Ammo Defect?

[David4516]

After many years of service I'm retiring my Makarov as my carry gun. New pistol will be the Glock 43 my wife bought for me. She's a keeper (the gun and the wife LOL).

But before I can switch over to the Glock, I wanted to test it as extensively as possible. So far it's passed phase one of my tests (reliability with my reloads). Phase two is testing with factory carry ammo. Today I went to the range with some Hornady XTPs with high hopes (the XTP was awesome in the Makarov).

So I'm at the range and I open these boxes and start loading the two mags that came with the pistol. The very first round I take out of the box had some kind of debris plugging the hollow point. I thought it was weird but the rest of the rounds in the box looked fine. I shot all 25, no issues.

I proceed to open the second box, and find two more plugged bullets in that box. At this point I snap some photos (see attachments) showing the problem and the lot number on the box. I didn't shoot any more of them after I snapped the photo I put the rounds back in the package. I thought I might need to hang on to them as "evidence" or in case I need to exchange them or something.

So my question is, what do I do about this? Contact Hornady? I'm sure these rounds will fire just fine but for some reason it bothers me that they'd let something like this get past quality control. What would THR do?

 

[ku4hx]

Tumbling media. I've seen it too in what little factory ammunition I buy as well as bulk JHP bullets. For me it's been very rare though.

I usually just blow it out with an air blast or for the stubborn ones use a plastic stylus I keep on the loading bench.

 

[Drail]

This one reason a Swiss Army knife has a toothpick and an awl. Personally I always thought that tumbling loaded rounds was a waste of time - the components should be clean before they are assembled.

 

[moxie]

Yup. Media. I've only seen it once, in some Rem. GS many years ago, but it happens. Reinforces the need to inspect each and every round, whether one's own reloads or factory stuff.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

This one reason a Swiss Army knife has a toothpick and an awl. Personally I always thought that tumbling loaded rounds was a waste of time - the components should be clean before they are assembled.

It probably WAS tumbled BEFORE assembly... they just didn't catch the mess.

 

[righteoushoot]

I find the exact same thing in my reloading components, and specifically in the 158 gr. XTP bullets I just loaded for my .357 Mag. Can of compressed air is all you need.

 

[g.willikers]

And here I was thinking whoever packed the box had granola for lunch.

 

[Sunray]

Debris plugging the hollow point won't affect anything. The only reason to take it out is so it doesn't get into the innards of your pistol. Very much doubt Hornady will do anything, but if you have time, call 'em. Central time. http://www.hornady.com/contact_us?g=1
Any tumbling done in the factory is due to customers thinking ammo components should shine.

 

[Detritus]

Any tumbling done in the factory is due to customers thinking ammo components should shine.

exactly, tumbling is why your factory ammo is "pretty" looking. they tumble it not only to make it shine but also as a way to remove any other debris/oil/case lube/etc that may have, purposefully or otherwise, gotten on to the ammo during production.

I worked the gun counter at a sporting goods store for about two years, I don't think we went a full week without having a customer come to us asking about tumbling media in hollow point cavities or stuck to primer/neck sealant on higher end ammo. Winchester had a run of 9mm PDX I swear was dropped into the tumbler with the sealant still wet, that lot averaged 2-3 rounds per 50 with crap stuck in the groove around the primer

 

[David4516]

Thanks for the info. I thought it might be media (do they tumble the loaded rounds after production, or just the individual components prior to assembly?). Sounds like this isn't a big deal? What would have happened I wonder if I had to actually use one of these rounds in a defensive situation... would the bullet fail to expand because it was plugged?

But it did also look like granola

Detritus, I have bought many boxes of ammo over the years, and I also used to work the gun counter at a sporting goods store, and this is the first time I've ever seen this. I must just have been lucky so far...

 

[Detritus]

Detritus, I have bought many boxes of ammo over the years, and I also used to work the gun counter at a sporting goods store, and this is the first time I've ever seen this. I must just have been lucky so far...

or conversely Hornady and Winchester had some really crappy runs of ammo during the period I was working (2010-2012). we did get a couple of what amounted to recall notices from Winchester, for the 9mm PDX loads and a few different Ballistic silvertip loadings. and one out of the two times I saw our Winchester ammo rep he showed up with another guy and swapped out about half our Win. premium ammo for new lots.

as for what I personally saw, the tumbling media issues noted, massive corrosion to cases and primers (ie growing fur, holes in case wall), inverted primers, and at least one guy who brought back a box of some kind of .380 with dud primers.

 

[herrwalther]

Just some tumbling media that got past quality control. Most (All?) ammo makers run their completed ammo through a tumbler to shine it up a bit. I have some older Remington ammo that has some media stuck in the ring around the primer. Still goes bang everytime though so I wouldn't worry too much about the reliability of your stuff. Just clean it out first if you plan to use it for carry.

 

[dakota1911]

I seem to remember a post from years ago about tumbling loaded ammo to pretty it up. Sort of silly I think, but maybe not from the manufacturers point of view.

 

[Thermactor]

That's some shot media inside the hollow point. It is a unique fusion of shotgun ammunition and modern defensive handgun ammunition creating a lethal vortex of ballistic shockment and operational turgidity.