Squashed Ammo

[javacodeman]

Hey, a co-worker just had 250 rnds of 45 ACP delivered from Bass Pro Shops. He thinks the box was dropped/slammed b/c some of the rounds on the end are shorter than the other rounds. He did a diameter check, and they still fit the chamber. Are these rounds (presummably with the bullet shoved a little farther into the case than normal) safe to shoot?

 

[Tommygunn]

It's possible the reduced volume might create an overpressure situation. This can happen with some types of ammo in this condition, and I for one would not risk it.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

"Setback" can cause the pressure to go up significantly.

Not sure about how safe or what additional stresses may occur.

I have had the same thing happen from rechambering the same round over and over and shot with no problem, but not a partial box.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

It depends on your gun but from my experience yes they are. My 1911 had a problem once of having ammo jamming as it was cycled and created shorter rounds (bullet pushed deeper into the case). After we had it fixed we took that ammo and shot it just to see if it could handle it and it did work properly every time.

Obviously it's up to you whether you want to try it or not because any damaged ammunition is always more dangerous to shoot, but in our case it was fine.

 

[1858rem]

my dad thought i messed up some rounds i reloaded for hin since they were "shorter" turns out there were holes in the styrofoam so they sat farther in the box is all. did you measure the end to end length? that may help in determining how safe the loads are too.

 

[javacodeman]

bump

 

[jakk280rem]

if you measure your over all length and find you do indeed have set back, and dont want to risk firing it in your gun, you can get a kinetic bullet puller and use it to lengthen the cartridge back to factory spec.