Lot #4884 purchased this month from PSA.

8 of 40 blew the primer completely out.

Shooting from suppressed 10.5" FN CHF barrel in PSA premium upper.

No issues with other ammo shot during same session.  Gorilla subs and (I think) Fiocchi 125gr.   Not any issues of any kind with about 400rds of other mixed ammo.  Suppressed or not.

Not totally unrelated - a few months back there was a guy shooting Ammo Inc 9mm next to me at the range. It was bulging pretty bad at the base in two of his firearms (one handgun, one long gun). Blazer was fine through them.

Only real marks on cases.





Wondering if this is just loose primer pockets?

The ejector marks are pretty pronounced, too though, so not positive if there is a pressure issue.


Any advice/thoughts?

Also had numerous fail to feed problems, which I thought could be polymer tip related before I noticed it may have been more than just gas hitting my face.  (left handed, puts my face on the ejection side)

Had brass catcher on for most rounds.  But the ones that were shot without ejected at roughly 4:30.

What are the OALs of the rounds and are they all the same OAL? Those bullets look seated a bit long in the case for what they are. I imagine they're seating them as long as they can to get the most powder in.

If they're so long that they're jamming into the lands you could definitely have a pressure problem. Otherwise if just say they're max loading them and maybe pushed it too far.

Does a round drop right into your chamber without hanging up?

Edit - FTF as in bolt over base, or fed but wouldn't  fully chamber?

I can't find my calipers.  Awesome.

But here is the (L to R) 110 gr VMAX, 125gr fiocchi, 150gr AE

That's a bummer.  I almost picked up some of that stuff, but the reviews on Ammo Inc have been mixed.

From just my eyeballs, all the unfired ones appear to have the same OAL.   They are shorter than the Barnes 110gr TSX that have never had a problem and of course waaay shorter than the subs.  So don't think too long of an OAL is a problem in a general sense.   Could be for this VMAX projectile, I guess.

I'm gonna clean the gun tonight and look for any damage, will see about chambering after I clean it.

I originally thought the FTF were the polymer tips getting caught up in the feed ramp or something.  But I'm thinking now it's what I'd expect from the bolt overrunning the mag possibly from too much gas...I think that's what you're saying as bolt over base.

Initial charging never resulted in a malfunction.  It was always after firing a round.  Lancer 20rd.  D&H aluminum 5rd.  Same results.  Both mags previously flawless, until this Ammo Inc. stuff.

to my eye looking at the fired cases, and the pronounced ejector/swipe marks it looks to be an over pressure load.

or perhaps not the best powder for short barrels, pressure may cause the bolt to unlock before pressure is down enough, causing swipe marks and blown primers.

can you compare that brass to some of the other fired brass?

Yeah, I'd say that mulfunction is pretty classic overgas with a cyclic rate too fast for the magazine to keep up with. If you weren't blowing primers I'd start with changing components to slow it down (buffer, etc) but blowing primers means simply the ammo is too hot. I'd give them a call and try to get a refund.

After seeing the rounds together, they look fine. Maybe it was just the angle of the photo that made me tilt my head a bit. If there was a problem with OAL it likely would have given you trouble on the initial round just the same as the ones after.

OAL looks pretty close to factory Hornady. Rounds definitely look over pressure though.

Update/no update

Called on last Tuesday 4/26.    Haven't gotten an email nor call back yet.   She said it could be 5 business days before I hear from them.

I was just coming to ask about this ammo. Looks like I'll be passing on it.

Update:

Ammo Inc is a class act company in my book.  They reached out to me here and took great care of me.

They sent out replacement ammo to cover the original purchase I made (and some extra) as well as a return shipping label for the questionable batch.

I got to the range today with the new ammo and it functioned flawlessly.  No signs of any issues on any of the 40 cases from today's session; I shot 30 suppressed and 10 unsuppressed.   (It was about 20 degrees warmer today than the first one, too.)

The new brass has a JAG headstamp instead of the Ammo Inc stamp that was on the previous lot.  Not sure if that means they've changed up their brass or just the headstamp, but the stuff ran exactly how it should.

Thank you Ammo Inc for being a solid stand up company.

Good to hear.  I bought a box about a month ago to chrono (I have not done that yet).  I just checked, and it has the Ammo Inc headstamp.  I may have to get another box and hopefully get a lot with the JAG headstamp to test as well.  If it shoots well, it might be my Hornady Black V-max replacement.