Is a pushed in bullet safe to shoot?

[Bigsawer]

I slid the plastic tray out of the box & it was real obvious that this round had issues. Do I throw it in the pond for safe disposal or is it safe to shoot? I"ve never seen this, so I'm asking. I'm thinking the pressures would get weird real quick.

 

[joppaj]

No reason at all to shoot that round. It might be safe, it might be catastrophic. Not worth it to save fifty cents.

 

[MeatGrinder]

Would it even feed?

 

[Bigsawer]

Not worried about trashing it. Thought it'd be a good time to learn something new.

 

[Bigsawer]

I stripped my pistol & with the barrel in my hand, it dropped right into place.

 

[joppaj]

Not worried about trashing it. Thought it'd be a good time to learn something new.

I've honestly never seen a pistol bullet that looked that bad. I've seen rifle rounds at work that have been chambered so many times that they're set back. We discard those when we spot them.

 

[Bullfrog]

I stripped my pistol & with the barrel in my hand, it dropped right into place.

That isn't the same as feeding from a magazine, though... the OAL is too small so the angle of entry will be much more acute.


I had similar questions a while ago with 3 or 4 .40 cal rounds from a box. The consensus here and elsewhere online was that it could cause a dangerous pressure spike given the reduced case volume.

 

[Uncle Duke]

You're thinking correctly.

Ideally, contact the manufacturer with specifics, to include any lot and other numbers on the box. You're helping them and their customers both. They may even send you a token reimbursement for your trouble. Otherwise, scrap it.

 

[JohnnyE]

Not worried about trashing it. Thought it'd be a good time to learn something new.

Learning from the school of hard knocks can be EXPENSIVE. I'll mail you four bits to not shoot that round. Setback can be an ugly thing and not worth the pennies if you toss the round. Cheap insurance to toss.

 

[eruby]

I wouldn't shoot it, but your thread title made me think of this:

 

[Sundazes]

I wouldn't shoot it, but your thread title made me think of this:

View attachment 441825

You are a sick bastard.
Please don't ever change!

 

[JohnnyE]

I wouldn't shoot it, but your thread title made me think of this:

View attachment 441825

This is the second time I've injured myself laughing! It's worth the ventral hernia.

 

[E.Shell]

Learning from the school of hard knocks can be EXPENSIVE. I'll mail you four bits to not shoot that round. Setback can be an ugly thing and not worth the pennies if you toss the round. Cheap insurance to toss.

When a bullet gets pushed back like that, it reduces the volume of the combustion chamber, raising pressures. That cartridge is like a .380 loaded with a 9mm charge behind an abnormally heavy bullet for a .380 case...what could happen?

 

[trickg]

My Mom's old saying, although not specifically about guns and shooting, applies well in this circumstance:

"When in doubt, don't"

I wouldn't shoot that. I would most likely set it aside and pull it later.

 

[Uncle Duke]

OP, I should have mentioned previously that you have reason to wonder about the possibility of similar issues with the rest of that box as well. Other rounds may---or may not--- have some degree of setback issues, or could develop an issue when cycling. Again, your best course of action is to set that box of ammo aside, see if you have any additional product in your inventory (especially of the same lot number), and contact manufacturer.

 

[rseymorejr]

I wouldn't shoot it, but your thread title made me think of this:

View attachment 441825

I heard that joke as "what;s the most popular pick up line in a gay bar? Mind if I push your stool in"
A gay coworker told me that one.

 

[JohnnyE]

When a bullet gets pushed back like that, it reduces the volume of the combustion chamber, raising pressures. That cartridge is like a .380 loaded with a 9mm charge behind an abnormally heavy bullet for a .380 case...what could happen?

I had a 5.56 round setback about 0.060" (still can't find the pic) and considered myself lucky it didn't chamber before I called it quits trying to ram it home. That could have been "unfortunate."

In a similar vein, I've been fooling around with cars for 48 years. One cardinal rule is you never get under a vehicle unless it is properly supported on jackstands, ramps, or a lift. A floor or bumper jack does not qualify.

About six weeks ago I jacked up the left front corner of my car with a floor jack,reached under to set a jack stand under the frame, but found I needed to raise everything another inch. I left the jack stand under the car and got up to pump the floor jack a couple more times. Before I could I realized I should remove the jack stand completely from under the car lest the car fall off the jack and the stand punctures the radiator, oil pan, or something else.

I got back down, retrieved the jack stand, and was just getting back up when the car fell off the jack. There was minor sheet metal damage, but no one was hurt.

For 48 years I have, without fail, followed the rule that you never get under a vehicle unless it's properly supported. But hey, I only wanted to change the oil. Quite a simple task I've done dozens of times.

The other day faithful adherence to that rule may have saved my life, Always follow the four firearms handling rules. We're never too experienced to do otherwise!

 

[Sundazes]

pull the bullet...

 

[linkstate]

You're thinking correctly.

Ideally, contact the manufacturer with specifics, to include any lot and other numbers on the box. You're helping them and their customers both. They may even send you a token reimbursement for your trouble. Otherwise, scrap it.

This.

I would not shoot that.

Or, depending on my mood and whether I wanted to deal with it:

OP: Did you buy one or two boxes or a case? I would contact the manufacture and you may get replacements. If it’s only a couple boxes, I might just keep that bad round to the side, shoot the rest and if everything went fine, toss the bad bullet in the dud bin and chalk it up to one missed during QC.

Also, I would take another round from that box and push the bullet against a table hard and see if that one slides in. Could be a bad neck tension batch… could also load one round in the mag in a safe environment, lock the slide open, insert mag and let the slide go a few times. A caliper would be helpful here.

 

[Bigsawer]

I have one other box, same lot. Everything seems to be normal in that one. I'm just writing off that single round and gonna go have fun.