[fred]

I was shooting Rem. UMC .38 spl 158 gr LRN's (prod code L38S5) t an indoor range with dim lighting at the firing line and did not notice that one cartridge had an irregular and excessively thick rim and lacked the rounded groove in the brass case about 0.205" behind the lip. It failed to fully chamber, though I closed my Colt Detective Special without excessive force. Problem: the base dragged on the rear frame of the gun to the extent that I nearly stripped the pawl. I could have resulted in mis-indexing of the cylinder causing severe lead shaving & possible damage to the gun & to me. I have reported it to Remington.

I have learned a lesson: I will either use a flashlight on the range or prescreen any factory ammo I intend to use. Watch out for these cartridges: they were purchased at Dick's Sporting Goods (large chain) in North Carolina in April.

 

[Big Dog]

I've noticed a lot of problems with ammo, the last couple years. Is Quality Control slipping?
I purchased a box of Winchester 9mm BEB for my Maadi Cadet. Two rounds fizzled - primer fired but not the powder, and the primer cups blew out! Another round from this box had the primer sitting sideways in the pocket. Cycling was never consistent with this ammo. The UMC 9mmFMJ never gave any problems.

Another Winchester problem - my .223 Bushpup will go full auto, slam firing - if I use the 45 grain Varmint load.
All 55 grain, UMC and milsurp, work flawlessly. Weird!

 

[Calvin]

Winchester has had many problems with QC in the last ten years. I had purchased some new brass for my Swede Mauser. I loaded the rounds to minimum specs, and EVERY ONE split the case necks. I called Winchester, and didn't get a straight answer, so I called Midway to advise them of the problem. Midway told me they had just been made aware of a large batch of 6.5 brass that did not have the necks annealed as they should. Midway was kind enough to take all of it back and send me new Remington brass instead.
Just last month, I was shooting some Winchester 7.62x39 ammo, and had 4 rounds that had no powder in the case. I sent the brass and bullets back to Winchester with a letter stating that I was not going to purchase any more ammo from them until they made an honest effort to rectify the situation.
I'll just stick to my reloads for now...

 

[fred]

I located the lot # of the box with the offending round: it is nearly invisible (no inkO on the box end: it is either P25M 31 or P25N 31, I can't decipher which. Thanks for the comments. Now watch that ammo, y'all!

 

[PAPA G]

was wondering is this the UMC stuff made in Mexico??? but i tend to beleive, considering the millions of rounds that RemChester produces, and all the rest how little, bad ones get through!!! i know its no consulation, to you guys. but think about it, the percentage of bad rounds must be impercevibly teeny. it would be a tribute to their quality control programs.

 

[fred]

PAPA G you are correct about the tiny percentage of bad ammo but consider the seriousness if a malfunction occurs which causes an injury. I think the best way to improve your chances is to visually inspect factory stuff just as you would your own loads. I perform QC in my own job: I can't correct it once it's out of my plant but I can tighten up my procedures and learn from my mistakes. That's basically all I hope to hear from Remington.

 

[jarcp]

Just a side note about bad ammo concerns. I've said it here before and I hold firm that companies send their "out of spec" ammo to Wal-Mart to be sold. I know second hand for a fact that the federal bulk .22 LR is that way, and I've not had much success with the rest of the center fire ammo. Anyone have proof either for or against?

 

[Jesse]

I have never seen Federal .30/30 ammo as cheap as it is at Wal-mart. Amazing! Wal-mart is not my choice for ammo supplies!

 

[Big Dog]

I buy the common ammo at Wally World (it's convenient, as we don't have a real "gunshop" in town), but generally reload or mail order for the more exotic stuff. The Winchester 9mm was such a surprise due to having three bad 'uns in one box!
The worst rimfire is the Remington bulk-pack stuff at Wally's. It is so inconsistent, it drives my semi-autos nuts. The Federal isn't the tightest-shooting, but it cycles okay.
The c/f ammo I get at Wally's - UMC .308 and .223, occasionally .303 Brit - always shoots well. Their UMC .38 Special, .357 Magnum and .45 ACP have always done well.

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