Factory loads are safe?

[44Blam]

So, I haven't really shot factory ammo (except in certification/training where required) in a very long time and so I don't know the current state of things...

Until Saturday. My buddy was shooting Winchester white box. I was watching him shoot a stage and I saw what I thought was a squib: Didn't cycle a little funny sound and some smoke out the ejection port. I ran up to my friend who was about to "clear the malfunction" and yelled "STOP!!!!" because I've seen squibs and that was what it looked like...

So we clear him, clear the gun and make sure that there was no obstruction in the barrel. There was none.

Turns out what happened was a primer got seated in SIDEWAYS. So the striker hit the side of the primer and didn't set of the powder nor did the freedom seed travel anywhere.

Yikes.

[Sasquatch-1]

I have seen factory ammo come through with primers seated backward, bullet seated backwards, bullets seated waaaay to deep and a couple of split cases. All pistol ammo. and of course everyone who shoots a .22 rimfire has had the occasional dud.

[JSnover]

So that was one. Out of how many millions?
And let's not forget, "Never Shoot Anyone Else's Reloads"
Factory loads are as safe as anything else, if the average handloader cranked out as many rounds as the factories we'd hear more stories like this.

[DocSavage]

Sounds like the discount line of ammo
from the various ammo companies. Only factory ammo I had a problem with was from PMC they were making 40/65 ammo at the time bought 6 boxes and 10 rounds of it the cases were badly crushed. PMC replaced them and gave me an extra box for my trouble this was 30 years ago and I still have the brass.

[LIMPINGJ]

He must not have been paying attention to the cartridges as they were being loaded. Kind of hard to miss seeing a primer seated sideways.

[Hossfly]

Never seen a factory round with a primer problem, my son has had some lately that wouldn’t fire, sent back for replacement. I’ve personally seated a primer sideways, but it felt funny going down with lever and I caught it luckily. Have had 1-2 squibs from my reloading till I changed and added a powder check die to the Dillon 650.

[farmbif]

ive never seen that but hardly ever shoot factory boxed ammo. I have seated a primer sideways and it was bear to get out of the priming tool, put on my safety goggles and leather gloves and persuaded it out with a small hydraulic seal pick after taking the whole press and everything outdoors away from any other powder or primers

[littlejack]

Years ago, had a friend fire a factory round out of his 9mm. It sounded odd or different than the previous rounds fired. The empty case cleared the ejection port. He didn't realize something didn't sound right. He stood aiming and ready to finish emptying the magazine when I yelled, STOP! He did, and we checked the barrel. Yep, sho-nuff, there was the slug stuck in the bore. It happens.

[gwpercle]

Hate to say it but the truth is ... there is nothing 100% SAFE in this world .
I've reloaded for 50+ years and the only double charge I've ever had was with Winchester Wildcat 22 LR ammo , loaded by Winchester ... When the round went off it damaged the 10/22 magazine , blew the ejector to kingdom come and damaged the recoil spring and rod ... I had to Return it to Ruger for Repair ...they replaces a lot of parts , magazine and latching parts ...
So don't assume factories load perfect amm ... they dont !
Like LttleJack says ... It Happens
Gary

[megasupermagnum]

Factories mess up a lot more rounds than 1 in a million. Anyone who has shot factory ammo has found problems. While I've never seen a primer seated sideways, I've found more than one with them in backwards. One was not that long ago either on a premium line of handgun ammo. 22 longrifle ammo can be horrendous. We once bought a big bucket of Remington ammo, I forget the name. You couldn't hit squat with that stuff. Every shot was unique, it could go poof, pop, or bang, or just be a dud. I ran some over the chronograph, and saw anywhere from 650 to 1300 fps from that stuff. Called Remington, got the run around. Finally just dumped them in a fire and watched the show.

Most of my factory ammo shooting is shotgun ammo. You can find all kinds of problems with shotgun ammo. Back before I loaded all my hunting loads, I'd find plenty with goofy crimps. Steel shot especially, you find some wonky crimps. In all time I've been reloading, I've only had a single round fail to fire, and that was a flat out bad primer, not my fault. I've had a few bloopers when trying experimental loads, but that's why I was testing. I can recall at least 4 factory shotgun rounds fail to fire, 1 pistol round fail, and of course those 22LR rounds numerous were duds.

[oldblinddog]

.22 Rimfire rounds (all sizes) that don’t fire the first time will usually go bang if you rotate them 90 degrees (+/-) and hit them again. Since most all of my .22 rifles are single shot except my Browning BL-22, this is not a problem for me.

[Burnt Fingers]

Hate to say it but the truth is ... there is nothing 100% SAFE in this world .
I've reloaded for 50+ years and the only double charge I've ever had was with Winchester Wildcat 22 LR ammo , loaded by Winchester ... When the round went off it damaged the 10/22 magazine , blew the ejector to kingdom come and damaged the recoil spring and rod ... I had to Return it to Ruger for Repair ...they replaces a lot of parts , magazine and latching parts ...
So don't assume factories load perfect amm ... they dont !
Like LttleJack says ... It Happens
Gary

I've pulled bullets on a lot of 22 LR. I've yet to see one that had the case capacity for a double charge.

[jim147]

When Winchester loads 9MM, it rains from the sky. It loads big four foot totes in minutes. In today's messed up world I'm sure QC is not at the top of the list.

[dverna]

If every factory round was perfect, it would be even more expensive than it is now. It is amazing how good factory ammunition is. Think about the millions of rounds produced.

I do not produced perfect reloads unless I need to. Powder drops are not perfect on the progressives. There is a slight variation but it is acceptable. I do not trim pistol brass or sort it. Rifle loads made on the single stage presses are as perfect as I can make them and outshoot factory ammunition. I do not need that level of quality in shotgun and pistol ammunition.

.22 bargain ammunition is the worst but I deal with it. Most of what I have is in the $1.50/2.00 a box range so I am not expecting Eley reliability or consistency. I am too cheap to spend over $10/box for .22's. Although I did use Eley Pistol Match for Bullseye matches back in the day.

[GregLaROCHE]

In the past I shot a lot of factory ammo and never had a problem, except for the occasional 22Lf.

[trapper9260]

I had a 22lr that at the time I did not realize that it did not exit the barrel when I was on the trap line about it ,I had a squid . luck for me that I had no problems when it did went out when fired the next round out my Ruger single six. Never again will I let that happened again ,I bring a dowel now with me for just incase it happened again on the line , it did no damage to the gun or barrel , I did had 22lr did not go off and after when I got home I took apart the round and found that the primer powder was not on the bottom of the case it fell out of the case with the powder. I had others that did not go off also that is what I found on them also. Very few it was that they need to be turn like stated.

[gunarea]

Just this past month my buddy got a particular lot number of Federal shotshells that have no propellant. Although there was no apology, they sent replacements. Fortunately he was shooting an autoloader so the action never cycled. Shot cleared the barrel but gas check and shot cup obstructed the bore. Nothing man made is fool proof!

[georgerkahn]

For what it's worth, maybe 45(?) years back my sister and b.i.l. came to visit and I splurged on a box of FACTORY .38WCF ammo from a not-too-distant hardware store for some .38-40 range shooting. Labeled/sold as "factory", it was my sister who noted one of the 50 rounds in box had a different manufacturer's headstamp. When I later brought this to store-owner's attention, thinking it was a FACTORY anomaly -- guess what? The owner told me he bought these from a source which does commercial reloads -- as opposed to an individual -- hence, were factory new. (e.g., albeit NOT from original manufacturing company )
I learned something...
My thought is there IS that chance (???) the factory white box ammo was made in was not necessarily the ORIGINAL one?
(Just an early a.m. recollection/thought...)
geo

[MrWolf]

Think I still have a new Remington 12 ga trap load that has no rim. Just the one out of the box was like that.

[LenH]

Someone gave me some Remington Standard velocity ammo in a square plastic box. Mind you the guy that gave them to me knew nothing about guns or ammo. These were
a birthday gift. I took one box to a .22 Bullseye match. Out of that box were 10 duds. The other 4 boxes are still put up, I wouldn't use that stuff unless there was nothing else.
That was the longest match and the worst score I have ever had.