing remained in the chamber and split where the internal groove is, and the rear of it ejected normally.
Round #9 chambered partially (at least until the bullet seated as far as it could against the remaining brass from round #8) and fired (exploded) out of the side where the groove is, causing an out of battery detonation spewing fire, powder, and everything else everywhere it should not be.
The bullet from round #9 past through the brass remnant from round #8 that was still in the chamber and became lodged in the barrel bore (squib).
Here are the photo's of the casing(s)
Each round had the same internal groove and here are the photo's of the two cases that caused problems and blew up in my face.
Here is the best photo I can get that shows the groove along the inside of the case. You can see it easily with your eye, but I can't get a better picture of it.
Here are the two bad cases. The brass on the left was round #8 that split (at the internal groove) and the brass on the right was the one that suffered from an out of battery detonation. Notice how both cases are approximately the same height. That's because that is the location of the internal groove.
Here is a photo showing the squib still stuck in the barrel. Note that you can also make out the lodged part of the casing from shot #8 as well
After using the rod to drive out the squib, also pushed the split casing from round #8 simultaneously.
Here is a photo that I found that shows the internal groove much better than I could take with my camera.
Coincidentally, the person who took the picture below had exactly the same problems as I had that he detailed in post #34 here: http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/288787-ammoload-headstamp-9x19-brass.html