BVAC Ammo Warning!

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Havok7416

Havok7416

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Out at the range today I had a near-catastrophic event with factory 10mm ammo from BVAC. Headstamp is Armscor. I no longer have the case as it was donated to my range's reloading department to help new reloaders learn.

I have heard of problems with BVAC in the past but up until now haven't had any issues myself.

I recommend that anyone with this ammo NOT fire it! My cases ended up horribly bulged and the problem was only discovered when my gun locked up on a deformed piece of brass.
 
Did you contact BVAC. I'm sure they will want to know what happened and will probably want the remainder of the ammo back.

I've had good luck in the past with BVAC ammo and from what I hear they are a stand-up company.
 
I second contacting BVAC.

I had an exceptionally hot Winchester .22 WMR round in a pistol many years ago. A NOTICABLY louder bang, and the brass split.

Contacted Winchester about it, sent them the split brass and the ammo box it came from.

They sent me a letter in response, the exact details I can no longer remember...essentially appologizing and that they'd investigate the lot that round came from.

I got a free box of .22 WMR from them, as well.

Quality control is important to ammunition manufacturers. No manufacturer can survive long making rounds so hot they may cause damage or injury, so I'm betting they'll take your report seriously if you contact them about it.

As you said...you haven't had any issues yourself up until now (don't know how long or how much you've used), so it's apparently not a very prevalent issue. And others have no problems either. Given the sheer quantities pumped out by any manufacturer, an occasional squib or hot load is bound to happen. But when it does, they would generally very much like to know about it so they can investigate and take corrective action if warranted.
 
danoam said:
Did you contact BVAC. I'm sure they will want to know what happened and will probably want the remainder of the ammo back.

I've had good luck in the past with BVAC ammo and from what I hear they are a stand-up company.
Click to expand...
I haven't had time to contact them yet (and I really didn't even think of it). I think it will be harder to contact them without the casing but I'll certainly try.

BSA1, I didn't say anything about a boycott. I have a bunch more of it sitting here and I intend to take it all apart and rebuild it solely due to the fact that the 10mm is very high pressure as it is. I have a bunch of BVAC .45 Colt here as well which I will take apart to determine powder levels.
 
I wouldn't take any of it apart. Ask the manufacturer what you should do with it first. Think of it from the manufacturer's perspective. Someone contacts you about a defective product and when they inspect the product, it has been tampered with. Then, they won't do a thing for you, and may not be able to issue a recall on a bad lot of ammo if it comes to that.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
As you said...you haven't had any issues yourself up until now (don't know how long or how much you've used), so it's apparently not a very prevalent issue. And others have no problems either. Given the sheer quantities pumped out by any manufacturer, an occasional squib or hot load is bound to happen. But when it does, they would generally very much like to know about it so they can investigate and take corrective action if warranted.
Click to expand...

I have fired about 100 rounds out of the 500 round box. Some of the fired cases I still have do have slightly flattened primers but this group was the worst yet with at least 3 bulged cases, one extreme.

Lot number on the box is 102511. BVAC will be contacted in the morning.

Danoam, I wasn't really looking for it to be replaced. I bought this ammo mostly for the brass. In any event, due to recent storm damage, I will be unable use my reloading equipment for the forseeable future.
 
Havok7416 said:
Out at the range today I had a near-catastrophic event with factory 10mm ammo from BVAC. Headstamp is Armscor. I no longer have the case as it was donated to my range's reloading department to help new reloaders learn.

I have heard of problems with BVAC in the past but up until now haven't had any issues myself.

I recommend that anyone with this ammo NOT fire it! My cases ended up horribly bulged and the problem was only discovered when my gun locked up on a deformed piece of brass.
Click to expand...
Bulged before or after you fired it.
 
It was definitely bulged AFTER it was fired. The case swelled up so bad it had to be forced out of the chamber.
 
I was using an IAI Javelina and a S&W 1006 at the time. There were several bulged cases laying on the ground, but I only found them after I was done shooting.

I am in the process of taking apart each round and checking powder levels. So far all cases have the same amount of powder in them (just above 7 grains).
 
I bought some ammo on sale years ago that bulged cases in my Javelina. I cant remember the brand but I just tossed them after seeing several. I've never had a problem with my reloads, even with the hotter ones. Call the manufacturer and go from there, reputable companies usually stand behind their products. I personally wouldnt be taking them apart, save that for the manufacturer.
 
It's factory loaded as stated in my original post. The Javelina does not have a supported chamber but the 1006 does. Both guns have experienced at least one factory overpressure round at this point. In the 1006 all it did was blow the primer out.

As far as I can tell, the badly bulged case came from the Javelina. It was bulged at least 1/8 inch.
 
Could it be bad or wrong type powder or bad brass? Powder and brass made in china, assembled correctly in US? Maybe I should not blame China.
 
I don't know about the powder or the brass. Since they are factory loaded I can only confirm through BVAC. I haven't been able to contact them yet as I am still dealing with storm repairs.
 
Havok7416 said:
It's factory loaded as stated in my original post. The Javelina does not have a supported chamber but the 1006 does. Both guns have experienced at least one factory overpressure round at this point. In the 1006 all it did was blow the primer out.

As far as I can tell, the badly bulged case came from the Javelina. It was bulged at least 1/8 inch.
Click to expand...
There you go. Unsupported chamber plus 10mm equals bulged brass.
 
I have shot many BVAC 10mms out of my pistols and have had no problems yet. I have also shot Remington's and Winchester white box ammo that ranged from squib loads to heavy recoil rounds.
I think most ammo manufacturers have made bad rounds from time to time. That is why you see these company's issue recalls.
The other people are correct contact BVAC about the problem so they can deal with it.
 
Unsupported chamber is likely a major contributor.
And as for pulling bullets to check powder levels, a waste of time. Factory ammo may be loaded with any number of pressure rated powders for that cartridge, and a host of others. This means that you may have a box that was charged with two different powders, thus having varied powder charges that produce similar pressures as per application, but at different charge weights.

GS
 
Follow my name to my thread on the same issue. I kbd a delta elite with that armscor brass. I contacted bvac and posted the replies. The problem isn't the cartridge pressure, our chamber support. I fired some with a 610 . When I tried to resize my die ruined the brass. I have loaded thousands of rounds of fc, hornady, starline, and Winchester brass with no problems. The rounds I had bust the cases were 180 grains at 1100 ish. I have loaded much hotter in the same guns with no problem. Try Georgia arms. At least they use starline brass.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. As noted by many of you, the Armscor brass does not seem suitable for the Javelina. I will restrict my use of it to my S&W 610. I have a substantial pile of 10mm Starline brass that I can also use.

I will still be contacting BVAC as soon as I can (Monday seems likely).
 
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