9MM Question

[FireLt]

I was given some 9mm ammo, reloads I assume, (1300 rds) but didn't have a 9mm so I bought an LC9. The 3rd or 4th round in the first magazine loaded didn't fire and the slide wasn't all the way forward after a successful shot. I couldn't pull it back either. I was able to get the round out by taking the gun apart. In looking at the ammo I noticed the casings looked tapered. I was told at the range that they probably weren't sized during reloadng and that whoever reloaded them probably didn't size them because if they are fired out of the same gun all the time they didn't need to be.
Any thoughts? Are they worthless to me now? Is there a 9mm gun that will fire these rounds?

 

[atljetmech]

Sounds like Atlanta Arms 9mm to me. My friend experienced the exact same thing and his G19 wouldn't even fire them so I'd say their pretty much worthless to you.

 

[ATLEMT]

You could still use them for components if you reload hourself

 

[jmedic25]

can you post a pic so we can help you better?

 

[FireLt]

The ammo came from Florida. Pics will be up tomorrow

 

[jmedic25]

cool..Id hate to see you lose 1300 rnds...

 

[Chuckdog]

I had a dealer friend that would give me holsters.

He knew me, he knew I would have to buy a gun to put in it!

The man was a marketing genius.

 

[SpeedyR]

my guess as others have said is that the rounds were not resized properly when reloaded. it happens if you have a tight chamber in a pistol, and a sizing die not screwed down all the way.

one option if you have a press is to buy a Lee Factory Crimp die ($12). it's got a carbide sizer on it and sometimes it will get that little extra bit of diameter off the round and allow it to chamber.

maybe see if you can find someone with a cartridge gauge and see if the bullets drop into it. or take your barrel out and just drop a few rounds into the barrel. they should seat all the way into the barrel. if they don't you have a problem. resize them and try it again. or keep the ones that drop into the barrel they should be fine, sell the others to someone who wants to pull them apart and use the brass and bullets.

could be that your pistol has a tight chamber compared to say a glock.

 

[rbstern]

I wouldn't condemn the entire batch because of that one round. You can test the size of the rounds yourself without firing them, using your LC9 barrel as a cartridge gauge:

Take the barrel out of the LC9, and with the barrel pointed downward, drop an unfired round into the chamber. It should drop in easily and fully (compare it to how far a commerical 9mm round seats in the chamber), and fall out easily when you turn the barrel pointing upward. Use this procedure to test each round. Set aside any rounds that don't seem to drop in fjully and drop out easily. Make sure the chamber is clean and dry when you do this test.

It's always a risk firing reloads of unknown origin.

 

[Chuckdog]

I didn't see in the previous post, are they cast, fmj, or other? Many cast are sized @ .356". This can cause chambering issues in some pistols.

Cast bullets may also cause pressure issues if used in firearms with polyagonal rifling.

I shoot cast only in several of my target pistol.

The Lee fcd mentioned above may be of some help, but not if the bullet's oversized.

A Ruger should be fine with cast.