Is It Really The gun?

[Old Salt]

I’m sure the less expensive target FMJ loads we purchase at Wal-Mart do not have the same quality standards or the quality gun powder used in the higher priced brand name self defense loads. In a box of 50 WWB I wonder how many light loads cause a malfunction that we contribute to the gun. As an example, it would be interesting but way to expensive to put 100 rounds of Speer God Dot or any premium self defense JHP ammunition through our guns to see what the percentage of malfunctions would be versus 100 rounds of the less expensive target FMJ loads.
I just hope when we go to the range and dump 150 FMJ rounds of WWB, Federal or PMC rounds through our gun and have a half dozen malfunctions especially FTF or FTE we give our guns the benefit of the dought and look at the ammunition we are using.

[Old Salt]

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, I just realized I should have posted this thread under Ammunition. I sometimes forget we have areas for other topics.

[MW surveyor]

I don't think that apologies (sp) are in order, as this really has an over all or general bearing on how good or bad our guns operate.

I for one hardly look at the ammo site unless I see something that grabs me on the first topic since all of my centerfires are forced to eat my reloads. That makes me the responsible party to make sure that the ammo that goes into the gun is consistant and the best it can be. I can tell you that since I've been able to tailor the rounds to the gun, accuracy has improved with all of them and I've not had any problems with function.

[CJB]

Winchester publishes 830fps for the 230g WWB. If they publish that... its probably a little less, which is on the light side of things.

Its not the quality of powder - although they are dirty - its the economy of it.

[Dietrich]

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, I just realized I should have posted this thread under Ammunition. I sometimes forget we have areas for other topics.

Aw hell,don`t worry about apologizing.Most of the guys here wouldn`t notice a dead possum in the toilet, much less a misplaced thread.

[MW surveyor]

Dietrich, you always come up with the most off the wall analogies (I know spelling is important). "Dead possum in the toilet" ROFLMAO

Picked up some of that WWB for my new 45. Couldn't believe how dirty it was!

[onegun]

Looking back at my firearms log, in the last year alone I have fired in excess of 1200 rounds of WWB and 850 rounds of Federal Champion (all bought at Walmart). I have also fired several other brands from different sources. Since Speer 230 GDHP is my favorite carry load I have also fired over 300 rounds of it. I find the WWB is a little dirtier than the Federal or Speer but not even close to some of the remanufactured stuff you can usually pick up locally. Additionally, In my .45s, I have never had a malfunction or what I could determine to be a squib load. I have four SIGs, a Colt, and a S&W 625 revolver in .45 ACP. To answer the original question.....I believe, the majority of the time, it IS really the GUN.

[Chuck54]

Zero malfunctions in T9 and PM9; so I'm not sure how to respond.

I have fired quite a bit of WWB and Blazer brass.....no problems.

Also have tried; Gold Dot 124standard and +P,Corbon 90,HST124+P, 9BPLE115+P+


Have not tried any of the steel or aluminum cased ammo.

[Bawanna]

Kahrs seem to thrive on slightly warmer loads. Some of the economy loads are no doubt bottom end of their scale. I think thats why the carry loads will sometimes run when others balk. While not ammo sensitive sometimes the bullet shape and other factors besides powder will tie things up.

I've had good luck with aluminum case blazer in numerous guns, it's great when you don't feel like picking up brass. No gun of mine will ever see a steel case of any kind.

Possum in the toilet, so thats what that was. Somebody help me back in the chair, he made me fall out again. That Dietrich!

[Sublimeon24s]

Must be the gun

I have 1000 flawless rounds of Federal through my Springfield XDM compact 9mm...........700 flawless rounds of Federal through my Springfield XDM 45.........and since I got my PM9 detail stripped (bought it used and it was having some issues before the cleaning) I have put 600 flawless rounds of Federal through it as well

[TheTman]

Was that possum in there before or after you sat down?

[Dietrich]

Was that possum in there before or after you sat down?

Ain`t sure.I didn`t notice.

[JimBianchi]

I've shot many thousands of WWB 9mm ( I have 3K on hand now) and have found very few problems with it. It is dirty and it chronographs at 1100fps out of my Mk9 with no issues.

My brand-new-to-me K9 gave me hell with some Seller/Benoit 9mm yesterday, but it turns out it was the gun, so off the Kahr it went. (Guide rod tried to go for a walk while shooting, and lots of light strikes and dry-fire problems later)

The "bad ammo" fired fine out of the MK9.

I have found 3 set-back rounds in the past 5 or 6 thousand rounds WWB. I always inspect all my ammo prior to loading, so I haven't had any KABOOMs.

According to reports I have read the WWB bought at Wally World is not low quality seconds, it is loaded tot he same standards as all other Win ammo, just it is bulk packed for WalMart. BTW, WalMart is the second largest purchaser of ammo in the USA. Only the .gov buys more.

If it was true that Win was selling millions (or billions) of rounds of sub-standard ammo to the worlds largest retailer, I think by now there would have been a lawsuit.

[O'Dell]

I definitely think it's the gun. I've actually only had one problem with cheap ammo. [WWB, Federal, etc - not steel or al cased which I don't use] That was with a cheap KT PF9. It wouldn't shoot WWB at all, but the replacement CW9 and PM45 worked fine with it. Same with my SIG's, HK's, S&W's and Springfields. I think a quality pistol will shoot anything that's even close to specs.

I took my new replacement SIG 1911 C3 to the range yesterday and shot 100 rounds of WM Federal 230 gr and 50 of WM Remington HP without the hint of a problem. Tomorrow, I plan to shoot the HK45C using the same ammo with the same result.

[kramm]

I use Remington,WWB and Federal 230gr. fmj for shooting. I was on the Ed Brown site looking at some of their guns and reading. Seems they use WWB and Fed to break in and tune up before they ship a piece out. They stated that those two had the best consistency with their loads. Don't know if it's true or not. I've never had a problem with either one of them.