Went up to my favorite indoor range yesterday to get some time in with the Beretta 92, and my bud brought his Glock 17.  Got three boxes of reloads, as I usually do when I don't have any plinking ammo on hand.

Halfway into the second mag, BOOM!  Face full of fire.  Still unsure as to what happened, kept it pointed downrage as I survey the damage.  Didn't look good.  On the right side of the gun, the external piece (don't know what to call it) that is connected to the trigger looks bent and is sticking out about a half inch.  After waiting to make sure nothing else is going to explode, I try pulling the slide and it doesn't want to move.

Anyway, make a long story short, seems the brass had just been fired one too many times and a hole had been blown out the back of it.

While the gunsmith goes to work, they give me a glock 17 to fire the rest of the ammo up with.  Half way into the second mag, *click* and nothing.  I wait a minute, drop the mag and pull the slide.  Well how about that, the primer is completely missing.  Closer inspection finds the missing primer sitting in the box.  So I head back out with the remiainder of the ammo, not wanting to risk one more round.

Gunsmith reappears having got my stainless baby back together, which was undamaged except for that one part and the trigger return spring blowing loose.  I was the second customer with a problem that day, they pulled all the reloads off the shelf while I was standing there.  Gunsmith test fired my Beretta to make sure there was nothing wrong, and didn't charge us anything.


Well, just wanted to share that.  And I think the moral of the story is, always wear shooting glasses of some kind.

Santyth:

Thanks for taking the time to post this.  I agree 100% with your statement regarding the importance of wearing eye protection.

However, I think the other moral to your story is shoot only your own reloads.  

Never previously had a problem.  The guys at this range are pretty reputable, as should be noticed by their handling of the situation.  If they're having problems, they pull it.

That being said, I think I'm going to try Wolf 9mm for plinking anyway.

I've shot thousands and thousands of my own reloads through a Glock 17 with no functionality problems what so ever. I had a round with a backwards primer once and that has been my only FTF.

I use FMJ for my reloads and never shoot lead.

They don't load these themselves, it's a local company.

I have shot thousands of reloads through my Glock 27 and have only had a few misfires, nothing dangerous, but reloads work fine in Glocks, only for plinking of course

I've shot maybe a couple of thousand rounds of different ammo in the last few years. None of it reloads and no malfunctions. It's incidents like this that make me glad I stuck with factory loads. Pay the extra couple of bucks, it ain't worth the worry and always wear glasses.

I haven't kept an accurate running count but...

I can say with confidence that MY reloads have had far fewer problems than any factory loads I have ever shot in MY guns.

I stopped buying factory ammo some time ago.

If some "local company" is making those loads, theu probably have hired help. The only person that works in my reloading shop is ME so I know how each and every round was made.

Never shoot lead in a Glock.. The Lead will build up in the rifling... and BOOM !!

But Glocks are usually kind to you when the go High Order... The bottom of the chamber is thinner so it will blow out pushing the mag out. It will scatter your rounds and mag parts all over the ground and you may get a bite on your hand from the mag release shooting out the side. Much better than a face full of shrapnel...

Cg..

Quoted: I dont know about berreta, but glock does not recommend reloads in there pistols. The only time I have ever had and problems with my glock is when It was being fed reloads. New ammo has never giving me any problems in my glock. Glad you did not get hurt. And I would expect that the range would fix your gun for free to keep from getting sued.

Nobody, I mean nobody, recomends reloads. For the world, in my eyes, if you use reloads, one day you will reap what you sow.
GG

the reason the companys say no reloads is to COVER THERE ASS!.

ive seen a kaboom with Factory ammo!

Once you have an ammo related kaboom, that ammo is suspect; the best thing to do (after giving Thanks you still have all your fingers & both eyes) was stop using that ammo.  I'm sure the range was trying to smooth over things by offereing you another gun but I would not have shot it with those reloads.  You found another defective round in short order.  I'm glad you were not hurt and your pistol was repairable but as the posts above say, if you shoot reloads, the only ones to shoot are your own.  Only you will take the time & effort to check & recheck your loads to make sure they are safe.

Did the gunsmith give you a reason for the failure?  Double charge?  Defective case?  Cartridge not fully seated?  Bullet driven into the case?  The cause should be determined.

You and the others in adjacent lanes are extremely blessed not to have been hurt.

You are very lucky not to have been seriously hurt.

ALWAYS wear eye protection.  I see alot of folks at the indoor gun range that will wear ear protection, but never have any eyewear on in case of kabooms, flying brass, burning powder, etc.

You only get one set of each to work with so do take the time & expense to protect them...they are irreplaceable.  Well...you can get an eye transplant but its an awful lot of hassle & expense.  Shooting glasses are much cheaper.  You cannot get ear transplants...yet.

Glad you are not hurt.

While this indeed could have turned out much worse, I think a lot of you are overreacting a bit.  I bought reloads to shoot, knowing the inherent risk involved.  I chose to take that risk because I trust this range to remedy any problem I may have due to their ammo, which they did, and also that they not have any known dangerous ammo in stock.  It was taken off the shelve immediately.

If I haven't bought any ammo by the next time I'm in there, I MAY choose to shoot them again.  But NOT without asking what action they took with the reloading company first.

Have the range pay to ship the gun to Beretta for a complete tech inspection. There may be other hairline fractures the gunsmith missed.

It's what I asked them to do.  After the second failure, that's when I knew I should stop.

Like I said, I know there is a risk in firing reloads.  One failed cartridge does not necessarily mean dangerous ammo.

I had the same thing happen, same gun and everything.
I couldn’t get the slide to release so I packed it up and sent it to Beretta.  They new I was using reloads but they fixed it up and sent it back – no charge.   Georgia Arms said it was most likely a case failure.  He blamed Winchester brass specifically.   I still like their ammo though.

Glad your OK.

.40 S&W reloads aren't even a possibility on my S&W Model 4013- every round bulges visibly after being fired.  Sent it back to S&W, including several fired rounds, but they claim it's how they designed the chamber to improve feeding reliability when dirty, and it's safe as long as I don't reload.  Haven't found any other bulging .40 cal rounds on the range to date, however.