S&W Shield 9MM Blown Case

[h8pvmnt]

So i thought i would start a topic on this just for info. Here is the set-up:

I took a brand new Shield 9mm and installed an Apex Duty/Carry enhancement kit saturday (which by the way is a huge pain in the dick compared to working on a Glock or 1911). The kit consisted of a trigger, trigger spring, firing pin block plunger and spring and a new sear. I took it out to shoot yesterday to compare it against another shield with the stock trigger. The Apex Trigger is better but i am not sure its 149.00 and 2 hours of my life to install better but that's another topic. I put 5 or 6 mags of mixed 9mm ammo through the Apex Equipped Shield. The last round of the last mag went boom. Glad i was wearing glasses as i always do. The bullet went down range and the gun did not cycle fully the blown case was stove piped in the ejection port. The case ruptured at the thick part i assume at the feed ramp. The case is a +p Military Case. Many of the cases in this box were marked +p of several Mfg'ers. Wondering if +p cases have seen more stress to start with or if that even matters. The gun appears undamaged other than discoloration on the feed ramp. After taking it apart and visually inspecting it i ran another 3 mags worth of ammo thru it with no issues. So i think what i have is an ammo issue. Today i fully stripped it and looked at everything and even Magnafluxed the slide and Barrel finding no defects. I am looking for insight from all the smart people on here. Was it Ammo? Was it an out of battery ignition caused by the Apex Kit? Was it operator Error? ETC. ETC. The ammo i was using was BVAC HTM 9mm Reloads. I bought these not knowing they were reloads as they are in factory looking boxes and seem like factory loads. But upon inspection there mixed headstamp brass supposedly once fired. 115Gr FMJ. I am assuming that the installation of the APEX trigger kit did not contribute but i can't totally rule that out. Take an look at the pictures and see what you think. I obviously was a dumbass for buying and using this shitty BVAC Ammo. But in fairness i bought several cases and have shot more than 1000 rounds of this over the last 5 years with not issues. So maybe its an isolated issue albeit one that would not happen had i not bought this ammo i assume. Not sure if i should use the rest or save it for the Zombie Apocalypse for trade fodder.

 

[h8pvmnt]

Interesting!! Thanks!

 

[theflatline]

I personally have had problems with WCC brass behaving somewhat differently in terms of pressure and therefore steer clear of it. Have not had this happen. The primer crimp appears to be removed so would expect "1x" fired. Interesting the primer wasn't flattened but does show a comma shape from the firing pin, indicates pressure exited the case primarily. Would put it on a faulty reload/case not the fire arm.

 

[theflatline]

I personally have had problems with WCC brass behaving somewhat differently in terms of pressure and therefore steer clear of it. Have not had this happen. The primer crimp appears to be removed so would expect "1x" fired. Interesting the primer wasn't flattened but does show a comma shape from the firing pin, indicates pressure exited the case primarily. Would put it on a faulty reload/case not the fire arm.

When you say WCC, are you including WCC+P as well as regular WCC? I'm asking because both are not mutually exclussive to one another other than being fired from a 9x19 chambered gun. And once fired proofing brass will deform like that, because 50,000 PSI is very significantly high compared to M882 31,175 PSI from regular 9mm NATO FMJ.

+p but I just stay away from anything labeled WCC as those are usually crimped nato spec rounds as I understand. In fact I stay away from anything pistol wise with crimped primers for that and other reasons.

 

[delta6]

Looking at your photos, best guess would be the case.

 

[storage_man]

I've seen that before. Kindof looks like a OOB. I can't judge the ammo that you were using, but sometimes things like that happen. A defect in the case, never caught by the manufacture. I don't believe that it was a "demilled or a once fired M905 9mm High Pressure Test cartridge" as previously stated, since I don't have the foggiest idea what a M905 is ?

I had one in my subgun (S&W76). It was a Fiocchi 124gr (No +P stuff). I never did find the projectile, but little was left of the brass as seen below. I had bought 2k of it in 2006 and have shot all of it with this one exception.

 

[xerts1191]

Wow! Glad you’re ok

 

[shooter444]

h8pvmnt,...You say the cases were marked +P,... are they reloads? Did you reload them?

I have seen that once before, exactly the same place on the case, blown out. It was a double powder charge,... it blew the mag out and sent the pistol over the head of the shooter, about 5 feet.

It was a S&W M&P full size, and went immediately back into service without a hic-up!!!

 

[azrik]

I've had that happen a couple times with reloads that have been roll sized. It's how the 2 piece cases are swaged at the base during manufacturing. When they get roll sized, the side works more than the base and that is where the weak point occurs. That in combination with the ramp area and it comes apart. I found that it only happened with GFL (I think) headstamp stuff. Never had a problem with any other brand.

 

[Suck My Glock]

I've only experienced entire case head separations. My experience with these leads me to believe they were all resulting from being reloaded too many times and finally wearing out. Because the brass had been worked and reworked evenly all around, when failure finally did occur, it was uniform and a nice neatly torn ring that looked almost as if cut by a tool. Thus, the mangled tear evident in your example suggests to me a manufacturing defect that survived until it was loaded again for the 2nd (or 3rd?) time.

 

[mock0013]

I use to reload and after many years I would never shoot someone else's reloads especially with used brass. Looks like a double charge of powder, so glad you are ok. and always check the barrel is clear after a failure to feed in case those reloads didn't have a charge and primer pumped the bullet into the barrel waiting for you to shoot again and blow the barrel up

h8pvmnt,...You say the cases were marked +P,... are they reloads? Did you reload them?

I have seen that once before, exactly the same place on the case, blown out. It was a double powder charge,... it blew the mag out and sent the pistol over the head of the shooter, about 5 feet.

It was a S&W M&P full size, and went immediately back into service without a hic-up!!!

 

[Elk34]

I've had new ammo do that before. It just happens sometimes. I can tell you I have never had one of my reloads do it. It's always been factory ammo.

 

[Flash]

BVAC has kind of a mixed bunch of reviews with respect to their reliability and manufacturing.