Well, I was plesently surprised to receive my Oly Arms 9mm in less than two weeks (they estimated one month).  So I go pick it up yesterday and go out to shoot it right away with a friend.  With less than 100 rounds through it (3 Fail to ejects previous) it goes KB!!  I was using CCI blazer and it was the first shot from the mag.  The bullet lodged in the barrel, but besides that there were no injuries and the gun looks fine.  As best I can tell, I don't think the bolt closed all the way yet the rifle still fired.  I called Oly and they said it was covered under warrenty and to send it to them.  So I went to a UPS (Mail boxes ETC type place), and after some hassles, got it sent off to Oly.  I had the rifle for about 3 hours total!!  

It was a joy to shoot and much more quiet than my Bushy in 223.  I would have tried to shoot it again if the bullet wasn't lodged in the barrel.  I won't be using Blazer ammo anymore in it.  My Glock 19 loves the stuff!!

Do you think that it might have been the rifle and not the ammo?

Blazer is pretty tame ammo.  

Sorry to hear about your situation. It could have been any number of reasons for the failure, but let me remind you of our warranty. As stated on our web site at http://www.olyarms.com/warranty.html, these items are specifically NOT covered:
[edited for brevity]
*Damage or malfunction resulting from barrel obstructions.

*Damage or malfunction resulting from the use of other than factory SAAMI spec. ammunition.

*Damage resulting from the use of ANY imported, handloaded, factory re-manufactured, or non-brass cased ammunition.

If your unit was damaged based on any one of these factors, all of which seem to be possible from just the information listed in the post above, than the repair of the upper receiver would not be covered by our warranty. We can still affect repairs to the unit, but it would be a chargeable repair.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is the case with your upper. It may very well be a manufacturers defect that caused the problem. That has not been ruled out, that determination will be made by our riflesmith (Steve Houseman) once he has the unit in hands and has accomplished his forensic inspection.

Also, if it deemed to be an ammunition problem that has caused the damage, we may be able to approach the ammunition manufacturer for compensation for the repair as well. This is a common practice between firearms and ammunition manufacturers.

In any case, I'm certain that we can repair the unit and come to an amicable resolution with regards to compensation, should that be required.

Final Note: Do your best to follow the guidelines put forth by the published warranty, thereby allowing us to better serve you. If you need to know anything more with regards to the repair, feel free to contact me directly at 800-228-3471, and we'll work it out.

Tom S.
Oly Arms

It was the gun, because of the fact that it still fired even though the bolt wasn't completely closed.

Quoted: It was the gun, because of the fact that it still fired even though the bolt wasn't completely closed.

I'm not sure about the newer uppers, but the older one I have has a firing pin return spring. I hope you gave a once over before you sent it back.

Red Dragon- I have one of the Colt 9mm AR's, and had thought about shooting the CCI Blaser ammo (they make a very inexpensive 9mm hollowpoint).  I made some inquiries with some of the local ClassIII boys and was told not to use it do to potential case head seperation.  My Glock also loves the Blaser, but the AR gets the good stuff.

A little off topic, but appropriate to this thread...  

What type of mags does the Oly upper use?  I like the 9mm idea, but before I get one I'd like to know about mag availability.

Gunbert: the Oly upper can either use the Oly converted Sten mags at $~50 a pop, or a $50 sten mag block (from www.socommfg.com) and $6 sten mags.

Kharn

Blazer sucks!  I have had lots of problems with it in pistols that work fine with other ammo.  The small savings is NOT worth it.  Watch-Six

Quoted: It was the gun, because of the fact that it still fired even though the bolt wasn't completely closed.

Now you said you used blazer ammo ( alum cases ) your screwed !!!!!! Welcome to the SCREWED BY OLY CLUB !! ya know alum cases will cause guns to fire out of battery !!!

RED-  in your post, you said "I don't THINK the bolt was closed all the way". Either it was closed or it wasn't.  I wouldn't be too quick to blame the rifle.  Just my thougts.

I have had good results with Oly products. IMHO on a new gun that was using U.S. made factory ammo they should fix it for free.  No hassels.  No questions asked.  (Blazer still sucks.)  Watch-Six

Quoted: Welcome to the SCREWED BY OLY CLUB !! ya know alum cases will cause guns to fire out of battery !!!

I believe that Oly has stated that they will look into the problem, and if it WAS the ammo, they would see if CCI/Speer would help with the repair cost.
He would not be getting "screwed" by Olympic.
They have tested and developed their handgun caliber upper and have siad IN THE WARRANTY to use ONLY BRASS CASED AMMO!!
No grey area. Just as they don't warranty the upper if you shoot laquered ammo through their uppers.
They tell you how NOT to void the warranty.
You have a real problem with Olympic, and it shows.

Quoted: Sorry to hear about your situation. It could have been any number of reasons for the failure, but let me remind you of our warranty. As stated on our web site at http://www.olyarms.com/warranty.html, these items are specifically NOT covered: [edited for brevity] *Damage or malfunction resulting from barrel obstructions. *Damage or malfunction resulting from the use of other than factory SAAMI spec. ammunition. *Damage resulting from the use of ANY imported, handloaded, factory re-manufactured, or non-brass cased ammunition. If your unit was damaged based on any one of these factors, all of which seem to be possible from just the information listed in the post above, than the repair of the upper receiver would not be covered by our warranty. We can still affect repairs to the unit, but it would be a chargeable repair. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is the case with your upper. It may very well be a manufacturers defect that caused the problem. That has not been ruled out, that determination will be made by our riflesmith (Steve Houseman) once he has the unit in hands and has accomplished his forensic inspection. Also, if it deemed to be an ammunition problem that has caused the damage, we may be able to approach the ammunition manufacturer for compensation for the repair as well. This is a common practice between firearms and ammunition manufacturers. In any case, I'm certain that we can repair the unit and come to an amicable resolution with regards to compensation, should that be required. Final Note: Do your best to follow the guidelines put forth by the published warranty, thereby allowing us to better serve you. If you need to know anything more with regards to the repair, feel free to contact me directly at 800-228-3471, and we'll work it out. Tom S. Oly Arms

Tom,
With all due respect, I read through the manual given with the rifle and the only thing it says about ammo, is to "Use only authorized ammunition that is manufactured to U.S. specifications."  I fail to find any mention of using only brass ammo.  If I was supposed to receive another manual or a pistol caliber manual that states something to that effect, I didn't get it, all I received was a standard PCR manual for a 223 rifle.  I can guarantee you that I wouldn't have used CCI ammo if I would have known it was prohibited, and I can guarantee that I will never use CCI ammo again.  Granted, with your link I found the warranty, but I never found any information concerning ammunition that would be valuable for using the rifle in your manual.

I was told by whoever I talked to, that it was still under warranty if it was US manufactured ammo.

Before we get any further, lets just have a look at your upper. Send in any casings or remnants of casings that you may have from the gun. We will be able to quickly make a determiniation if it was an ammunition problem or a weapons problem.

Once we've made that determination, we will take it from there. No sense in getting all excited about an issue that may turn out to be moot.

Tom S.
Oly Arms

I didn't send the casings with the gun.  I guess I should have.  I didn't really think about it.  I kept them to show friends.  It looks like it was cut perfectly with a saw right around the base where the primer part is.  I don't know if that helps.  If you really need it I can mail it to you.
I'm sorry about all this.  I'm not trying to be difficult, I love the gun and think it is of excellent quality.  I just think that if there are stipulations to the warranty it should be stated in the users manual.  It's like buying a car that breaks down on the first day, and then finding out that it's not under warranty because you need to use 96+ octane gas, and, oh, by the way you can only use synthetic oil in it too.  I'll pay if I have to, but I'm not happy I didn't find out about the warranty beforehand.  

Sorry!!  

One vote here for the most likely cause,the crappy blaser ammo. I was shooting a Ruger super blackhawk .44Mag one afternoon and had a blaser round completely crack down its whole length.It melted half of the head off of the case and scarred the cylinder of the gun and threw crap in my eyes. Made one hell of a funny sound too. Using blaser in my opinion is asking for trouble.

My Glock seems to like the blazer ammo, but I will just start buying American Eagle.  I can get it for $6.00 a box locally which is only a $0.50 difference.  I don't trust it anymore.

Can you post pictures of the kB and the cases, or is it too late?

Definately sounds like you're not screwed, OA will make good or  CCI will make good!  Post your results later for us if things aren't worked out for you.  Atleast the upper was early!

Quoted: Can you post pictures of the kB and the cases, or is it too late?

I don't have a digital camera yet.  I just need to convince the wife that we need one soon.

I couldn't see any damage to the gun.  The mag was hard to pull out, so it may have bulged a little.  The bullet was stuck in the barrel, and the shell casing was sheared in half at the top part of the primer area.  It looks like someone cut it with a saw.  I can try to borrow a friend's camera and post a picture this week weekend.