Major blowout yesterday

[jsalcedo]

I was out at my dad's place yesterday shooting
my sistema at some impromptu plinking targets

Everything was going fine until the second mag .

I was using 230 grain lead round nose with 4.3 grains of clays.

The fifth shot out of the magazine I here the report of the round going off and then a loud "whump"

I look down and notice the slide is open and sticking halfway out of the chamber is a .45acp case with the rim totally gone. It looks like a
brass tube with no back.

Since the gun is jammed I pull out the mag and the slide moves forward knocking the case back into the chamber

I end up taking a brass cleaning rod without an attachment and using it to push down the barrel catching the case mouth than knocking it free.

Checking the box of reloads I noticed I had used cases stamped AMERC.

The gun was not damaged thankfully.

Anyone else ever experience this type of case failure?

 

[lycanthrope]

I've had a lot of trouble with A-Merc brass. The brass is very weak. Around 50% of the time when I reload the brass it will bulge durig the seat/crimmp and not feed in my 5" Kimber. In my experience, it has been the only headstamp that causes trouble in my gun.

4.3 is also a pretty hot load with Clays I believe. I get major PF with 230 LRN at 3.8 grains loaded to 1.25 OAL so it isn't beyond speculation to see this brass lose the casehead.

 

[Justin]

A-Merc, also known as American Amunition is some of the worst stuff ever made. I put it a category or two below that steel-cased junk imported from former Eastern Bloc countries.

 

[Quartus]

Is the Sistema OK? Inquiring minds want to know! (Especially those of us who own Sistemas!)

 

[Kharn]

Man, thats not cool. I hope the barrel's not damaged.
My Sistema's my baby, and althought I might skip going out for pizza once or twice per week to afford Winchester Whitebox ammo for it, I consider it worth it.

Kharn

 

[jsalcedo]

The sistema was fine and I went on to rapid fire another 200 rounds without incident.

The A-Merc cased reloads are going in the trash or maybe through my
Master piece arms Mac 10 clone Which nothing could hurt.

The 4.3 grains of clays is indeed on the high end but the recoil is mild and
there are usually no signs of excessive pressure.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I'm glad you're not hurt. Handgrenades are for combat and like the song goes, "We throw them from the glacis about our enemies ears." Handgrenades aren't suppose to go off in your hand. A lengthy complaint to the importer may: (1) get you a refund; (2) apology; (3) more ammo. On #3, great. That's not stuff I would want to shoot.

 

[stans]

AMERC is junk. It is poor brass and I throw away every single one that gets into my stockpile of brass.

 

[bpisler]

I had new remington brass do that to me on the first time i loaded them.I fired 6,ejected the brass and got 5 cases and one case head.

 

[Black Snowman]

I've never even seen the amerc brass. Apparently no one around here sells it and sounds like for good reason. The only brass I've had an issue with is Remington .40 S&W. The walls are thinner than standard and if I want to load it I have to adjust my crimp die differantly. It's easier for me just to toss it.

 

[foghornl]

If you are speaking of "American Ammo" brand out of Miami, FL...bad stuff. The only ammo I have ever tried that woud not cycle properly in my KP-90 Ruger.

Shooting buddy gave me a partial box of the stuff, because he had one jam after another in his Taurus 1911 style (pt-945?).

Tried some "American Ammo" in .357 Mag in my Vaquero. Not very accurate, and some evidence of "key-holeing". Shooting buddy pulled a few bullets and measured them after I notice the crimp 'looked wierd' on the ammo. Bullet measured .353...too small for even 9MM.

"American Ammo" from Miami, FL is bad based on my experiences. Not to be confused with "American Eagle" ammo from Federal Cartridge...good stuff.

 

[Brad Johnson]

From what I've experienced, the .45 ACP Amerc brass will not properly hold a primer. I had several times where the primer pocket was improperly sized (too small) and the shoulders would regularly fold when trying to crimp (thin brass)

Toss it into a bin and sell it for scrap.

Brad