How common are ammo issues/misfires?

[blupupher]

So every time a gun subject comes up, seems you always hear "eats any ammo I use" or something similar. How common are ammo issues? And is it an ammo issue or gun issue? Or both? Are some guns just more prone to it than others? While my shooting experience is no where near as vast as many, I have shot well over 5000 rounds out of my old Ruger P89 with never an issue. My new M&P9 Shield has only had around 500 rounds through it with 4 different ammo brands, but no issues so far. I also have a 22 rifle with thousands of rounds over 30 years with no problems. I only use cheap store bought FMJ ammo (tons of brass/steel/aluminum Blazer, Winchester, Federal, Fiocchi, and who knows what else over the years) as well as a few boxes of JHP (mostly Fedaral Hydrashock, but a few others here and there). I have shot a few magazines of reloaded ammo from the Ruger years ago that a friend let me try (seems it was some "hot" 147 grain loads). Most of my shooting is standard fire or double taps, but on occasion it would be 15 rounds rapid fire. I get that there will be a bad primer here and there, and a case hang up on occasion (I guess I just have not shot enough to have it happen), and I know it does happen, seen it at the range and in videos, but just don't know how common of an issue it really is. I have heard it recommended to buy some dummy rounds and insert them randomly in magazines to practice clearing a misfire, is that really a good idea? Seems to me it would be.

 

[WyrTwister]

Ammo ranges a vast gauntlet of variations . Good , bad , ugly . For the average person that goes down to the local store and buys a box or two to shoot in the average gun , it works pretty well . I have purchased ammo made during WWII and shot it . If it was stored reasonably well ( not hot and / or damp ) , it shot pretty well . If not stored well , it may shoot erratically or not at all . Some times with split of separated cases . Be careful with reloads . Which is mostly what I shoot . Be VERY , VERY , VERY careful with someone else's reloads . To the point of disassembling it and loading it your self . Not totally unusual for a new gun to need a break in period . Try running it wet with lube until it works well . Many times gun problems are really magazine problems . Best of luck to you , :-)

 

[Chris142]

My Mossberg 500 wont do Federal shells. The pin does not hit the primer enough to make them go off. Had a few miss fires in my other guns but not many.

 

[wymi516]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiMNASuw69U

 

[drive4show]

Anecdotally of course, I have had issues only with rimfire ammo, including CCI. Had a misfire in a range, rangemaster comes over with a wooden dowel to push the .22LR cartridge out the back, and says, "Wow, I have never seen that before with CCI ammo". Good to know how to react when you squeeze the trigger and there is no bang....

 

[Leo99]

My Buckmark .22LR pistol is picky about ammo. My "AR" .22LR rifle hasn't had a problem with any ammo. I shoot the cheapest ammo I can find out of my AR, 9mm, and .45. Never a problem.

 

[MRC01]

Originally Posted by Chris142

My Mossberg 500 wont do Federal shells. The pin does not hit the primer enough to make them go off. Had a few miss fires in my other guns but not many.

My 870 express did that after a couple of years of shooting trap monthly. Turns out the firing pin had worn down. This eventually happens, they have a finite life span. I ordered a replacement firing pin from the factory, cost me less than $10. Installed it and it was perfect again. I had a similar issue with a Sig pistol. Turns out the main spring had gotten tired, so the hammer wasn't striking as hard as it should. I ordered a replacement spring, installed it, and it returned to 100% reliability. Sometimes it's the ammo, sometimes it's the gun. If you get misfires it's a good excuse to check out the gun just in case.

 

[AZjeff]

Bad ammo happens sometimes. This is my daughter shooting my Rock River Arms varmint back just after the Sandy Hook shooting. The ammo was from one of the well known secondary ammo loaders that I'd just bought at the range. Thankfully she wasn't hurt and the ammo maker replaced the rifle but it took a year because of the shortage. Yes it was locked up and no there wasn't a squib, it was the 3rd or 4th shot out of the mag and all shots on paper. Overcharged round. Trashed the rifle.

 

[Oro_O]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister

Ammo ranges a vast gauntlet of variations . Good , bad , ugly . For the average person that goes down to the local store and buys a box or two to shoot in the average gun , it works pretty well .

Lots of good observation in the whole post. But it's a bit like "horses for courses" - different guns for different uses. But buy a general purpose handgun and feed it commercial ammo of about any stripe - no issues. But an older Colt Gold Cup, it's going to be finicky. And often it IS mag related, or extractor, not ammo or barrel/chamber. Early Kimbers were sloppy at that, for example; later fixed (very bad extractor tuning). I had several different .45s from commercial from several makes, target, gunsmith built and self-built. I got focused on making every magazine work in every gun and with every load. It took a while to iron it all out and figure out where the hang-ups were (magazines more than ammo), extractors, chamber ramp, ammo, etc. I learned a lot! I used to reload a lot of .45acp, less .40, 9mm, .38, .357, some "retro" .38HV rounds. Most of the .45acp was 185gr SWC lead. Until I learned to ignore the load books LOA spec and load the batch of SWC individually so the metlap coincided with a point on the FMJ profile, I had issues. After that and a full-length resizing die, I could run my reloads in any commercial or target .45acp. But otherwise, I think most people tweak it around until it works in their gun and call it good. "Back in the day" I could reload .45 target loads for under a nickel a round and ammo cost as a concern just disappeared... Also, the two guns you are talking about, Ruger and S&W, are going to have comfortable chamber dimensions so as to be accommodating to ammo variances. .22 is just a crap shoot as the tolerances aren't as high as centerfire ammo and it's totally common to have a .22 pistol or rifle that just won't run on a certain brand. Reloading is really interesting and I'd forgotten about that...

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

My Winchester Black Shadow that accepts 3.5 inch shells wont cycle low brass shells. So only pricey shells for that beast.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by blupupher

So every time a gun subject comes up, seems you always hear "eats any ammo I use" or something similar. How common are ammo issues? And is it an ammo issue or gun issue? Or both? Are some guns just more prone to it than others? While my shooting experience is no where near as vast as many, I have shot well over 5000 rounds out of my old Ruger P89 with never an issue. My new M&P9 Shield has only had around 500 rounds through it with 4 different ammo brands, but no issues so far. I also have a 22 rifle with thousands of rounds over 30 years with no problems. I only use cheap store bought FMJ ammo (tons of brass/steel/aluminum Blazer, Winchester, Federal, Fiocchi, and who knows what else over the years) as well as a few boxes of JHP (mostly Fedaral Hydrashock, but a few others here and there). I have shot a few magazines of reloaded ammo from the Ruger years ago that a friend let me try (seems it was some "hot" 147 grain loads). Most of my shooting is standard fire or double taps, but on occasion it would be 15 rounds rapid fire. I get that there will be a bad primer here and there, and a case hang up on occasion (I guess I just have not shot enough to have it happen), and I know it does happen, seen it at the range and in videos, but just don't know how common of an issue it really is. I have heard it recommended to buy some dummy rounds and insert them randomly in magazines to practice clearing a misfire, is that really a good idea? Seems to me it would be.

Happens more often than people let on or think it does. I get at least one hang up at the range every time I go. The longe you shoot and more semi autos you try the more you'll uncover cycle issues. I had to have a Walther PPK in my 20's and it was one of eth worst - it'd stove pipe at least twice in any box of 50- James bond wiould be SOL if he really had to depend on that thing. It happens more with semis than pumps or levers but you also get duds there as well - Ive got a 22 Rossi (Winchester clone) that never did cycle right - not a single gunsmith has ever been able to make right. Then you get other that have yet to miss a cycle with anything - MArlin 22 lever action UD

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by AZjeff

Bad ammo happens sometimes.

Yup - the occasional double load can really wake you up!

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted by blupupher

And is it an ammo issue or gun issue? Or both?

Its usually an issue with the person holding the gun. Guns are machines. Machines that need maintained, cleaned, and lubricated. You know how many guns I have seen at the gun range that were extremely dirty and had no lube on them whatsoever? The majority of guns sold today are pretty reliable IF they are lubricated and maintained. And IF the person is holding it properly with a nice strong grip. Basically, the majority of the time that a gun jams can be blamed on the person shooting the gun. Someone above said they basically have a hangup every time they go to the range. Eeeeekkkk!!! No way, no how, would I allow that to happen!! I buy ammo $1000 to $2000 at a time delivered to my door (UPS guy LOVES me) and I can honestly say I get maybe 2 or 4 jams a year (if that)... out of thousands and thousands of rounds fired per year. I meticulously maintain my stuff, replace worn parts, replace springs, lubricate and clean them properly. If I had a jam every time I went out, I would replace that gun, fix it, maintain it, or do something to prevent that from happening in the future. There are just too many good guns out there these days. In my experience a modern high quality semi auto is way more reliable than a revolver or pump action and should not be jamming.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by bubbatime

Originally Posted by blupupher

And is it an ammo issue or gun issue? Or both?

Its usually an issue with the person holding the gun. Guns are machines. Machines that need maintained, cleaned, and lubricated. You know how many guns I have seen at the gun range that were extremely dirty and had no lube on them whatsoever? The majority of guns sold today are pretty reliable IF they are lubricated and maintained. And IF the person is holding it properly with a nice strong grip. Basically, the majority of the time that a gun jams can be blamed on the person shooting the gun. Someone above said they basically have a hangup every time they go to the range. Eeeeekkkk!!! No way, no how, would I allow that to happen!! I buy ammo $1000 to $2000 at a time delivered to my door (UPS guy LOVES me) and I can honestly say I get maybe 2 or 4 jams a year... out of thousands and thousands of rounds fired per year. I meticulously maintain my stuff, replace worn parts, replace springs, lubricate and clean them properly. If I had a jam every time I went out, I would replace that gun, fix it, maintain it, or do something to prevent that from happening in the future. There are just too many good guns out there these days. In my experience a modern high quality semi auto is way more reliable than a revolver and should not be jamming.

I hear this all the time. Semi-autos jam with certain ammo. Most often it happens with range reloads - but occasional a box of premium ammo will throw off a stovepipe. For sure a weak hold on a semi pistol can cause a short cycle. I have had jams in mostly stovepipes some failures to load in - Glock 9 Browning 9 Walther PPK Colt 1911 Ruger P85 Ruger MkII - III Kimber 45 Ranch rifle With manually cycled wepons Rossi 22- never did cycles shorts right. I had a beautiful S&W 686 that was recalled and never right would spit lead out of the cylinder at the forcing cone - nearly blinded a co worker. I've had a rotational problem with my gorgeous 357 python. All in beautiful shape and meticulously maintained. Only my 870 12G, mossberg 500, and my marlin 22 lever action have been perfect. UD

 

[buck91]

Only failures I've had on PSA rifles ("cheap" ahem) were due to bad ammo. And thats one.

 

[Astro14]

As an example: my wife's Beretta 92 had 3 misfeeds in the first 50 rounds with Winchester White Box ammo. Next 50 rounds were Speer Gold Dot Hollowpoint. The gun ran flawlessly. Next 50 were a hotter load of 9mm ball Federal ammo. The gun ran flawlessly. Now that it's broken in, it will shoot anything...Ball, HP, hot, mild, whatever. But when it was brand new, the relatively weak loading of the Winchester caused it fits.

 

[bubbatime]

I break in 9mm guns with 200 rounds of 9BPLE +p+ ammo for just that reason.

 

[claluja]

Originally Posted by Astro14

But when it was brand new, the relatively weak loading of the Winchester caused it fits.

Had this problem today with winchester white box as well, with a new glock 17.

 

[jjjxlr8]

I only have 4 firearms that are really picky about ammo and it's all the same issue - under powered stuff won't cycle the actions. 2 German Lugers (9mm and .30 Luger), Advantage Arms .22LR conversion for my Glock 23, and my VEPR 12 shotgun. All of these firearms require high velocity ammo to cycle reliably.

 

[bsmithwins]

I've had a split case happen twice in my life and both were from the same lot (Yugo M67 from 1976) of ammo. Needless to say that lot got trashed after slips case #2. That said I've seen several pistols that just didn't like certain brands of JHPs, which is why you should always try your ammo out in your guns before any serious use. I've also seen European pistols that didn't like to function reliably with American weak 9mmP loads but were perfectly reliable with European 9mmP ammo. BSW