How common are cartridge failures??

[MartynB]

Brilliant Will , if I chuck them into my drill press in the garage  and run them at a fairly low speed , would I be able to do that with various grades of abrasive paper , or would I need a stone ? 

 

[Will Hewland]

Brilliant Will , if I chuck them into my drill press in the garage  and run them at a fairly low speed , would I be able to do that with various grades of abrasive paper , or would I need a stone ? 

Rough paper would help..

I do them (and plenty of others) on a stone dressing wheel (bench fixed electric one, running fairly fast), but anything will do. Just gently do it, checking to see that you only just take out the pitting. Watch the shape remains rounded. I use a jewellers magnifying glass to check it. When stuck, I have done it at home with a file and emery paper!

 

[Martinj]

I often wonder what the outcome was of these old threads El Spavo, was it a one off or did your pins need attention?

 

[El Spavo]

Combination of potentially a one off but recently discovered my sausage hands weren't/aren't releasing the trigger fully so big stick not go bang! Heap big embarrassment from tribal elders.

On a couple of days recently I've had shots where the bird has been that long in the clear that I've had a second chance to hit it (and, ironically, HAVE hit it, which goes towards me trying to be more instinctive again, have confidence in my shooting and not trying to overthink!).  So it's more likely a technical thing rather than the gun. Had a few light pinstrikes though so I reckon I'm getting the odd one off... which the Berretta boys at my club love. But mainly me!

 

[rocky]

Reading this thread has made me wonder what the correct procedure should be in a no bang situation. Does one wait before opening the gun? If the primer is dented is the cart then unstable? Does it get reloaded for a second attempt or chucked in the bin?  

 

[AW13]

I have only had about 4 failed cartridges and 2 of those recently.

1. One was a malformed crimp which damaged the casing so I did not fire that one.
   
2. the other was a failed primer, it was punched but no bang. I kept the barrel over the cage edge for about 30 seconds before opening the gun.
   

both cartridges were Gamebore White Gold.

 

[El Spavo]

Yup, I was recently told the etiquette is to keep the breach closed and pointed to where you were shooting for 20 seconds just in case it's a slow burner (possibly more theoretical than reality) so that it's safe if it were to go off. I've usually re-fired the odd one with a shallow pin strike and it's worked like normal the second time.

 

[Salopian]

Correct procedure is to hold the gun securely, pointing down range (safe zone) for 30 seconds and then (most important) open the gun ,slowly with the breech pointing away from your face .

BUT there does seem to be an epidemic of faulty primers at the moment , curently collecting Hull CompX ready to go back to Hull (and I have a lot ) from various guns and customers.

Also a problem with many other brands including Fiocchii and Gamebore .

 

[wynno]

If you’re shooting fitasc the correct procedure is to wait with the gun pointed safely down range, the ref will then tell you to open the gun after 20 or 30 seconds, he will inspect the cartridge and put it to one side.

If you open the gun before the ref tells you to, it’s target lost.

I used to have a fair collection of shells after a competition and not many refused to fire in my perazzi

 

[Hamster]

It's true that very few refuse to fire in the other barrel although some do of course especially if the primer is missing ! Over the years I've read up on the rationale of pointing the gun downrange for bite size even numbers such as 20 or 30 seconds   but the closest I came was discovering that it harks back to some dodgy ammo being used during some world war or other where delayed ignition was very common if and when the (rifle) round didn't immediately go off. 

Now I have nothing against the carry over practice of waiting a sensible number of seconds before gingerly opening the gun making sure the chamber are pointing in a safe direction................but, in my fourth decade of shooting shotguns I have yet to witness a hang fire in a miss fire/ftf situation. 

 

[Martinj]

I was taught the 30 second rule at a rifle club which was steeped in tradition and, as you say, the rule might originate from the days of the Boer war for all I know. I too would be interested to know if anyone has ever witnessed a hang fire, I haven't in over 50 years of shooting.

Nevertheless there is mention of "Hang fire" in the CPSA safety guide, this is the recommendation and is somewhat safer than instantly opening the gun and closely scrutinising the percussion cap as some people do.

 

[timps]

I witnessed one about 20 years ago.
Cartridge was a Gamebore Fibre my friend was shooting.

I heard the click and a delay of not much more than a second then a muffled thud rather than a bang.

As the gun was broken open shot rolled out of the end of the barrel, the wad was stuck near the choke and a right mess of unburnt powder that looked a saturated sticky mess.

Obviously we put this down to a damp /saturated cartridge causing the issue although that was just an assumption based on the mess left behind rather than anything else.

The delay was noticeable but short and although the shot did not not leave the barrel the incident means I’ve stuck to the hang fire rule since just in case a longer delay or bigger bang occurred but I’ve yet to see anything like it since.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[ips]

I was taught the 30 second rule at a rifle club which was steeped in tradition and, as you say, the rule might originate from the days of the Boer war for all I know. I too would be interested to know if anyone has ever witnessed a hang fire, I haven't in over 50 years of shooting.

Nevertheless there is mention of "Hang fire" in the CPSA safety guide, this is the recommendation and is somewhat safer than instantly opening the gun and closely scrutinising the percussion cap as some people do.

View attachment 7669

Nope never had one or heard of one in 40 ish years of shooting. Had various misfires and only one were the fibre wad was stuck in the barell and that was last year.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

Now I have nothing against the carry over practice of waiting a sensible number of seconds before gingerly opening the gun making sure the chamber are pointing in a safe direction................but, in my fourth decade of shooting shotguns I have yet to witness a hang fire in a miss fire/ftf situation. 

Double +1

Shotgun carts are not like metallics at all and are so wimpy that you could practically hold one in your hand and hit the primer w/out sustaining injury.  I've seen a gent demo that by taking the barrel off of a M12 and triggering a cart into a hat.  Lotsa gas but no damage to anything, the cart just barfs out the innards into the hat.  Of course if you have a problem when you do that ................  I also had one go off while reloading.  My setup dropped the newbies into a box under the bench with a fall of +/-1' or so.  Plenty of room for them to rotate nose down enough to not hit the primer.  But one did somehow.  Sorta a woof sound and some gunsmoke smell and it took me a couple sec to twig to what happened.  No harm no foul.

FWIW 

 

[Martinj]

FWIW (good song if you are a certain age)

I agree, when I was younger I wanted to know what would happen when you threw shotgun cartridges in a fire so I found out, the answer was not much.  To be more precise the plastic burned and the propellant flared a little, that's all.

 

[rickh]

Agree with Salopian there does seem to be a lot of primer failures at the moment. I've had hard primers with Express Super comp and Power Gold, Gamebore Blue Diamond and Evo's in the last 6 months and through different guns.  

 

[westley]

How many shooters carry a 3 piece rod in the bottom of their range bag, for such an eventuality  ?

 

[Guest]

I have had one non fire,a fiochi but doubt the cartridge was at fault as my bottom return spring /pin was rusty and gunky,but also a friends beretta has had several on blue diamonds.

 

[Sian]

How many shooters carry a 3 piece rod in the bottom of their range bag, for such an eventuality  ?

I have one in my gun box in the car so I would have to walk back to the car park. 

 

[ips]

I have a three piece in my loaders bag. Would use a bouncer pole if it happened when rough shooting