AR-15 KB with HSM ammo

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Thanks for the reply on what HSM ammo is.
I sort of figured out it was a brand of ammunition.
Perhaps a picture of the packaging so those of us who are unfamiliar with the stuff don't make the mistake of buying some??????
 
Thanks for the pic.
It is a Brand I am totally unfamiliar with, but will take the warning with appreciation.
 
The 1,000 rounds of HSM 7.62x51 was some of the nicest, best shooting and cleanest FMJ I've ever put through my SOCOM-16. I'm glad no one was injured and if it was indeed the fault of the ammo, I feel bad for HSM - they seem like really good folks...
 
Another reason to never buy reloaded err I mean remanufactured ammo* I've seen pics of ARs K'bd with Ultramax ammo as well. I've personally had a KB with ammo from a locally run remanufactured ammo company.


*The one exception is Black Hills- I've never heard of a KB attributed to them or poor quality for that mater.
 
I'm not sure if it is relevant or not to this, but a few weeks ago I got an e-mail from some folks that used to work there letting me know they had left and started a splinter company due to unspecified grievances. Wish I could find it, must have deleted it.

My experience with them are a case of .38 special wadcutters that worked fine. Have never touched the high power stuff.
 
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Sorry for your loss and I'm glad no one was hurt!

From the look of the brass and the split carrier, it fired out of battery.

Any of the ammo left that you could sort through and check for out-of-spec rounds, dents, loose bullets, that sort of thing?

What headstamp was on the brass?

I've fired an uncountable number of HSM rounds over the years and have never seen that happen.

I did see a Ruger AC556 blown up with Winchester White Box. Broke a lug off the bolt, trashed the stock and the magazine and peppered the guys face with brass fragments. Winchester replaced the gun and recalled that lot of ammo.

I've also seen an AR blown up with Lake City surplus ammo ('69 IIRC). Sheared lugs off the bolt and barrel extension with attendant damage to the upper. Since the people who manufactured that ammo are long gone, the guy had to replace the gun himself.

With the billions of rounds of ammo loaded and reloaded in this country I'm not suprised that this has happend. What is suprising is that it doesn't happen more often.
 
I have almost 900 rds of HSM 223. The 100 or so I have shot have been quite accurate out of my AR.

IIRC, HSM uses primarily LC headstamp (once fired) brass. I'll have to sort through my stash and inspect the brass for anything perculiar.

Edit to add: Looking at the original post, it was noted that the poster was having issues with HSM ammo lately. I wonder if quality issues are from stepped up production levels? I bought my 1k rounds when it was going for 200$....over a year ago.
 
From the look of the brass and the split carrier, it fired out of battery.
Click to expand...
From looking at the case mouth and the shoulder, if it was out of battery it would have been deformed, fire formed wrong. It isn't. Out of battery doesn't blow out the the primer pocket like Goatse.
 
As I said earlier in this thread, I have some of this stuff. Now I'm wondering if I should shoot it at all. I've already been through 150 rounds of the .223 with no problems, though the stuff does feel “hotter” than any of the other cheap .223 I've tried. It's also the most affordable .223 I've ever seen locally.

The HSM is the cheapest .223 behind the counter at a very popular gun store near me. That gun store is only about 30 miles from the Boulder area, where an officers rifle kaboomed as reported and linked in this thread. I was unaware of that connection until reading that link. Now I'm wondering if what I have was cast off by the Boulder PD...

I also have 100 rounds of their 9mm that I haven't tried yet, purchased at Sportsman's Warehouse. (with no warning that it was reloaded ammo) I bought it thinking that it might be as hot as the .223, and I was thinking having some hot 9mm hardball around would be a good idea.

Should I shoot it, or save it for a very rainy day?

DSCN1784.gif
 
FWIW I have shot up numerous boxes of their fmj 45ACP, 44 mag, and heavy 45/70 ammo. No issues on my part. I also took in about 8 boxes of 375 win brass and had them reload them for me. I was very happy with the results. But this was also 5-6 years ago.
 
For those people who dismiss this as "ah, it'll never happen to me, this company's ammo has been fine".....


....it only takes one round to make bad things happen, as per the original picture.
 
For those people who dismiss this as "ah, it'll never happen to me, this company's ammo has been fine".....


....it only takes one round to make bad things happen, as per the original picture.
Click to expand...

Any company could screw up. While this looks to primarily be the fault of the ammunition, there could be any of a million other factors that had a hand in this and led to it happening.

I've always had good luck with HSM. It's good, cheap ammo, so far as I'm concerned. I reload, but if I see a particularly good deal... I can always use the brass.
 
I Am Not a Reloader, but I'm strongly suspecting over-annealing/over-heating causing the case heads to go soft. Not an expert, but it would seem to explain the issues observed with that batch.
 
If this is remanufactured ammo the cases should have been fired at least once before, so unless HSM decided to anneal the heads of the cases for some reason I doubt that's the problem. If they're new cases I heard recently that some Winchester .223 cases were apparently too soft. Otherwise it looks like the wrong powder or way too much of a correct powder to me.
 
Delete please. Too many windows up and posted on the wrong thread.

Yeah, I am an idiot sometimes.


-- John
 
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Wow.. Glad everyone was OK. My new AR shoots BEST with the 55 grain psp's from HSM. I actually had a black hills case spilit in half the first time out with my rifle - so I swore THAT brand off. I'm paying 19.95 a box where I live for that orange box that you have the price tag on for 15.95 in the pic too...hmmmmm
 
Did you get a response yet?

Spyvie - I think in your situation I'd at least not shoot any more of that stuff right now.
I'd wait and see what they do with this situation. If they issue a recall, see if you can get a replacement.
If not, I'd pull the ammo and recycle what I could for components.
If you only have a couple hundred rounds left you won't be out much by being safe but if one of those rounds detonates, you'll be out at least the cost of a rifle.
Maybe even the cost of one of your eyes. They're harder to replace than ammo.

I certainly wouldn't store it for a "rainy day". The ammo I have stored for that is good ammo that I know I can count on.
 
I've shot thousands upon thousands of HSM rounds in .308, .223, 9mm and .38 special. I've never had a single problem with any of it. For me they have been an excellent and cheap source of ammunition.

I order directly from them by the 1,000.
 
I'm not a reloader (yet) so I don't have a scale accurate enough to weigh any difference in the rounds. Like I said they do seem a little stout, especially in my Mini 14, so maybe it's best if I just put them aside and maybe trade them to someone who is familiar with the issue in the future.

I only have about $112 invested in the HSM .223... hurts a little but could be worse.
 
HSM sells 1x fired and new brass versions in 223. I would be interested in knowing if this round was a reload (ie 1x brass) or was it from a 'new brass' batch. Also, what was the headstamp on the brass?
 
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