CAUTION: Ruger LCP totally destroyed by bad "commercial" loads

Howard Law

SkipD

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Jun 8, 2012
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Please read this article about a shooter's LCP being totally destroyed by bad ammo.

This article points out three things that are important for folks to understand.

1) If one is reloading ammunition, it is critically important to very carefully inspect the production of ammo to prove that it is being done properly. I'm not saying that powder has to be weighed for every cartridge, but enough sampling must be done to ensure that the method used provides uniform powder charges. This means that if one is using a totally automated production system (such as when using a Dillon progressive loader), enough sample loads must be disassembled for measurement of the powder loads to prove the uniformity is acceptable. When manually charging cartridge cases using a loading block and powder measure, it's easy to visually inspect all the cartridges for radical errors. However, weighing sample loads is still critically important.

2) Do not blindly purchase and use ammunition that has been reloaded by ANYONE. Even new commercial ammunition produced by the largest companies can be problematic, but reloaded ammunition made by an unknown entity must be considered highly suspect.

3) The destruction of the LCP in the article is very similar to what we've seen when the owner used "+P" ammo in an LCP. Please use only standard-pressure loads in the LCP and all other similar small weapons with thin-walled barrels.
 

Slowhand

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Jun 8, 2012
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Well that was certainly interesting. Dennis Ryan was certainly fortunate that he wasn't seriously discombobulated.

Thanks for posting the article SkipD.
 

bigdogdaddy

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Sep 16, 2012
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This is why I am still in the dark ages with my single stage press. After I have 100 - 300 rounds in the trays I visually inspect every case to see that it has the powder in there and looks to be the proper level. No squibs. No double charges. It is also why the only people that shoot my reloads are me and my brother.
 

bigdogdaddy

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Sep 16, 2012
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How do you like the part about the powder charges ranging from 2.3 grains to 4.2 grains with an average of 3.2 grains? Awesome quality control.
 

SkipD

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bigdogdaddy said:
How do you like the part about the powder charges ranging from 2.3 grains to 4.2 grains with an average of 3.2 grains? Awesome quality control.

I think that's going to get the shop into rather hot water. It should.
 

bigdogdaddy

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Sep 16, 2012
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I reload my own and feel completely safe. However, a customer gave me 3 boxes of 9mm reloads because he no longer owns a 9 and I just can't bring myself to shoot them. I just don't know what kind of guy he is.
 

SkipD

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Silverfox1 said:
Wow!!! I think I'll stick with the factory ammo! No reloads for me!

If you're referring to reloads that are on somebody's shelf for sale, I agree. If, on the other hand, you load your own or have a friend that you trust explicitly to do a proper job of reloading, there's nothing wrong with shooting reloaded ammo. Almost all the ammo I shoot has been reloaded in my basement.
 

Silverfox1

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Jun 10, 2012
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SkipD said:
Silverfox1 said:
Wow!!! I think I'll stick with the factory ammo! No reloads for me!

If you're referring to reloads that are on somebody's shelf for sale, I agree. If, on the other hand, you load your own or have a friend that you trust explicitly to do a proper job of reloading, there's nothing wrong with shooting reloaded ammo. Almost all the ammo I shoot has been reloaded in my basement.

Of course Skip, If I were doing my own reloads, that would be another matter. If I were trusting someone else to do them, I'd have to be willing to trust them with my life, because that's what I'd be doing.
 

SkipD

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Silverfox1 said:
Of course Skip, If I were doing my own reloads, that would be another matter. If I were trusting someone else to do them, I'd have to be willing to trust them with my life, because that's what I'd be doing.

I agree. I definitely would not shoot ammo loaded by just anyone. I'd have to know a lot about how much care a person takes when reloading, what "recipe" he/she used, and a bit more.
 

davevabch

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Jun 9, 2012
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If you guys remember, I had a very similar situation with my LCP on commercial reloads that ruined my LCP. Thankfully, Ruger was very understanding and did give me a new gun. I still have that Junk crap, but will not ever shoot any of it again. I learned my lesson about factory reloads the hard way. I knew when I first shot the gun, it was just too hot. Should have stopped there.
 

SkipD

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davevabch said:
If you guys remember, I had a very similar situation with my LCP on commercial reloads that ruined my LCP. Thankfully, Ruger was very understanding and did give me a new gun. I still have that Junk crap, but will not ever shoot any of it again. I learned my lesson about factory reloads the hard way. I knew when I first shot the gun, it was just too hot. Should have stopped there.

What ammo brand was that, Dave?
 

davevabch

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Jun 9, 2012
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Freedom munitions- I weighed one rd. and it was on the far upper limit for most loads. Grant you, I do not know what kind of powder they use.
 

SkipD

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davevabch said:
Freedom munitions- I weighed one rd. and it was on the far upper limit for most loads. Grant you, I do not know what kind of powder they use.

If you do reloading, what you could is pull all the bullets with a kinetic bullet puller (looks like a plastic hammer) and then recharge the cartridges with a known amount of a known powder for a standard velocity load. The bullets could then be reused, so the powder load should be based on those bullets.

To accomplish this with a proper tension on the bullets, you may find that you need to resize the cases after removing the primer punch assembly from the die. Then, if you flare the cases, do that. Finally, do a taper crimp on the loaded cartridges.

If you don't have the stuff to do the loading, I'd offer my services - except that shipping the live ammo across state lines might be more fun than you'd want. ::)
 

davevabch

Frontiersman
Jun 9, 2012
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Thanks for the offer skip. However I do have a puller but just have not started loading 380 yet. Hopefully that will change in the near future.
 

Liberty

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I had a great afternoon shooting my reloads. About 1/2 of which were from a 108 year old rifle. Just like shooting, reloading is as safe or dangerous as the person doing it. I personally would not shoot unknown reloads.