Monarch .38 Special 158 grain BEWARE!!!!!

[CombatArmsUSAF]

I took two boxes of this to the range today and had about 10 (10%) of them either need to be struck 2-3 times or just dud completely.

I am usually not all that picky about what I shoot but I will never shoot these crappy rounds again.

 

[SaxonPig]

Any... even remote... possibility it could be the gun and not the ammo?

 

[BCRider]

Someone at the range with me was having trouble with duds in his revolver. I tried them in mine that has the soft Wolff spring kit, and a lighter hammer pull than his as a result, and they all fired just fine.

Reliable firing seems to be as much about the speed that the hammer strikes as the force that it strikes with. With this in mind the slow buildup of grunge in the oil of the hammer's pivot will over time add to the viscous drag. THis isn't something you can feel by hand since it's a speed related thing. But try cleaning out the action and relubing with a light application of good gun oil and you may well find that your hammer will now fire this ammo reliably.

 

[Old Fuff]

Someone at the range with me was having trouble with duds in his revolver. I tried them in mine that has the soft Wolff spring kit, and a lighter hammer pull than his as a result, and they all fired just fine.

The Old Fuff is a little confused... Which is not an unusual condition.

Are you saying that the individual that was suffering duds switched the same ammunition into your gun that had lighter Wolff springs and they fired as they should, or the other way around?

 

[Guillermo]

I have never had a problem w Monarch for practice rounds. Then again I have only shot them out of mechanically unaltered revolvers.

My guess would be that inexpensive practice rounds like Monarch (made by the Russian Company Barnaul) might have hard primers that your light Wolf spring kit will not hit hard enough. In that case it is just as SaxonPig mentioned, your gun not the ammo.

 

[Deanimator]

1. What kind of gun were they fired from?
2. Was the gun purchased new or used?
3. Was the gun modified before or after you purchased it?

A few years ago, I bought a used 3" S&W Model 65 from CDNN. I got a lot of light hits with it. The strain screw was turned all the way in. Neither my smith nor I could figure out the problem. Then I saw somebody refer to cutting off the strain screw so that it could be turned all the way in, but still have the effect of backing it out. Sure enough, when my smith measured the screw, it was short. Somebody had cut it off. He replaced it with a factory standard part and it's been 100% ever since.

 

[JWF III]

Monarch (made by the Russian Company Barnaul)

If I'm not mistaken, just the steel cased rifle ammo is made in Russia. I know that the brass cased, .357 Mag that I have bought and shot, was made in Serbia. Presumably by Prvi, but I couldn't swear by it.

That was the only Monarch ammo that I've shot as of yet. I had very good success with it, and I'll be buying more.

I agree with others. I think the mechanically altered/unaltered is where the trouble is. Or possibly if the revos been shot a lot, just time to replace some old springs.

Wyman

 

[CombatArmsUSAF]

I shot it out of a brand new S&W 642, no modifications whatsoever.

Aside from the .38 ammo I shot yesterday, I have put a couple of hundred rounds of 9mm through my glock with no issues. I just couldn't believe the amount of problems I had with the .38.