I went to the range today and carried what is probably my favorite polymer pistol - a Walther P99 A/S in 9mm. I've put a hundred rounds or more through the gun, and I've never had the slightest problem with jams or misfeeds.
Until today, that is. The first round went off ok, but the second round jammed part way into the barrel; worse, the slide locked up - I couldn't move it forward or backward. I immediately recognized this as a fat bullet issue, because the same thing had happened to me before when I was shooting a Beretta 81. I was prepared to deal with the situation today, because I researched YouTube the last time this happened (see the video below).
This is usually a problem that occurs with reloads, but I was using new, factory ammunition today. After repeatedly experiencing the fat bullet jam, I took out my daily carry (a Ruger LC9S), removed a cartridge (different brand) from the magazine and compared it with the problem cartridges. Even to the naked eye, the cartridges I had been firing in the Walther looked a tad wider than the ones from my Ruger. I fully unloaded the Ruger magazine, put the cartridges in the Walther, and it worked fine. So, I conclude that the 9mm ammo was defective. The brand name is "Scorpion" and it is manufactured in the Czech Republic. I don't remember where I got it, but I retired the rest of the box. I did some looking around on the internet today, and other people have had similar problems with this brand. Buyer beware.
7 comments:
Sounds like that Scorpion ammo might be remanufactured, i.e., ammo reloaded at the factory. It should be labeled accordingly, usually “reman”.
That, or their new ammo quality control is appalling. But, yeah, best to avoid that brand.
I helped one new shooter with a similar issue, and it took a screwdriver to get the cartridge out of the chamber. No fun.
The guy was so new, he actually bought a box of reloads from somewhere, the box was white, with a wide variety of case manufacturers. He didn’t know the difference. The round that I removed was visibly bulged, probably crushed when pushing in the bullet. That happens when you don’t bell the mouth of the case correctly. I suggested that he stick with commercially loaded ammo, even if it was more expensive.
I forgot to note, that’s a good video! Thanks for sharing it.
Okay, important safety tip, thanks Egon!
I have long used Wolf steel cased .45 ACP ammo with no problems (Glock 21 and SA 1911), and TulAmmo 9mm (Stribog SP9A3) with no issues. And that's about it for my experience with "Eastern Bloc" handgun ammo I think.
Another gun video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6jiz1tik58
Jeff: Yeah, that video really helped me out. The first time I ever had a bullet jam that way, with the slide stuck, I didn't have a clue what to do; I was afraid I'd have to take the pistol to a gunsmith. I'm glad I found that guy's video.
Stephen: I've never used steel-cased ammo. I don't own a pistol chambered in .45 ACP (forgive me, Father, for I have sinned...), and brass 9mm has always seemed plentiful and relatively inexpensive. I've used lots of steel-cased 7.62x39 in my Ak's; never had a problem, but then, I think they're made to eat that stuff. I always preferred Silver Bear; it's zinc-plated steel, as I recall. It used to be really cheap.
Gregory: That's a very interesting rifle. I'm going to have to check it out a little more.
Stephen: Clarification - I've never used steel-cased pistol ammo.
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